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Helen Vectorovich holds the unique distinction of failing at first contact - and she did it in both virtual reality and outer space.

Only the most elite teams of operators and navigators get to pilot in remote space-mining operations. And no one was better than Helen and her navigator. Together they secured a multi-billion contract for establishing an interstellar gate to a distant star. But during a routine mission, what should have been an easy success turned deadly.

Helen, grounded in a desk job, has overeager junior pilots jockeying to take her place, jealous corporate rivals, and nasty rumors blaming her for the botched mission. Meanwhile, Helen's new discovery in space - the Scale - seems to be...evolving.

When someone - or something - wants to terminate her project, Helen must race to find out why before it is far too late.

'Nucleation is an immersive tale that has blockbuster scale and emotional story-telling you won't soon forget.' - Terry Matalas, showrunner, Star Trek: Picard

'A superb, smart debut! Love this woman who has to fight her way back to the top using her intelligence and expertise. The confident, sharp details made me feel I was there, in Helen's head, at each step of her remarkable journey.' - Lissa Price, author of the Starters series

'Science fiction fans will be captivated by Unger's smart, plausible vision of the future of space travel, especially the elegant solution of utilizing quantum entanglement to communicate across light years...' - Publishers Weekly

'This smart, gripping debut weaves technology, embodiment, and corporate espionage into a tense vision of the future that readers won't be able to put down.' - Jacqueline Koyanagi, author of Ascension

'Debut[s] worth checking out...showing that new voices continue to expand the genre.' - The Washington Post

'In technology we so often look to science fiction for inspiration. Kimberly Unger is the rare author with a foot in both worlds and it shows as she gives a thrilling glimpse into the future with Nucleation.' - Andrew Bosworth, Vice President of Augmented and Virtual Reality, Facebook

'Nucleation delivers top-notch suspense, deftly weaving together industrial espionage and first contact in a futuristic world that is all too plausible. Unger brings to her world a special sensibility for human psychology that gives realism to futuristic nanotech and corporate politics alike.' - Juliette Wade, author of Mazes of Power

'Unger weaves real-world insights about virtual reality, technology, and art into a space opera packed with high adventure and dastardly intrigue.' - Eliot Peper, author of Veil and Breach

'A near-future, tech-driven thriller marked by grounded characters, wondrous discovery, and a compelling mystery at its core.' - Joseph Mallozzi, Executive Producer, Dark Matter

'An inventive, exciting page turner that mixes mystery, bleeding edge technological speculation, and the promise of a potential sequel. If Grisham was a better wordsmith and chose to write hard sf thrillers, it would look a lot like Kimberly Unger's gripping Nucleation.' - Charles Gannon, author of the Caine Riordan series

'With Nucleation, Kimberly Unger offers a richly detailed, thought-provoking peek into our not-so distant future and a mind-blowing means of taking us to the stars, but are we prepared for what awaits us out there?' - Dayton Ward, author of Star Trek: Kirk Fu Manual