Three caretakers and a single remaining researcher, who keep the Northern Institute in working order in case research ever resumes, find their work upended by a mysterious object that appears in the snow that soon challenges their every notion of what isnormal.

Facing unemployment if he cannot present new research to the scientific community, quantum physicist Ted Marx tries to coerce his father-in-law into revealing a profound and devastating secret that Einstein entrusted to him.

In retreat from a devastating loss and crushing injustice, Katie lives alone in a fortress like stone house on Jacob’s Ladder island. Once a rising star in the art world, she finds refuge in her painting. The neighboring island of Ringrock houses a secret: a government research facility. And now two agents have arrived on Jacob’s Ladder in search of someone—or something—they refuse to identify. Although an air of menace hangs over these men,...