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The Green Trap
Microbiologist Michael Cochrane has been murdered. His brother Paul wants to find out who did it…and why.
Accompanied by a beautiful industrial spy, Elena Sandoval, Paul follows the trail from California to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Along the way, a lot of people seem to be interested in getting in their way, or discovering what they know. It's clear that Michael was working with cyanobacteria, the bacteria that crack water molecules and release free oxygen. It's less clear why this would get anybody killed. Or why oil billionaire Lionel Gould wants to pay Paul and Elena big money for the details of Michael's work.
Then the truth Michael had found a way to get cyanobacteria to crack hydrogen out of simple water molecules. A process that could be industrialized, producing enough hydrogen to cleanly power the world. Practically free fuel, out of one of the planet's most abundant water.
No wonder everyone, from Middle Eastern heavies to hired domestic muscle, suddenly seems to be trying to get in Paul and Elena's way.
As the world's secrets--and their own--teeter in the balance, both Paul and Elena must decide what to do before it's too late.
Contemporary, topical, and exciting, The Green Trap is a thriller of today's energy skulduggery--both the kind you read about in the headlines, and the kind you don't.
Accompanied by a beautiful industrial spy, Elena Sandoval, Paul follows the trail from California to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Along the way, a lot of people seem to be interested in getting in their way, or discovering what they know. It's clear that Michael was working with cyanobacteria, the bacteria that crack water molecules and release free oxygen. It's less clear why this would get anybody killed. Or why oil billionaire Lionel Gould wants to pay Paul and Elena big money for the details of Michael's work.
Then the truth Michael had found a way to get cyanobacteria to crack hydrogen out of simple water molecules. A process that could be industrialized, producing enough hydrogen to cleanly power the world. Practically free fuel, out of one of the planet's most abundant water.
No wonder everyone, from Middle Eastern heavies to hired domestic muscle, suddenly seems to be trying to get in Paul and Elena's way.
As the world's secrets--and their own--teeter in the balance, both Paul and Elena must decide what to do before it's too late.
Contemporary, topical, and exciting, The Green Trap is a thriller of today's energy skulduggery--both the kind you read about in the headlines, and the kind you don't.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
10 people are currently reading
212 people want to read
About the author
Ben Bova
715 books1,037 followersBen Bova was born on November 8, 1932 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1953, while attending Temple University, he married Rosa Cucinotta, they had a son and a daughter. He would later divorce Rosa in 1974. In that same year he married Barbara Berson Rose.
Bova was an avid fencer and organized Avco Everett's fencing club. He was an environmentalist, but rejected Luddism.
Bova was a technical writer for Project Vanguard and later for Avco Everett in the 1960s when they did research in lasers and fluid dynamics. It was there that he met Arthur R. Kantrowitz later of the Foresight Institute.
In 1971 he became editor of Analog Science Fiction after John W. Campbell's death. After leaving Analog, he went on to edit Omni during 1978-1982.
In 1974 he wrote the screenplay for an episode of the children's science fiction television series Land of the Lost entitled "The Search".
Bova was the science advisor for the failed television series The Starlost, leaving in disgust after the airing of the first episode. His novel The Starcrossed was loosely based on his experiences and featured a thinly veiled characterization of his friend and colleague Harlan Ellison. He dedicated the novel to "Cordwainer Bird", the pen name Harlan Ellison uses when he does not want to be associated with a television or film project.
Bova was the President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a past President of Science-fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
Bova went back to school in the 1980s, earning an M.A. in communications in 1987 and a Ph.D. in 1996.
Bova has drawn on these meetings and experiences to create fact and fiction writings rich with references to spaceflight, lasers, artificial hearts, nanotechnology, environmentalism, fencing and martial arts, photography and artists.
Bova was the author of over a hundred and fifteen books, non-fiction as well as science fiction. In 2000, he was the Author Guest of Honor at the 58th World Science Fiction Convention (Chicon 2000).
Hollywood has started to take an interest in Bova's works once again, in addition to his wealth of knowledge about science and what the future may look like. In 2007, he was hired as a consultant by both Stuber/Parent Productions to provide insight into what the world is to look like in the near future for their upcoming film "Repossession Mambo" (released as "Repo Men") starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker and by Silver Pictures in which he provided consulting services on the feature adaptation of Richard Morgan's "Altered Carbon".
http://us.macmillan.com/author/benbova
Bova was an avid fencer and organized Avco Everett's fencing club. He was an environmentalist, but rejected Luddism.
