In this thrilling instalment in the Nine Wilde and Eddie Chase series, the intrepid pair must once again race against time to stop a deadly power being unleashed on the world. World-renowned archaeologist Nina and her husband, ex-SAS Eddie are looking forward to at last enjoying their days peacefully. Eddie has just celebrated his 50th birthday and Nina has her cushy teaching job to content with.
Their peaceful lifestyle, however, is shattered when an ambitious student of Nina archaeology class drags both of them along to an artefact purchase in Germany. The Chinese student, Cheng, comes from a wealthy family and offers 500,000 euros for the crystal disc that features strange writings on the surface, to the seller he’d contacted on the dark web. The crystal also has an image of an elongated skull on one side. This brings Nina’s attention to the mystery about a race of fallen angels from mythology and bible called the Nephilim, a giant race that looks like the aliens.
While making the purchase at an address given, Nina, Eddie and Cheng are suddenly confronted by a gang who also wants the crystal.
Eddie forces the seller to tell them where he got the crystal. The guy says he was working on a ship sailing near the Antarctic when they saw a man floating on an iceberg. He was a member of the survey ship that was earlier reported missing. The survey ship was on its journey to the Antarctic to look for icebergs in a project to help overcome water shortage in a Middle East country. After rescuing the man, the seller stole the crystal from him. With Nina’s knowledge of the ancient world, the crystal is actually a keystone of some ancient civilisation, such as the Nephilim, and the trio has some inkling what they are about to encounter.
They then embark on a journey following the route taken by the missing survey ship to find long-hidden technology in the Antarctic where they discover a UFO-like spaceship buried deep in the Antarctic ice together with the survey ship inside a huge iceberg cave.
Cheng later confesses to Nina that he is actually sent to her class by his government as they need her help to uncover the secret of the crystal keystone.
Apparently, China has also discovered a similar crystal keystone when the workers accidentally uncovered the burial site of an ancient race where many of the "giant" alien-looking tribes were kept locked up cryogenically in suspended sarcophagus capsules during an excavation in northern Mongolia,
Unfortunately, the crystal keystone and the capsules were destroyed during the explosion to break up the rocks underneath. Now, the Chinese government wants Nina to help locate the new site in the Antarctic and use the crystal keystone to unlock the mystery of the giant tribe.
Turns out Cheng’s mother is the head of the Archaeological Unit under the Defence Department of the People’s Republic of China under the command of General Wu and his daughter Corporal Wu. Both father and daughter have other agendas in mind when they take control of the mission.
However, when the ancient and astonishing civilisation buried deep in the Antarctic ice is awakened, Nina and Eddie must confront the grave threat they faced.
Travelling from New York to China, then to New Zealand, and from the cities of Europe to the outback of Australia, the couple must try to understand the formidable power that has been unleashed. Pursued by shadowy mercenaries and sinister government spies, the clock is ticking for both Nina and Eddie.
Will they succeed in their mission this time?
Meanwhile, a wealthy American mother-and-son team also wants the crystal keystone to unlock the secret of the capsule holding a giant member of the tribe which they’d stolen from the spaceship earlier. Unfortunately, they are taken prisoners by the Chinese soldiers to China. Nina, Eddie and Cheng are also on the plane to China’s research centre in northern Mongolia, as Nina is the only person with the right energy to activate the crystal keystone.
There are lots of drama, twists and betrayals before culminating in a climactic ending of good triumphing over evil. An enlightening read.
