One of the holiest relics in Christendom, weirdly defaced… A crazy old prospector, ritualistically murdered… A controversial exobiologist, tortured with a "Spanish Boot" and dismembered… When a recluse is found dead under grisly circumstances in the Colorado wilderness, CBI Agent Frankie Cash and Eagle County Sheriff Jim Colcord team up on their most enigmatic and dangerous case yet. Their investigation uncovers a trail of bizarre killings, a fanatical secret society, baffling money transfers, and finally to a cabal of UFO researchers searching for an alien artifact they believe will change the world. And all the while, the resurrected Neanderthals who vanished into the Colorado mountains seem to be planning something… spectacular. "A book to be savored as the plot twists and turns." —John Grisham, #1 New York Times bestselling author "As thought-provoking as it is thrilling . . . Doug and Aletheia Preston have deservedly entered the realm of thriller superstardom." —David Baldacci, #1 New York Times bestselling author