After a tumultuous year in which her mentor is murdered and her estranged father comes back into her life, Pia Grazdani, the embattled medical student from Death Benefit, decides to take a year off from her medical studies and escape New York City. Intrigued by the promise of the burgeoning field of medical technology and the chance to clear her head in the cool air of Colorado, Pia takes a job at Nanobots, a lavishly funded, security-conscious nanotechnology institute in the picturesque foothills of the Rockies. Nanobots is ahead of the curve in the competitive world of molecular manufacturing, including the construction of microbivores, tiny nano robots with the ability to gobble up viruses and bacteria.

But the corporate campus, for all its beauty, is a place of secrets. She's warned by her boss not to investigate the other work being done at the gigantic facility, nor to ask questions about the source of the seemingly endless capital that funds the institute's research. And when Pia encounters a fellow employee on a corporate jogging path, suffering the effects of a seizure, she soon realizes she may have literally stumbled upon one of Nanobots' human guinea pigs. Is the tech giant on the cusp of one of the biggest medical discoveries of the 21st century a treatment option for millions or have they already sold out to the highest bidder?

Dr. Robin Cook (born May 4, 1940 in New York City, New York) is an American physician and novelist who writes about medicine and topics affecting public health.
He is best known for combining medical writing with the thriller genre. Several of his books have been bestsellers on the "New York Times" Bestseller List. Several of his books have also been featured in Reader's Digest.