"In this compelling debut sci-fi pastiche of existential crises, millennia-old religious prophecies and modern-day fanaticism, the supernatural aspirations of a Muslim scientist collide with the modest, earthly aims of a secular American couple. When the empires of reason and faith collide, the authority of each is called into question. ... Masterfully told from its benign beginnings to its tragic end in a Jerusalem cemetery, this novel charts the intersection of men and women made anxious by the question of life's purpose and its seemingly paltry answers. Fantastic in its arc, the story nonetheless roots itself in moments of genuine psychological discord, revealing itself via anachronistic chapters that flit between past and future.. A study in the ethical limits of science, the novel also traces the blurry line that divides sanity from insanity, as Jal's views degenerate from philosophically reasoned convictions to sadism and self-delusion." -Kirkus Reviews