Ingeniously blending fact and thrilling speculative fiction, this award-winning novel unveils a conspiratorial sabotage behind the Titanic disaster.
How was it that the unsinkable Titanic, carrying 1320 passengers and a crew of 892, sank in freezing waters--especially when the technology of luxury liner was such that she could have easily avoided the impact with the iceberg? Was it a fated and bizarre accident? Or was it the result of a sinister plot to undermine the success of White Star Lines' feature attraction on her maiden voyage? At the heart of the the most brilliant inventor of the era--Nikola Tesla--and a plot to hold the Titanic hostage that went catastrophically wrong.
For more than a century, the secret lay hidden in the bowels of the Titanic at the bottom of the North Atlantic. Now, in this bracing and plausible novel of conspiracy and revenge, set in a gilded age of ruthless power barons, geniuses, and madmen, does the truth finally surface.
Admittedly, I wasn't expecting a whole lot from it going in. But I did think maybe it would be an entertaining read, and the concept did intrigue me.
I made it about 13 percent in, and now I have to quit. Even with the flimsy excuse of Titanic's compass being sabotaged the author is perpetuating the myth of Californian being only 5 miles away. Plus the socket signals sent up by Titanic were not "instantly and internationally recognized" as distress signals. In fact, the Leyland Line, for example, had used them before to salute other ships. In fact, rockets by themselves were at the end of a short list of distress signals to be used by ships. Various people's behaviors (particularly Lightoller and Boxhall) are puzzlingly out of character for how they were reported to have acted (Lightoller did not appear on the bridge in hos pj's - he stayed in his cabin out of the way until someone came to get him).
Plus, Californian's wireless operator's name was Cyril Evans, not Peter Evans.
I do not have great hopes for the rest of the book, and I just cannot bring myself to read anymore.
A ripping yarn of genius, madness and revenge taken to the limits of disaster. If you are looking for the facts of the sinking of the Titanic, this is not the best source. There are many other books that deliver that tale. Here Blowers focuses on the hapless life of Nicola Tesla and how his "nephew" Vico plans to avenge his uncle's undoing by J.P. Morgan, Edison, Marconi and others by sabotaging the unsinkable behemoth. The author admits this conspiracy theory was hatched in his own devious little head, but what a delicious plot it is! A satisfying and compelling read.