The author of Ground Zero crafts another apocalyptic story of the planet on the edge of disaster as Colorado Springs homicide detective Eileen Reed and her partner, Dave Rosen, investigate the apparent suicide of Major Jim Leetsdale and uncover a deadly plot involving a series of mysterious earthquakes rocking the region. Reprint.
Another great book -I read the first one in te series over 10 years ago, so i didn't recall it, but this was a good, old-fashioned thriller, with about earthquakes, and a man with great evil aspirations. What brings this about the usual level is the large cast of extremely well-defined characters, from the main ones to the fringe ones, they all had personalities larger than life - you wanted to know these people - to sit in the ranch kitchen and have rolla and tea, and talk. The thriller part was well done - the author was a war gamer, so she knows her stuff, but to me it was the characters that really sold me the book. I wanted to know these people, and am sad I can't.
This book was not quite earthshaking. It was a good read, and I do want to read more in the series though. It had many good points as well as a few negatives that stop it from really becoming a great book.
First off, the characters were great. They were written as humans and well defined. They also all seem to grow or at least facilitate in the growth of the main cast. Even side characters get a chance to shine here.
The bad really was the pacing of the book. While typical thrillers start slow and build, this one doesn’t really ever come to a head. It moves too slowly and will lose readers early in the book due to the cast being so large. Also, while there is a climax, but it feels… hollow. Satisfactory yes, but overall like it could have been better.
Overall, something I’d recommend picking up if you get the chance. The book is solidly written and contains enough with the varied characters and connections made to be worth reading.