Bova was a technical writer for Project Vanguard and later for Avco Everett in the 1960s when they did research in lasers and fluid dynamics. It was there that he met Arthur R. Kantrowitz later of the Foresight Institute.
In 1971 he became editor of Analog Science Fiction after John W. Campbell's death. After leaving Analog, he went on to edit Omni during 1978-1982.
In 1974 he wrote the screenplay for an episode of the children's science fiction television series Land of the Lost entitled "The Search".
Bova was the science advisor for the failed television series The Starlost, leaving in disgust after the airing of the first episode. His novel The Starcrossed was loosely based on his experiences and featured a thinly veiled characterization of his friend and colleague Harlan Ellison. He dedicated the novel to "Cordwainer Bird", the pen name Harlan Ellison uses when he does not want to be associated with a television or film project.
Bova was the President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a past President of Science-fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
Bova went back to school in the 1980s, earning an M.A. in communications in 1987 and a Ph.D. in 1996.
Bova has drawn on these meetings and experiences to create fact and fiction writings rich with references to spaceflight, lasers, artificial hearts, nanotechnology, environmentalism, fencing and martial arts, photography and artists.
Bova was the author of over a hundred and fifteen books, non-fiction as well as science fiction. In 2000, he was the Author Guest of Honor at the 58th World Science Fiction Convention (Chicon 2000).
Hollywood has started to take an interest in Bova's works once again, in addition to his wealth of knowledge about science and what the future may look like. In 2007, he was hired as a consultant by both Stuber/Parent Productions to provide insight into what the world is to look like in the near future for their upcoming film "Repossession Mambo" (released as "Repo Men") starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker and by Silver Pictures in which he provided consulting services on the feature adaptation of Richard Morgan's "Altered Carbon".
http://us.macmillan.com/author/benbova
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
April 13, 2011
Ok, first of all, it's way too early for me to be trying to write a book review but, since I finished this at stupid-o'clock last night, I want to get my thoughts out while it's still fresh in my head.
I picked this book up in the DOLLAR STORE of all places and paid a whoppin' $1.25 for it. I thought, this is probably gonna suck, why else would it be in the dollar store?
Well, it didn't suck. At first I thought oh no, I'm not gonna be able to read this. The beginning was a bit slow. I didn't really find myself involved with the characters until at least halfway through. but, once I hit that halfway mark, I just couldn't wait to turn the page.
The story is centered around science. Microbiology to be exact and deals with the conspiracy world of government and big oil. It depicts corruption and what I think is closer to the truth than fiction. i really enjoyed the fact that the science wasn't so complicated that it was mind boggling. It was described in a way that even the dullest witted person could understand.
The story had so much more than I thought it would have, murder, mystery, conspiracy theory, love, betrayal....it was a nice surprise and I'm glad I spent that whoppin $1.25! I'd have paid more for this read!
I picked this book up in the DOLLAR STORE of all places and paid a whoppin' $1.25 for it. I thought, this is probably gonna suck, why else would it be in the dollar store?
Well, it didn't suck. At first I thought oh no, I'm not gonna be able to read this. The beginning was a bit slow. I didn't really find myself involved with the characters until at least halfway through. but, once I hit that halfway mark, I just couldn't wait to turn the page.
The story is centered around science. Microbiology to be exact and deals with the conspiracy world of government and big oil. It depicts corruption and what I think is closer to the truth than fiction. i really enjoyed the fact that the science wasn't so complicated that it was mind boggling. It was described in a way that even the dullest witted person could understand.
The story had so much more than I thought it would have, murder, mystery, conspiracy theory, love, betrayal....it was a nice surprise and I'm glad I spent that whoppin $1.25! I'd have paid more for this read!
May 1, 2014
This book will get you thinking in a whole lot of valuable directions in regards to our current energy/natural resource problems. Couched in an intriguing story. Worth the read. Loved it.
