In this thrilling science fiction adventure—the triumphant conclusion to the Tipping Point trilogy—New York Timesbestselling author Alan Dean Foster returns to a near future in which genetic manipulation and extreme body modification have changed profoundly what it means to be human.Dr. Ingrid Seastrom was once a respected American physician. Whispr, whose body has been transformed to preternatural thinness, was once a streetwise thief. Now, in a world on the edge of catastrophe from centuries of environmental exploitation, they are allies—thrust together by fate to unravel an impossible mystery—even as they are stalked by a relentless killer.Ingrid and Whispr are hunted fugitives bound together by a thread: a data-storage thread made of a material that cannot exist, yet somehow does. Their quest to learn its secrets—and, in Whispr’s case, sell them to the highest bidder—has brought them to South Africa’s treacherous Namib desert. Beyond its dangers waits a heavily guarded research facility that promises answers, if they can survive long enough to get there. But that won’t be easy, not with Napun Molé on their trail. They’ve already escaped the assassin twice, and as far as Molé is concerned, finishing them off isn’t just a job anymore . . . it’s personal.From BooklistFoster has some stylistic tics that make his work a little jarring if you’re not used to it, but in fact he spins a pretty good yarn. This is the third book in a trilogy, set in a future where extreme body mods are common, in which the modded thief Whispr and “natural” Dr. Ingrid Seastrom have made their way to the Namib desert in search of a supersecret installation at Nerens. They’re searching for the origin—and purpose—of the mysterious silver thread, which seems to be some kind of storage device. The trip across the desert is rife with danger: natural threats, the security out of Nerens, and the hired killer who still pursues them. They encounter some surprising allies—including an illegal diamond hunter and a clan of superintelligent meerkats—in their travels, and survive all the desert has to throw at them, only to arrive at a destination neither of them was expecting. The easy flow of Foster’s plotting makes this a fun and undemanding read. --Regina SchroederAbout the AuthorAlan Dean Fosterhas written in a variety of genres, including hard science fiction, fantasy, horror, detective, Western, historical, and contemporary fiction. He is the author of theNew York TimesbestsellerStar Wars: The Approaching Stormand the popular Pip & Flinx novels; two earlier novels in the Tipping Point trilogy,The Human BlendandBody, Inc.;and novelizations of several films includingTransformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Wars,the first threeAlienfilms, andAlien Nation. His novelCyber Waywon the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990, the first science fiction work ever to do so. Foster and his wife, JoAnn Oxley, live in Prescott, Arizona, in a house built of brick that was salvaged from an early-twentieth-century miners’ brothel. He is currently at work on several new novels and media projects.