As the interim Director of Development of the National Academy of Sciences, Mary Dillard is an up-and-comer in Washington, DC. She’s chic, cosmopolitan, intelligent–and occasionally unsure of herself. Her parents died when she was young, and her teen years were spent with her only remaining relatives, Uncle Wayne and Aunt Clarice Oakford in Vienna, Virginia. Her substantial inheritance got her through college with a BA in English, and the money helps with her expenses in DC. But if she can nail her interim position permanently, she’ll never have to touch her inheritance again.

Mary drives a hybrid Beamer, shops at Whole Foods, listens to NPR, and believes in God, though not that the Bible is His inspired word. Her uncle, a renowned paleontologist, devoted his life to Science, and under his influence, she learned that science and theology don’t mix.

But Wayne came back from his Smithsonian-funded dig near the Paluxy River in Texas with an entirely different theory in mind and a firm belief that the theory of evolution was erroneous. Mary harped on him about ruining his standing in the scientific community, but he didn’t listen.

And now her entire life and core beliefs are about to come crumbling down.

The Simulacrum, coming August 15.