A man from the 19th century dies in 21st-century Times Square. The investigating detective will discover that this impossible death is not an ending, but a terrible beginning.

In the heart of a glittering 2025 New York City, a man dressed in Victorian clothing appears from nowhere and is fatally struck by an autonomous taxi. For world-weary NYPD Detective Caleb Marris, it’s just another "weird" case to file away. But the victim’s pockets contain pristine artifacts from the 1870s, and the autopsy reveals a man whose very cells have never been touched by the modern world.

Marris’s investigation plunges him into a rabbit hole of temporal paradoxes when he uncovers a nearly identical cold case file from 1951. As he follows the clues, he realizes this isn't just a mystery—it's a symptom of a timeline beginning to fracture. The trail leads him from dusty archives to a secret war fought in the shadows of history, revealing that the victim was a temporal anchor and that Marris himself has a terrifying role to play: the guardian.

The truth is not just that time travel is real. It’s that time itself is being consumed, and the only thing stopping reality from collapsing is an impossible sacrifice. To solve the case, Marris must confront a conspiracy that defies physics and pay a price that will rewrite his very existence.

Perfect for fans of Blake Crouch, Philip K. Dick, and mind-bending thrillers, this gripping sci-fi mystery combines a gritty police procedural with high-stakes, existential suspense that will keep you guessing until the final, devastating page.