Helpful Score: 3
This is one of my favorites by this author. The non-stop action kept me up well into the night thinking with just one more chapter I'd be able to put it down and get some sleep. Wrong! It's one of those books you read with the adrenalin pumping the whole time.
Helpful Score: 2
Ken Follett gave Judy Maddox, FBI Agent, the best lines in this novel. Half Vietnamese, half Irish, only child of a cop father and dead mother, she is one tough woman. In her 30s, having dedicated her life to the FBI and putting bad guys behind bars, she suddenly finds her life a mess. Her boss took ill, and now her newly-assigned supervisor wants her fired and he is doing everything he can to make her look incompetent. He assigns her a crap job of checking into the terrorist group The Hammer Of Eden who are threatening to create earthquakes if nuclear plant building in CA is not halted.
Priest and Star have put nearly 3 decades into their valley, which is leased from the government. They founded, molded, and nursed this commune into a thriving community, without electricity, or running water, or paying taxes, or violence. Now, a damn is to be built one that will be used for power plants and will also flood their valley. A recent addition to their group, Melanie (mother of Dusty) is a seismologist. Together with Priest and Star, they hatch a plan to steal and use a seismic vibrator to set off earthquakes at locations of their choosing.
Not only did this book have a lot of action, there was also the romance side that was more witty than mushy (the way I like it). As expected with a Ken Follett book, the characters where mufti-dimensional. Priest was a joy to hate because I could understand where he was coming from without condoning his choices. Judy Maddox was awesome to watch walk into a room of men and take charge with hard work and logic. She also shoot with either hand, a skill I recommend gun-users obtaining.
Priest and Star have put nearly 3 decades into their valley, which is leased from the government. They founded, molded, and nursed this commune into a thriving community, without electricity, or running water, or paying taxes, or violence. Now, a damn is to be built one that will be used for power plants and will also flood their valley. A recent addition to their group, Melanie (mother of Dusty) is a seismologist. Together with Priest and Star, they hatch a plan to steal and use a seismic vibrator to set off earthquakes at locations of their choosing.
Not only did this book have a lot of action, there was also the romance side that was more witty than mushy (the way I like it). As expected with a Ken Follett book, the characters where mufti-dimensional. Priest was a joy to hate because I could understand where he was coming from without condoning his choices. Judy Maddox was awesome to watch walk into a room of men and take charge with hard work and logic. She also shoot with either hand, a skill I recommend gun-users obtaining.
Helpful Score: 2
Ken Follett remains one of my favorite authors. In this story, the pace of the storyline and the care given to the development of the various characters is top notch. I thoroughly enjoyed this story; a real page-turner...
Helpful Score: 2
The only thing I can say about this book is that it is a grab you by the seat of your pants and not let go untill the climax.
Rickley
Rickley
Helpful Score: 1
What can I say-- Ken Follett's books are always superb and this is no exception! It is full of 'rich' characters caught up in a unique and suspenseful series of events! Impossible to put down!
Helpful Score: 1
Very intriguing.
Helpful Score: 1
This was definitely a new direction for Ken Follett. He writes about the leader of a 25-year old commune at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. I'm more used to him writing international novels with some kind of political intrigue going on. But it seems that with some of his newer books he is branching out. I have read the first 2 books in his historical trilogy that begins with Pillars of the Earth, so it is evident that he can write and outstanding novel on subjects other than international spies and political intrigue. Communes are not interesting for me, but it was a good book. That's the only reason I didn't rate it higher. I'm just not interested in a commune leader as a base of a book. However, if you like Ken Follett, it is worth the read. I don't like to pass up any of his books because you never know what you may find in between the two covers!
Excellent!! Follett's usual break-neck speed thriller!
I have read many of his books, this is a good one!
entertaining action adventure
This book is one of the best that I have read thus far. I would stay awake with my eyes burning from being tired just because I didn't want to put it down. It took me about one and a half weeks to read but it is very thick. I would imagine it could take some people a few months to read. I truelly think that anyone who likes Ken Follett would love this book. If you like a book with many twisted then you will love this one. I promise.
One of Follett's best!
Good story, this is only 3 cassettes. I am assuming it is abridged.
Great story. Great writer
Good read. Will make you wonder about the eco-terrorist threats.A real page turner!
This book about a group of fanatical cult will stop at nothing including murder to get the world to notice them.
This is probably the worst Ken Follett book I've read, and I have read several. The plot is very unsophisticated for a write of Follett's calibre. The dialogue is hackneyed and typical for 'thrillers' like this. The idea of causing earthquakes may not be completely unrealistic, but the plot development is just sad.
Eco-terrorists plan to set off an earthquake - can FBI agent Judy Maddox stop the assult? The killing has started and California will soon feel its rath...
Follett's a good writer, but he was a little weak on subject matter and plot on this one.
A wild ride! It was hard to put down. Follet not only tells the story of the good guys but gets into the bad guys as well. Well developed characters.
MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE PLAN
What a book, what a writer. He always weaves a web of detail that you can follow. It is long enough for you to get to feel the characters are friends.
At the beginning you sort of like the main character, feel sorry for him but as the book unfolds you begin to realize what a dark sinister character he has turned out to be. The commune is real. For me I lived through the 60s and this is what I expect a commune to be like.
Good wills out in the end with many twists and turns. Couldn't put it down.
At the beginning you sort of like the main character, feel sorry for him but as the book unfolds you begin to realize what a dark sinister character he has turned out to be. The commune is real. For me I lived through the 60s and this is what I expect a commune to be like.
Good wills out in the end with many twists and turns. Couldn't put it down.
Abridged. 2 cassettes, 3 hrs. Read by Lorelei King.
A novel about a group triggering earthquakes as a form of terrorism/extortion
from the back:
"The one thing Californians fear most is a full-scale earthquake.
The thing Priest fears most is the destruction of the commune he founded 30 years ago in the Sierra Nevada foothills - the one place he can hide from his mobster past.
He has to make the governor of California listen to him. And now he knows a way. He knows how to create an earthquake. And if his demans aren't met, the next quake is just 48 hours away."
A novel about a group triggering earthquakes as a form of terrorism/extortion
from the back:
"The one thing Californians fear most is a full-scale earthquake.
The thing Priest fears most is the destruction of the commune he founded 30 years ago in the Sierra Nevada foothills - the one place he can hide from his mobster past.
He has to make the governor of California listen to him. And now he knows a way. He knows how to create an earthquake. And if his demans aren't met, the next quake is just 48 hours away."
Solid thriller from "Eye of the the Needle" author.
Ken Follett has written some excellent thrillers. This is about a threatened earthquake in California, brought about by eco-terrorists.
this book will hit close to home
START READING AND HANG ON.
Fast paced read with lots action
From the back cover: "The FBI doesn't believe it. The Governor wants the problem to disappear. But agent Judy Maddox knows the threat is real: An extreme group of eco-terrorists has the means and the know-how to set off a massive earthquake of epic proportions. For California, time is running out."
Great read with interesting twists and turns.
Nobody can cause an earthquake... can they? This is the question that troubles hotshot young FBI agent Judy Maddox when she has been assigned to investigate an anonymous threat from a group that claims that it can trigger earthquakes. Seismologist, Michael Quercus, tells her it is possible for an earthquake to be caused deliberately. When a tremor in a remote desert area shows signs of being machine-generated, Judy must find out who is responsible before another tremor strikes. Once again Follett does not let us down. He delivers a state-of-the-art suspense thriller that keeps the pages turning with unique characters and an exciting plot. Highly recommended!
