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Marty Croft has it all. A beautiful wife, and a successful career as a commercial artist. That is until his past comes back to haunt him. Enter Gordon Shamus, the psychotic son of Marty’s former gangster boss. After Marty’s wife is kidnapped, he finds himself forced back into a world he left behind. The job seems simple enough. Drive the world’s longest ice road and retrieve a package of stolen diamonds. But what will become of Marty and his wife when the job is done? Will they be disposed of as potential witnesses?
In a twist of fate, the Acadia Diamond mine, located 200 kilometers below the arctic circle, has found something buried in the ice. A portal not of this world, and it is about to be unlocked by unsuspecting scientists. Once opened, the creatures, known as Skentophyte, attack.
Overrun by thousands of mind-controlling aliens, what started out as heist becomes a war for survival. In an ensemble cast of characters, the Acadia mine has become the beachhead of an all-out invasion. Detoured into a fight for survival, Marty finds himself in the company of men thrust into a mission to stop the invading force. Can they stop the creatures before they reach the city of Yellowknife? Will they survive against overwhelming odds? And what of Marty’s wife, Maggie? Will she become collateral damage if Marty can’t make it back in time to rescue her from the clutches of a maniac.
“MJ Preston creates an epic page-turner, with Canada’s frozen north as the setting and the Earth as the ultimate prize for whichever side wins the war.” –Gregory L. Norris, screenwriter for Star Trek Voyager
From The Book:
The lights of the snowcat bounced up in down in the morning light, tracks click-clacking on the ice, powder kicking up into the air. Behind it, two more vehicles, a plow and a grader, cleared the road. Lenny only saw the headlights, he never saw the creatures riding on the vehicles, but Chase saw them, and he scrambled back down into the trench.
The snowcat came to a stop.
In front of them, a little man waved his arms frantically.
Then he stopped.
The door on the snowcat popped open and out stepped Herb Aronson. “Lenny?”
Lenny realized his mistake. Saw them climbing down off the vehicles. Saw the caverns where Herb’s eyes had been. He didn’t turn his head to see where Chase was, although he tried to catch a glimpse of him from the corner of his eye. There were five hanging off the plow, all of them now dismounting onto the road. The grader moved up beside the snowcat, its massive lights drowning out the shadows and washing Lenny in amber milk.
The creatures were surrounding him now.
Chase covered his mouth in horror.
“We’ve been looking for you, Lenny.”
“Well, I guess you found me.”
“Where’s Chief Fenwick?”
Lenny reached under his parka, unsheathed his knife.
“He froze to death. On the Telegraph.”
They were closing in. Lenny could hear the clacking of teeth.
Herb looked around. He did not follow Lenny’s tracks or see the building obscured by the darkness outside the circle of light they stood in. The winds were still up, polishing the surface of the snow, extinguishing his tracks. Lenny hoped there would be enough time to erase them permanently.
Herb turned his head, but Lenny, hoping to distract him, spoke up. “Herb.”
“Yes, Lenny?” Herb turned his attention back to Lenny.
They were all around him now, no escape.
“Does it hurt?”
“Does what hurt?”
“Your eyes?”
Herb grinned. “A little, but not for long.”
Lenny brought the knife up.
“What are you doing, Lenny?”
In one smooth motion, he cut his own throat. There was a sting, sticky warmth, his knees buckled.
Better run like hell, Chase, was his last thought. He was dead before they dismantled him.
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