August 28, 2012
I was inclined to give Ben Bova a lot of leeway, as he has been around forever. That isn't too hard when it comes to the Sam Gunn stories that are hokey and tongue-in-cheek by design. This, on the other hand is supposed to be a serious treatment of energy issues. The premise is interesting enough, with a reliable cheap source of hydrogen having been discovered by a research scientist, who is murdered at the beginning of the story. Problems with the narrative surface immediately. We soon realize that our protagonist, the brother of the murdered scientist, is that most remarkable of stereotypes, a complete idiot with a doctorate in astrophysics. In fact, the entire plot hinges upon everyone being complete idiots at every turn. Every character is a cartoonish stereotype. Fortunately, I have not encoutered any of these "types" in real life.
Still, I was willing to continue suspend my disbelief until the protagonist runs around the country trying to recover the "secret formula" that he had ingenously emailed to three friends from high school that he hadn't been in contact with for years. He was motivated by the antagonist (evil fat sweaty clammy egomaniacal murderous oil baron) apparently holding the love of his life (met two weeks before under rather unlikely circumstances) hostage. What finally got to me was the idea (this was published in 2006) that you could recover and destroy email messages by simply confiscating the hard drives of the computers of the sender and recipients of the messages. One of the "buddies" actually mentions that he never even downloaded the message from AOL but that didn't keep him from trying to extort the protagonist with the laptop that they proceed to fight over even though it doesn't actually have the files on the hard drive that must be destroyed.
No, no Ben, it's not you, it's me...
Still, I was willing to continue suspend my disbelief until the protagonist runs around the country trying to recover the "secret formula" that he had ingenously emailed to three friends from high school that he hadn't been in contact with for years. He was motivated by the antagonist (evil fat sweaty clammy egomaniacal murderous oil baron) apparently holding the love of his life (met two weeks before under rather unlikely circumstances) hostage. What finally got to me was the idea (this was published in 2006) that you could recover and destroy email messages by simply confiscating the hard drives of the computers of the sender and recipients of the messages. One of the "buddies" actually mentions that he never even downloaded the message from AOL but that didn't keep him from trying to extort the protagonist with the laptop that they proceed to fight over even though it doesn't actually have the files on the hard drive that must be destroyed.
No, no Ben, it's not you, it's me...
December 10, 2010
So far so good. I love Ben Bova and have read about 100 of his books. This book a suspense sci-fi read about greed, murder, politics, and the environment. That's the big theme of most of Bova's recent works. Its great if you love Sci-Fi
November 14, 2019
I LIKE THIS BOOK.
December 15, 2020
I enjoyed this book up until the last two chapters, which completely made the whole thing non-sensical. I may be the stupid one here who failed to understand what the author was trying to say, anyway here goes... Elena forces herself into Paul's life after his scientist brother is BRUTILY BEATEN TO DEATH. They go on a bit of a wild goose chase all over the country trying to solve the murder. In the end it turns out that Elena ACCIDENTALLY killed the brother and has been sitting with the computer they have been looking for throughout the entire book the whole time. What I fail to understand is 1. How did Elena manage to accidentally kill a dude in such a way that the feds report he was brutily beaten to death and 2. If she had the damn computer with the secret data the whole time, why did she bother forcing herself onto Paul in the first place and initiated the wild goose chase.
Its nonsensical. But like i say, i might be the stupid one here
Its nonsensical. But like i say, i might be the stupid one here
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2013
Fun murder mystery. Touches on global warming, oil politics, money and its power in US politics. I think It would be a great One Read book.
October 18, 2022
It's a microbial trap! or my ** star review of The Green Trap by Ben Bova
I was reminded of a 1980 film called The Formula. A screenplay written by Steve Shagan based on his own novel. (Apparently a much better novel) The story has a wide-ranging conspiracy among oil companies to keep a synthetic fuel under wraps, making quite the body count in doing so.
Here Ben Bova (whom I was reminded just recently passed due to COVID related illness) brings the science up to date. The same idea of investigating a murder that's already happened, starts off the intrigue, only a bit more personal with Paul Cochrane, investigating his microbiologist brother's murder. The "science" in The Formula only kind of mention almost in passing that Nazi scientists came up with it near the end of the war, whereas Ben Bova as with any hard science fiction details explain how using cyanobacteria to crack hydrogen out of simple water molecules could be industrialized, producing enough hydrogen to cleanly power the world.
