There are a number of favored locations often involved in contemporary science fiction that involves aliens visiting planet earth. Two such favored locations, Area 51 and Tunguska, Russia are both involved in this stand alone sci-fi tale that comes from prolific story teller B. V. Larson. With one location being in Russia and the other in the US, these two cold war rivals once again find themselves in a high profile race, but this time they are trying to be the first to get their hands on advanced alien technology. Despite this being a frantic race between rivals, this book actually starts out rather slowly with a vast array of characters being involved in a series of seemingly unconnected events; however, Larson eventually weaves all of the various threads together. It is when the characters come together and begin to interact that the story really takes off and eventually finishes on a high note that leaves you wanting more.
In order to avoid spoiling any of this story I will merely state that for a lot of this book I was not all that into some of threads and the characters themselves. The disconnected nature of the story telling had me convinced that I would be glad this was a stand alone book and not a series but by the time it was over I was disappointed that there is no sequel to move on to. If this was the start of a series I would have surely have picked up book two immediately to find out what the consequences were to the actions taken in the latter third of this book. Perhaps some day Larson will decide to tell that tale and if he does I will certainly be eager to hear it.
Edoardo Ballerini narrates the audiobook and does a decent job with all the voices and accents.