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When esteemed professor John Wainwright collapses on the opening night of the International Conference on Life Research, a whirlwind of revelations leaves the Life Research Group four months away from zero funding. It also leaves Professor Tom Carrott perplexed. What initially seems like an untimely demise quickly turns into a wild chase featuring the CIA, Mossad, biotechnology firms, and international professors as they chase the ultimate elusive elixir: immortality.
Prior to the chaos, Carrott is coasting along and in love with Eloise, his fellow academic. At the same time, Eloise’s upbringing, marred by a lack of stability, leads to fears of losing her only element of consistency—her research position. This fear tends to outweigh her genuine affection for Tom. Among many critical characters throughout the novel, Eshe Hayes and her dynamic compatibility with Carrott is unquestionable, particularly when Doctor Prendergast’s disdain for Carrot results in Tom falling into Hayes’ lap as she is spying on Carrott behind a newspaper on a park bench.
Though characters like CIA agent Dirk Dandy are given rather limited responsibilities, primarily conducting surveillance in the majority of his scenes, this narrative is clearly plot-driven, an intersection between the adventures of Indiana Jones and the mysteries of a Dan Brown novel. Finally, Tom answers the call-to-action by pulling out the tubes from the Egyptian chest housing ancient scrolls with hieroglyphics, bracelets, and cryptic riddles. With Mossad agent Eshe Hayes, translator Marty McReason, and Arun, his tech-friend and confidante, Tom tries to decipher what is real and who to trust with a world-altering responsibility as deceit and danger lie around every corner. Author McKivvik keeps the action rolling from Cairo to San Francisco, where even the most minor slip up ensures certain death.