Accompanied by a beautiful industrial spy, Elena Sandoval, Paul follows the trail from California to Cambridge, Massachusetts. As everyone from Middle Eastern heavies to oil barons want to get in their way. With it's political intrigue and espionage skullduggery it makes for an interesting enough read, but overall it only provided the most bare minimum of a suspense thriller. Like a lesser work of Hitchcock. And even somewhat derivative of conspiracy twists.
So this is an example of his later works, if I am to learn more about the late author works I probably should dig further, but with this something of a lackluster beginning that may unfortunately be delayed.
-DCO
I was reminded of a 1980 film called The Formula. A screenplay written by Steve Shagan based on his own novel. (Apparently a much better novel) The story has a wide-ranging conspiracy among oil companies to keep a synthetic fuel under wraps, making quite the body count in doing so.
Here Ben Bova (whom I was reminded just recently passed due to COVID related illness) brings the science up to date. The same idea of investigating a murder that's already happened, starts off the intrigue, only a bit more personal with Paul Cochrane, investigating his microbiologist brother's murder. The "science" in The Formula only kind of mention almost in passing that Nazi scientists came up with it near the end of the war, whereas Ben Bova as with any hard science fiction details explain how using cyanobacteria to crack hydrogen out of simple water molecules could be industrialized, producing enough hydrogen to cleanly power the world.
Accompanied by a beautiful industrial spy, Elena Sandoval, Paul follows the trail from California to Cambridge, Massachusetts. As everyone from Middle Eastern heavies to oil barons want to get in their way. With it's political intrigue and espionage skullduggery it makes for an interesting enough read, but overall it only provided the most bare minimum of a suspense thriller. Like a lesser work of Hitchcock. And even somewhat derivative of conspiracy twists.
So this is an example of his later works, if I am to learn more about the late author works I probably should dig further, but with this something of a lackluster beginning that may unfortunately be delayed.
-DCO
January 1, 2026
Stop me if you've heard this one: a scientist comes up with something that can change the world, the rich who are doing well off the way the world is now don't want it getting out, and there's a lot of chasing, threats, betrayal, and running away. That's pretty much the book.
Michael Cochrane comes up with a cheap way to make hydrogen, which could revolutionize the energy industry and car manufacturing., not to mention changing international relations. Michael makes the fatal mistake in any thriller of calling someone to tell them he's "On To Something Big" but giving no details. Before his brother can come meet with him, Michael is killed. Paul, his brother, then becomes the main character.
Paul is way out of his depth, and is in part kept there by Elena Sandoval, a femme fatale who lives up to many of the worst stereotypes of that role, even after you learn why she's the way she is. The main opposition is an industrialist called Gould who manages to have no redeeming features whatever. He's like a cartoon villain.
There are complications, back stabbings, rampant greed, and an array of motivations that don't always make sense. A lot of people who should know better make really stupid mistakes. It's 2005, more or less, the era of flip phones, but everyone has video conferencing? There is clearly no real understanding of how email works. Also, at one point, there's a demand for an "email number."
We finally learn how Michael died, and he was killed accidentally... but we've been told throughout the book he was beaten to death. I'm not really sure how that happens by accident. It's also very much not a happy ending.
There's a lot of stuff that doesn't make much sense, weird choices, rampant stupidity, and I at least didn't find the end satisfying.
Michael Cochrane comes up with a cheap way to make hydrogen, which could revolutionize the energy industry and car manufacturing., not to mention changing international relations. Michael makes the fatal mistake in any thriller of calling someone to tell them he's "On To Something Big" but giving no details. Before his brother can come meet with him, Michael is killed. Paul, his brother, then becomes the main character.
Paul is way out of his depth, and is in part kept there by Elena Sandoval, a femme fatale who lives up to many of the worst stereotypes of that role, even after you learn why she's the way she is. The main opposition is an industrialist called Gould who manages to have no redeeming features whatever. He's like a cartoon villain.
There are complications, back stabbings, rampant greed, and an array of motivations that don't always make sense. A lot of people who should know better make really stupid mistakes. It's 2005, more or less, the era of flip phones, but everyone has video conferencing? There is clearly no real understanding of how email works. Also, at one point, there's a demand for an "email number."
