626 pages
English language
Published Jan. 4, 2006 by Ace Books.
"Three hundred years from now, Earth has been rendered uninhabitable due to the technological catastrophe known as the Nanocaust. Archaeologist Verity Auger specializes in the exploration of its surviving landscape. Now, her expertise is required for a far greater purpose. Something astonishing has been discovered at the far end of a wormhole: mid-twentieth century Earth, preserved like a fly in amber. Somewhere on this alternate planet is a device capable of destroying both worlds at either end of the wormhole. And Verity must find the device, and the man who plans to activate it, before it is too late - for the past and the future of two worlds" -- Cover verso.
Quite a good story. I was more than happy to gloss over some oddities in the storytelling (Our hero, an archeologist who has never handled a gun, has no problem dispatching multiple engineered-to-kill terrorchildren) for a great setting and lots of itch scratching in detective and scifi genres
Some clever premises and good plotting for the first half, but then it devolved to overly explainy about the wrong things to actually deliver.
