Dr. Joanna Russo finds herself thrust into a mystery of sinister forces and modern science rooted in the darkness of past centuries and now set to threaten the world and humankind. This enigma opens on a bitter cold, moonless night in France that winter of 1529. Centuries later, it unfolds as Joanna accepts an invitation from Ian Slattery, her Cambridge doctorate mentor, to join him at the Serpentine Foundation. Reunited with Fiona Clark, her best friend from Cambridge days, they soon discover the Serpentine secret: a clandestine foreign network is providing unlimited funds to Slattery's foundation to develop genetic memory for political and military advantage. Joanna doubts Slattery could significantly accelerate development of human knowledge… but soon finds she was mistaken. Indeed, the stakes were higher than either of them could anticipate; they were dealing with ruthless people. Set against the disparate worlds of science, politics, and intelligence, Joanna and Fiona devise the Foundation’s destruction, a ploy fraught with risk. There was no one either could trust, a dangerous world where two extraordinary women make the difference between life and death