Every paleontologist dreams of studying live dinosaurs in their natural environment. There's only one small hurdle in the way: sixty-five million years. But unlike so many of his peers, Matthew Carrington has real reason to believe he'll be making such a journey to the far reaches of a bygone era. Now, thanks to a colleague's major technological breakthrough, time travel has just vaulted from the theoretical to the possible. But before Matthew can experience such an adventure, problems arise: delays, politics, and greed plague the project. Against his better judgment, he chooses to stay on board. The result is nothing short of a disaster. Now, Matthew and his team are stranded in the past, where they have to deal with isolation, predators, disease, and their own shortcomings. Hopes of ever making it back to the Holocene are dwindling with each catastrophe they encounter. Total human world population: nine ... and rapidly decreasing.