John “Mac” MacGregor is a the leading volcanologist at the Hawaii Volcanic Observatory. As Mauna Loa threatens to erupt in “The Big One” he is appraised of dangerous materials from a decades old military weapons experiment that have been stored in a tunnel in nearby Mauna Kea. If the containment for these materials is damaged, it is game over for humanity.
It is hard to say anything kind about this book, so I won’t even try.
It seems Mr. Crichton left extensive notes about this project behind when he died, and his estate contracted Mr. Patterson to finish it. Mr. Crichton wrote many excellent action-adventure novels, and while he frequently used dramatic license, they always seemed meticulously researched and fact-checked. If there was an inaccuracy, it was intentional. In this novel, that is certainly not the case. There are at least five ludicrous aviation scenes that stretch the reader’s sense of disbelief to the limits.In fact, it would be more accurate to say that any sense of disbelief is shredded and burned, before being thrown way, into a volcano, presumably. For example, not even the stupidest pilot would make the same poor decision to fly in impossible conditions three times in a row, crashing every time, and yet here we are. Volcanic ash is one of the most hazardous things aircraft can fly into, and yet in this book, they keep doing it for no good reason. Just as one small detail, one of the helicopters featured is the Airbus H225, AKA Super Puma. As volcanic ash is ingested into the powerplant, the author writes that “the engine” is about to quit, but even a cursory read of the specifications shows that this helicopter has two engines. The final aviation scene where they try to bomb the lava flow with an F-15 is equally cringeworthy. The aircraft loses both engines yet somehow keeps flying and flying, and they keep going back into the volcanic ash even if this means they can’t see their target. Another detail here is that the author mentions that the pilot flew off an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, but this is an Air Force pilot flying an Air Force aircraft which is not carrier operations capable. These are not major errors but could have been easily avoided with even rudimentary research and fact-checking.
The plot itself is convoluted and confusing, but it doesn’t matter because after about a third of the book the reader stops caring, It seems mainly to involve the protagonists going back and forth in “jeeps” (what kind of vehicle is this referring to exactly?) to various points of crisis, often involving lava, with the occasional surfing scene in which they reflect on the beauty of Hawaii in particular and the natural world in general. The characters could be called cardboard cutouts, except that would be an insult to the personalities of cardboard cutouts. Mac is separated and devoted to his work, and also brash and very direct, not fearing confrontation. He has some sexual tension with his deputy and also with the stereotypical hot chick who is an explosives expert. The featured general is straight from central casting and the volcano boffins… enough said. Honourable mention to the Elon Musk clone and his two celebrity volcanologist hangers-on. At some point, two Italian volcanologists are mentioned, their parts limited to speaking “in their language” and dying in a helicopter crash. And so it goes. The arbitrary deaths keep rolling on, but that doesn’t matter either because the reader never cared about them anyway.
This story might work as a dumb popcorn flick, but as a novel, it is a disaster about a disaster. The late Mr. Crichton is probably rolling in his grave.
