The Babylon Effect

Book excerpt: A sealed vault discovered in the ruins of ancient Babylon reveals the knowledge of Eridu, “the First City of Mankind.” But what are the records doing in Babylon? Then, two archaeologists discover a terrible secret there. Before they can communicate their findings to anyone, they pay the ultimate price for this discovery with their lives. First, graduate student Harvey Keynes dies, stabbed to death, and then Professor Gregory Pitt is brutally murdered soon after. DARPA sends agents Kyle Fortnum and Jenna Blakely of the Department of Defense to investigate. However, this is not by choice. Someone, or “something” is blackmailing the agency and Vera Bennington, Kyle and Jenna’s boss, has no choice but to give in to the demands. Now, Kyle is under suspicion, thought to be in collusion with the unknown blackmailer, and so a possible traitor. Arriving in Iraq, the two agents struggle to solve the riddles of the murders and try to unlock the key to the secrets of the underground chamber. But powerful foes are at work. Kyle and Jenna, along with their friend, “Ant,” a private detective, fight to achieve their goals while trying to stay alive, because someone wants them dead. All around them dark forces gather, arrayed against them. The world trembles on the brink of a terrible crisis. Then, when an otherworldly Artificial Intelligence alerts them a secret cabal plans to trigger a nuclear war, the two DARPA agents become desperate to stop this. Theirs is a race against time. What is the secret that caused the deaths of the two archaeologists? When discovered, Kyle learns it is an earthshaking one. But can the agents keep the clock from ticking down to nuclear Armageddon for all humanity? Or is the Babylon Effect unstoppable and all their efforts in vain? The Babylon Effect, by bestseller author Rob Shelsky, is a science fiction suspense novel with all the answers. With the introduction of agents Kyle Fortnum and Jenna Blakely as the protagonists, the thriller world will never be the same again.