We finally learn how Michael died, and he was killed accidentally... but we've been told throughout the book he was beaten to death. I'm not really sure how that happens by accident. It's also very much not a happy ending.
There's a lot of stuff that doesn't make much sense, weird choices, rampant stupidity, and I at least didn't find the end satisfying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 24, 2019
Pretty fast and interesting read. Although the ending was a bit of a foregone conclusion, which made it lack a bit for me. Scientist discovers easy way to get off of fossil fuels and is killed. Brother tries to figure out his murder and figures out his secret method. There are people in corporations and high in government who want this and they are basically all working together. So the brother finds a way to release the information himself (I guess he finally decides a payout isn't what he wants), discovers the woman he's in love/lust with is the real killer, and goes on his own and gets killed "acciedenally" shortly after having revealed the hydrogen fuel method. It's a bit cynical in it's overall approach and so probably much closer to real life then we actually would care to admit. I felt the many lines of "he'll kill you for this" or "for that" kinda gave away the punch of the ending a bit early, but it still packed something of a wry twist, "no good deed goes unpunished". Even without much credit I guess the guy did help start the track to save the planet. Huh, maybe we need a guy like that and so far they are all just taking the payouts.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 15, 2020
This is a book that has an amazing opening. The way the characters are introduced with took my heart by storm.
However, as the story progressed they took on the stereotypes of their character tropes and the ending was unsatisfying.
It literally felt like the author was under a statement to kill them off or break their heart no matter what.
The last little twist especially felt so forced that it made me cry a little.
The writing of the actual book doesn't help to save it beyond a two-star rating either.
It is a book. One that can be read, but recommended? No.
However, as the story progressed they took on the stereotypes of their character tropes and the ending was unsatisfying.
It literally felt like the author was under a statement to kill them off or break their heart no matter what.
The last little twist especially felt so forced that it made me cry a little.
The writing of the actual book doesn't help to save it beyond a two-star rating either.
It is a book. One that can be read, but recommended? No.
December 8, 2017
The discovery of an inexpensive means of extracting hydrogen from water for use as fuel attracts the attention of oil tycoons and OPEC. Bova excels at writing thrillers where science and invention intersect with public policy, but in this case the story takes a predictable course. There was a double-cross that I saw coming but it happened differently than I expected, and I wasn't entirely pleased with the climax.
February 2, 2018
Fun murder mystery. Touches on global warming, oil politics, money and its power in US politics. It's more about money and greed; Bova books are always about the people who are surrounded in sci-fi of some kind. In this case, our hero is duped by a pretty woman; together, they interact with a Senator and a tycoon. In essence, the technology seems good, but greed takes over and people drop like flies before it.
April 3, 2020
Bova proves adept at combining two features that we seldom see in one book: a page-turning thriller, and a scientifically-literate speculation. He gives us a cat & mouse story within the framework of the green energy debate. Both aspects of the novel are fascinating and informative.
November 13, 2020
The is was a good thriller, but depressing. If (when) someone dies come up with a cheap, alternative energy source this book’s premise of attempts to squash it and/or exploit will come true. Sad ending.
October 4, 2019
I loved this guys work as a kid but the casual dropping of curse words, inserted not to release tension but to appear cool, made me stop reading.
November 3, 2020
I like the story, but became predictable toward the end. Great reader though. Would read Bova as a novel
September 10, 2023
Duration: 9:48:52
Read
October 15, 2023DNF @ 20% really brought down by the wildly outdated sexism, the terrible dialogue, the nonsensical plot choices, and the racist accents in the audiobook narration.
December 20, 2023
Quick read, there are a few plot holes in this one that had me scratching my head, but over all worth a pick up.
February 9, 2024
A story full of tension, constant danger and science.
October 19, 2024
I'd give it 3-1/2 stars if I could. Not bad but has a movie screen play feel to the story.
March 6, 2014
G:\AUDIO BOOKS\to read\Ben Bova - The Green Trap
This is an unabridged version, 133MB, running for 9.5 hours.
Publisher's Summary
Microbiologist Michael Cochrane has been murdered. His brother Paul wants to find out who did it and why.
