QUEENSLAND, Australia -Author Penny de Byl shares a thrilling story that combines the mystery of a crime and police procedural, with science fiction. "Lost Souls" follows humankind's fledgling endeavors to colonize space, but unfolds into the near future where science looks to religious tenets and beliefs when unethical medical practices lead to a series of baffling deaths. The story unfolds along two parallel narratives. The first tracks a police team investigating a series of bizarre deaths in which people are dropping dead with no apparent explanation. The second focuses on a group of researchers based in Antarctica, working toward developing technologies that will one day assist mankind to colonize space. These two worlds collide when the detectives and scientists become reliant on what is understood of religion and spirituality to solve the cases of mysterious deaths. With contemporary science and technological fact woven into the story, de Byl treats readers to an engaging journey of issues and solutions that seek to take humankind beyond earth. Intriguing, "Lost Souls" builds a fascination for the science and technology that is shaping the world, and the collective efforts that will be required of all nations to see humanity populate the cosmos. In a future dependent on both old and new practices, this original novel demonstrates there will always be a place for both science and spirituality in our culture.