After Kwok's death she is the leading detective on the case, called to Sha Tin by the Guoanbo, China's version of the CIA and its leader in the race for the quantum computer.

However, his death prompts not only the US and China, but multiple other organizations (from terrorists to secret societies) to go to any lengths for the chance to get binotech, the newest technology that reduplicates itself and stores a huge amount of information in tiny quantities.

Regina Schroeder in his review for Booklist said that "Layers of secret ruling societies, interconnections between historical cryptography and the work of the tale’s own cutting-edge scientists (including everything from Matteo Ricci’s memory palaces to the Cabala), and an unexpected danger to reality combine with political scheming in this tight thriller with a clever historical basis.

"[1] Publishers Weekly in their review said "the book features abstruse speculation on memory and forgetting, on the making and breaking of secrets and the mind's ability to manipulate the quantum nature of reality.

Unfortunately, the earnestness of conspiracy theory punctures the dizzying metaphysical bubbles Hendrix blows, leaving the story a bit flat.