Singularity [Hardcover]

"Equal parts hard science fiction adventure and mainstream techno-thriller, SINGULARITY is arguably one of the best debuts of the year."

Singularity is a slam-bang first novel where the science is as important as the fiction.

Bill DeSmedt should be on the bestseller lists with Tom Clancy and Dan Brown.

First-rate science fiction thriller. Highly recommended. An immersive, taut, science fiction thrill ride.

Bill DeSmedt has written an exciting action-packed techno-thriller that will appeal to fans of Michael Crichton and Arthur C. Clarke.

GREG BEAR, New York Times bestselling author writes, "Singularity is a swift, gripping novel with a goose-pimple mix of scary science and near-future action. An excellent debut from Bill DeSmedt — and I’ll be looking forward to his next one!"
KEVIN J. ANDERSON, New York Times bestselling author writes, "Singularity juggles Clancy, Crichton, and The Da Vinci Code. An innovative concept for an end-of-theworld thriller, with convincing research and locomotive pacing."

DAVID BRIN, New York Times bestselling author writes, "DeSmedt veers an action-packed thriller into perilous realms of black hole physics. The combination of adrenaline and intellect sizzles"
Jonathan Knox’s knack for intuiting hidden relationships among seemingly isolated events serves his Fortune-50 clients well. But when federal agent Marianna Bonaventure blackmails him into helping her, Knox’s talent is put to the ultimate test. Bonaventure is investigating a Russian industrialist suspected of trading in WMD research, but together they uncover something far more chilling: an attempt to capture a submicroscopic black hole and harness its awesome power to transform the world — or end it!

Bill DeSmedt’s debut is a tour-de-force of breakneck plotting, complex characters, and cutting-edge science. In the tradition of Michael Crichton and Greg Bear, Singularity weaves a richly detailed and intelligent tale, meticulously researched and elegantly told.

Per Aspera Press is proud to present its debut hardcover by new author Bill DeSmedt. Praised by three NEW YORK TIMES bestselling authors SINGULARITY is a tour-de-force of breakneck plotting, complex characters, and cutting-edge science. In the tradition of Michael Crichton and Greg Bear, DeSmedt weaves a richly detailed and intelligent tale, meticulously researched and elegantly told.

June 30th, 1908 — In the remote Tunguska region of Siberia, the most violent cosmic collision in recorded history flattened ancient forests over an area half the size of Rhode Island. Yet after a hundred years of international scientific research the cause of this impact remains a mystery.

A MAVERICK ASTROPHYSICIST
Jack Adler thinks he’s fingered the culprit: a submicroscopic black hole, smaller than an atom, heavier than a mountain, older than the stars. What’s more, that fantastic object is still down there, deep inside the Earth, burrowing through the mantle in an ever-decaying orbit that will end only when it has devoured the entire planet.

A ROOKIE SECRET AGENT
Marianna Bonaventure is tracking three missing scientists suspected of involvement in weapons of mass destruction research. The trail leads to Rusalka, the luxurious floating corporate headquarters of billionaire Russian industrialist Arkady Grishin. Determined to prove herself, Marianna creates an elaborate ruse in order to infiltrate the megayacht — a dangerous gambit that requires the coerced cooperation of a rather special civilian . . .

AN UNCANNY CONSULTANT
Jonathan Knox is one of the country’s most sought-after analysts; his knack for intuiting hidden relationships among seemingly disparate events serves his Fortune-50 clients well. But when Marianna compels the reluctant Knox to join her undercover mission, he must grapple with puzzles of a whole different order of magnitude.

Against violent and cunning opposition, the three of them unearth a scheme to capture the submicroscopic black hole that caused the Tunguska Event and use its awesome power to transform the world — or end it altogether.

Bill DeSmedt’s debut is a tour-de-force of breakneck plotting, complex characters, and cutting-edge science. From the trackless wastes of Siberia to the rooftops of Manhattan to the stygian depths of the North Atlantic, Singularity weaves a richly detailed and intelligent tale, meticulously researched and elegantly told.

Greg Bear, New York Times bestselling author; Hugo & Nebula award winner
"a swift, gripping novel with a goose-pimple mix of scary science and near-future action. An excellent debut from Bill DeSmedt."

Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author
"... juggles Clancy, Crichton, and THE DA VINCI CODE. An innovative ... end-of-the-world thriller, with convincing research and locomotive pacing."

David Brin, New York Times bestselling author; Hugo & Nebula award winner
"DeSmedt veers an action-packed thriller into perilous realms of black hole physics. The combination of adrenaline and intellect sizzles."

Kip Thorne, Caltech physicist and national bestselling author of Black Holes and Time Warps
"Bill got the vast majority of the physics right, highly unusual in a book that is such a good read."

Bill DeSmedt has spent his life living by his wits and his words. In his time, and as the spirit has moved him, he’s been: a Soviet Area expert and Soviet exchange student, a computer programmer and system designer, a consultant to startups and the Fortune 500,an Artificial Intelligence researcher, a son, a husband and lover, a father and grandfather, an omnivorous reader with a soft spot for science fiction and science non-fiction, and now, Lord help us, a novelist. He’s tried to pack as much of that checkered history as he could into Singularity.

Bill lives with his wife of 37 years in Milford, Pennsylvania, a town whose long tradition in speculative literature serves as a constant source of inspiration. He is currently hard at work on a sequel to SINGULARITY entitled DUALISM.