 They have discovered the Holy Grail, and hope to use it as a component of time travel; in the twentieth century, they worked with Adolf Hitler's Nazi government in order to get funding, though not for any political reasons.They often travel as a group in a black bus.Science fiction author James K. Morrow, reviewing the novel for "The Washington Post", admired Powers's "brio, bravado and a salutary measure of lunacy" in writing the book, and called it "a beguiling genre omelet, a mélange of forms ranging from alternate history to science fiction, urban fantasy to occult cliffhanger, espionage adventure to Ross Macdonald-style Southern California hardboiled detective thriller."