Deep Past

By Eugene Linden

Book Overview

"A fascinating thriller... Linden does a masterly job of integrating intriguing speculative science into a page-turning plot." --Publisher's Weekly, starred review

If nature could invent intelligence of our scale in a blink of geologic time, who's to say it hasn't been done before...

A routine dig in Kazakhstan takes a radical turn for thirty-two-year-old anthropologist Claire Knowland when a stranger turns up at the site with a bizarre find from a remote section of the desolate Kazakh Steppe. Her initial skepticism of this mysterious discovery gives way to a realization that the find will shake the very foundations of our understanding of evolution and intelligence.

Corrupt politics of Kazakhstan force Claire to take reckless chances with the discovery. Among the allies she gathers in her fight to save herself and bring the discovery to light is Sergei Anachev, a brilliant but enigmatic Russian geologist who becomes her unlikely protector even as he deals with his own unknown crisis.

Ultimately, Claire finds herself fighting not just for the discovery and her academic reputation, but for her very life as great power conflict engulfs the unstable region and an unscrupulous oligarch attempts to take advantage of the chaos.

Drawing on Eugene Linden's celebrated non-fiction investigations into what makes humans different from other species, this international thriller mixes fact and the fantastical, the realities of academic politics, and high stakes geopolitics--engaging the reader every step of the way.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1948122375
• ISBN13: 9781948122375
• Release Date: May 2019
• Publisher: RosettaBooks
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Deep but worth digging into…

While the storyline carries the reader from college campus to a large mining operation, from an ancient archeological site into advanced scientific labs, and on to discussions of evolutionary theory, Mr. Linden has developed a storyline that is not only well written, but is also easily accessible to those of us with an interest in the subject matter but without a Ph.D in our back pockets. The pace of the story is a comfortable one, smart but without the necessity of a dictionary close at hand, for which I am grateful, as that can detract from a good plot for me. I finished the book quickly and very much enjoyed my time in it.