"An engaging mix of scientific mystery, family drama, and corporate intrigue."-Jennifer Artley, author of Improvising in Italian"Ticked all the boxes on my list of favorite fiction genres: sci-fi and biotech industrial thrillers . . . Absolutely wonderful!"-Steven R. Bauer, PhD, director of regulatory science affairs, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine After her father, a visionary regenerative scientist, dies under suspicious circumstances in India, Bela Arora escapes to a prestigious scholarship program in Charleston, West Virginia. She carries with her a dangerous inheritance: her father's encrypted research journals containing the blueprints for cellular immortality. As her academic work begins to blur the line between biology and beauty, Bela is recruited into the elite innovation team at CremLa, Manhattan's most glamorous skincare empire. There, luxury serums and influencer perfection sell the seductive promise of eternal youth through their groundbreaking "exosome" technology. But beneath the polished brand lies a chilling clinical truth: Their revolutionary science appears eerily connected to her father's work-the very discovery he died trying to keep out of the wrong hands.
As Bela is pulled deeper into CremLa's glittering inner circle, she finds herself navigating a world of whispered secrets, silent surveillance, and carefully engineered lies. At its center is the mystery of the "9th Circle," a hidden layer of research with the power to alter not just aging, but the very code of human identity.Now, with powerful forces closing in, Bela must decipher her father's final warning before her work is weaponized-and before she becomes its next casualty.