Jack Montgomery, still reeling from the loss of his wife and daughter in a terrible accident, is the proverbial "canary in the coalmine"— someone given the unenviable job as first responder for major medical mysteries anywhere on the planet. A freelance investigator for the CDC's Global Health Center, he stumbles upon a puzzle that threatens to change everything he thought he knew about the world, and might change everything he thought he knew about his life.
As pieces of a global conspiracy fall into place, Jack awakens an ancient and patient force—a force with tendrils buried deep inside the power centers of every government and major corporation on earth. One that has now turned its attention to him. Jack and his friends—both old and new—must run for their lives in a desperate race to discover the truth, with humankind's very survival the prize. Not everyone will reach the finish line.