Artifact

Four genre heavyweights — Kevin J. Anderson, Janet Berliner, Matthew J. Costello, and F. Paul Wilson — team up for this action-thriller about six friends racing across Venezuela to recover a scattered alien device that promises limitless free energy. The premise is genuinely propulsive, and the exotic locales and frequent set-pieces keep pages turning. The real strength is sheer momentum: explosions, jungle raids, and deep-sea dives arrive at a steady clip. The honest caveat is that the four-author structure shows its seams — plotting inconsistencies accumulate, key mysteries go unresolved, and characters stay thin. Publishers Weekly called it surprisingly unfulfilling given the talent involved. For older teens and adults who want a fast, noisy ride without demanding much narrative coherence, it delivers enough. A solid rental, not a keeper.