Synopsis: From the back cover of the DAW paperback: "Flames of death, fires of doom! It is the year 1996, and science reporter Rayner Jerome has been assigned to investigate a case of spontaneous human combustion. Setting out to prove the incident is some sort of giant hoax, Ray learns to his growing horror that spontaneous combustion does indeed occur, and further that its cause is extraterrestrial in origin. And this knowledge catapults Rayner on a nightmare journey of discovery - a journey stretching from a quiet backwater town on Earth to the heart of an alien stronghold. And as Rayner uncovers a frightening, centuries-in-the-making plot to invade Earth, he is plunged into the midst of a titanic struggle between two super-human factions, one bent on finding a peaceful means of coexisting with mankind, the other determined to enslave all of humanity!"