A World War II U-Boat is discovered in Antarctica. This in itself would have been a remarkable discovery and a basis of a very intriguing plotline, but it turns out that what the boat was stuck into is even more remarkable and has incredible implications for human history, both past and present.

This book is a very ambitious take on the theme of human origins, hidden lost history, and enormously powerful secret societies. The plots twists and turns take the reader on a rollercoaster trajectory across different continents, centuries, and scientific discoveries.

The book alternates between fast-paced action scenes and long-winded detours into the background information necessary for the plot development. Ironically, I found some of these detours to be my favorite parts of the book from the narrative standpoint. They were well-paced, characters were gradually developed, and the background technological sophistication didn’t strain credibility.

This is an interesting and mostly fun to read sci-fi thriller. However, it suffers from many tangential subthemes, and its ultimate premise is too fantastical for me to fully suspend my belief. In large part due to this overambitious and sprawling background the book is much longer than it should have been for a tight and suspenseful thriller. To his credit, the author pays a lot of attention to central characters and their personalities and motivations, but even here plotline takes twists that put many daytime soap operas to shame.

Book ends with many of its main hidden secrets revealed, but it also opens up many new unanswered questions. Those will, presumably, be dealt with in its sequel. I enjoyed reading this book, but I don’t feel intrigued enough to give its sequel a chance.