At first rejecting the offer, Jamie is eventually forced to take it after all to make rent, as jobs are scarce in COVID-19-afflicted New York City.

Jamie and the other KPS team members must somehow cross over themselves and recover Bella, both to preserve the Kaiju secret and protect both worlds from catastrophe.

"[3] Kirkus Reviews calls the book an "unusual pandemic novel," which "despite the absurdity of the premise (...) isn't entirely escapist fluff", specifying that although it has "the banter and snarky humor [that] readers expect from [Scalzi]", it is also "a blunt and savage swipe at tech-bro/billionaire culture, the Trump administration, and the chaos and tragedy that result when powerful and rich people set themselves against science and scientists in order to profit from disaster.

It concludes "The parallel world Scalzi builds is understandably dangerous even as he carries on the science fiction tradition of questioning who the real monsters are, but those realistically dark elements help highlight the more optimistic themes of collective action and preservation.

"[5] Kristi Chadwick in Library Journal writes "Scalzi's ... prose is action- and humor-driven and includes just the right amount of the current climate to anchor the setting without wallowing in it," noting that his "first stand-alone novel in several years is a wild ride filled with takes on pop culture, startups, governmental influence, and science.

"[6] Adam Morgan in Scientific American writes "John Scalzi's stand-alone adventure novel is a fun throwback to Michael Crichton's 1990s sci-fi thrillers.

Noting how Scalzi "works a narrative through pointed dialogue and non-stop pacing," he writes that "[a]nyone with an understanding of bureaucracy, activism, kaiju, and dealing with horrible rich people will probably adore this story.