Accompanied by a beautiful industrial spy, Elena Sandoval, Paul follows the trail from California to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Along the way, a lot of people seem to be interested in getting in their way, or discovering what they know. It's clear that Michael was working with cyanobacteria, the bacteria that crack water molecules and release free oxygen. It's less clear why this would get anybody killed. Or why oil billionaire Lionel Gould wants to pay Paul and Elena big money for the details of Michael's work.
Then the truth emerges: Michael had found a way to get cyanobacteria to crack hydrogen out of simple water molecules. A process that could be industrialized, producing enough hydrogen to cleanly power the world. Practically free fuel, out of one of the planet's most abundant resources: water.
No wonder everyone, from Middle Eastern heavies to hired domestic muscle, suddenly seems to be trying to get in Paul and Elena's way.
As the world's secrets and their own teeter in the balance, both Paul and Elena must decide what to do before it's too late.
Contemporary, topical, and exciting, The Green Trap is a thriller of today's energy skulduggery, both the kind you read about in the headlines, and the kind you don't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read by Stefan Rudnicki & Kathe Mazure
Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, blue-green bacteria or Cyanophyta, is a phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" comes from the color of the bacteria (Greek: κυανός (kyanós) = blue). They are a significant component of the marine nitrogen cycle and an important primary producer in many areas of the ocean, but are also found in habitats other than the marine environment; in particular cyanobacteria are known to occur in both freshwater,[2:] hypersaline inland lakes[3:] and in arid areas where they are a major component of biological soil crusts.
This is my first Ben Bova and I am not sure I would pick up another, valid as the environmental disaster that this book highlights is.
This is an unabridged version, 133MB, running for 9.5 hours.
Publisher's Summary
Microbiologist Michael Cochrane has been murdered. His brother Paul wants to find out who did it and why.
Accompanied by a beautiful industrial spy, Elena Sandoval, Paul follows the trail from California to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Along the way, a lot of people seem to be interested in getting in their way, or discovering what they know. It's clear that Michael was working with cyanobacteria, the bacteria that crack water molecules and release free oxygen. It's less clear why this would get anybody killed. Or why oil billionaire Lionel Gould wants to pay Paul and Elena big money for the details of Michael's work.
Then the truth emerges: Michael had found a way to get cyanobacteria to crack hydrogen out of simple water molecules. A process that could be industrialized, producing enough hydrogen to cleanly power the world. Practically free fuel, out of one of the planet's most abundant resources: water.
No wonder everyone, from Middle Eastern heavies to hired domestic muscle, suddenly seems to be trying to get in Paul and Elena's way.
As the world's secrets and their own teeter in the balance, both Paul and Elena must decide what to do before it's too late.
Contemporary, topical, and exciting, The Green Trap is a thriller of today's energy skulduggery, both the kind you read about in the headlines, and the kind you don't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read by Stefan Rudnicki & Kathe Mazure
Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, blue-green bacteria or Cyanophyta, is a phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" comes from the color of the bacteria (Greek: κυανός (kyanós) = blue). They are a significant component of the marine nitrogen cycle and an important primary producer in many areas of the ocean, but are also found in habitats other than the marine environment; in particular cyanobacteria are known to occur in both freshwater,[2:] hypersaline inland lakes[3:] and in arid areas where they are a major component of biological soil crusts.
This is my first Ben Bova and I am not sure I would pick up another, valid as the environmental disaster that this book highlights is.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 9, 2013
In the end, I thought this was a sorta-passable thriller. The characters, especially the narrator, to me never quite felt like a real person. The novel makes some mention of two significant deaths in his life, but then sort of papers over any real grief. It introduces a strong female character, only to mostly relegate her to damsel in distress status, and the sexual pawn of the male characters in their face off.
I did like the formal invention on display when Bova inserts news stories (or fake news stories) between chapters. It was an interesting effort to make this story seem relevant, which it kind of already did, but it was bold and I liked it for that.
I felt the very ending, the one blurbed as being shocking, was instead cynical and kind of misguided-- like Bova really wanted to make us think that he didn't write the book, inhuman forces of capital did.
The book, earlier, made much of Gould's physical condition, suggesting he could die, upsetting the apple cart of this book with its stark oppositions-- imagine what would happen if Cochrane had to take over Gould Energy, for example? But of course we never quite get there because of the "shock end"-- this was a little too didactic for me.
