Hawai'i author Chris McKinney's first entry in a brilliant new sci-fi noir trilogy explores the sordid past of a murdered scientist, deified in death, through the eyes of a man who once committed unspeakable crimes for her.

2150: An unnamed police detective receives a message from Akira Kimura, the preeminent scientist and living legend who vanquished a world-ending meteor thirty years ago. As Akira's former head of security-and perhaps her only friend-he is one of the few who knows of the sacrifices that were necessary for her to complete Ascalon, the cosmic ray that neutralized the global threat. Ascalon's Scar remains emblazoned in the sky, a permanent reminder of humanity's close call with extinction.

When he arrives at Akira's home and finds her methodically dismembered, he must dig into their shared past-with the help of a mysterious synesthesia that no one else knows he has-to find her killer. Through a future of underwater cities, floating suburbs, skin-dyed teenagers, and a wealth gap that has outlived a near-apocalypse, McKinney's cinematic novel is the perfect blend of dark cyberpunk and thrilling detective procedural, all while posing the ultimate question of what we are willing to sacrifice to engineer the world we want.