I did like the formal invention on display when Bova inserts news stories (or fake news stories) between chapters. It was an interesting effort to make this story seem relevant, which it kind of already did, but it was bold and I liked it for that.
I felt the very ending, the one blurbed as being shocking, was instead cynical and kind of misguided-- like Bova really wanted to make us think that he didn't write the book, inhuman forces of capital did.
The book, earlier, made much of Gould's physical condition, suggesting he could die, upsetting the apple cart of this book with its stark oppositions-- imagine what would happen if Cochrane had to take over Gould Energy, for example? But of course we never quite get there because of the "shock end"-- this was a little too didactic for me.
August 27, 2016
This book has an interesting and timely plot, but the writer's style doesn't do it justice. There is no depth whatsoever. The plot is predictable and barely skin deep. The author doesn't seem to realize that digital data is not like hard copies in that once it is dispersed it is impossible to contain or recover.
Worse, the characters are shallow and stereotypical, and their behavior makes no sense. The only thing missing from the Gould character's profile was the Snidely Whiplash mustache. Cochrane doesn't seem to care about determining who murdered his brother. He ought be be suspicious after one guy tried to trick him into selling his brother's research, but he immediately follows a "federal agent" without even asking to see any identification. Then follows the shallowest romantic relationship in history when, in just a few minutes, he "falls in love" with a woman with a checkered past that is never made clear to him, and who in the end admits she "accidentally" brutally murdered his brother!
Worse, the characters are shallow and stereotypical, and their behavior makes no sense. The only thing missing from the Gould character's profile was the Snidely Whiplash mustache. Cochrane doesn't seem to care about determining who murdered his brother. He ought be be suspicious after one guy tried to trick him into selling his brother's research, but he immediately follows a "federal agent" without even asking to see any identification. Then follows the shallowest romantic relationship in history when, in just a few minutes, he "falls in love" with a woman with a checkered past that is never made clear to him, and who in the end admits she "accidentally" brutally murdered his brother!
August 20, 2014
This is another of Author Ben Bova's scientifically-based thrillers, and it's a good one. When a San Francisco microbiologist is found dead, his brother, Paul Cochrane, and Elena Sandoval, a beautiful industrial spy, join forces to try to get to the bottom of it all. Gradually the truth comes out: Michael Cochrane had discovered a revolutionary way to use cyanobacteria to separate hydrogen from water molecules, a process that could be easily industrialized. Imagine: virtually free fuel to power cars, planes, and other machines, all coming from one of the world's most abundant free resources: water. The world would be changed forever. As Paul and Elena struggle to find the formula, more and more people want to either buy them out or kill them, and more than a few want to suppress the information at any cost. The Green Trap takes the reader all over the country in a mad dash to literally change the world, and is an absorbing read on several levels.
September 12, 2013
A microbiologist is killed, and his brother is left to pick up the pieces as to why his work on cyanobacteria might be have led industrialists or Middle East oil concerns to murder.
A fun modern-day thriller based at least in part on actual science (given Bova's credentials as both an SF and science fact writer/editor), it ultimately fails because a lot of the cloak-and-dagger stuff relies on email working in a completely different way than it actually does. As the plot progressed I so hoped there was something I wasn't understanding, or that the characters tripping over each other was because only one of them didn't understand, but no.
A fun modern-day thriller based at least in part on actual science (given Bova's credentials as both an SF and science fact writer/editor), it ultimately fails because a lot of the cloak-and-dagger stuff relies on email working in a completely different way than it actually does. As the plot progressed I so hoped there was something I wasn't understanding, or that the characters tripping over each other was because only one of them didn't understand, but no.
September 7, 2009
As much as I liked Mars Life, I didn't like this one so much.
A microbiologist is murdered and his brother Paul sets out to find out who and why. It's all tied to highly secret research his brother was doing on cyanobacteria and how they release oxygen.
There's a mysterious and powerful man who wants the research. And there's a mysterious and sexy industrial spy who is helping or hindering Paul's work.
I think what doesn't work so well is Bova's keen intellectualism in the thriller genre. They don't seem to go together as well as something more firmly in the sci-fi category.
A microbiologist is murdered and his brother Paul sets out to find out who and why. It's all tied to highly secret research his brother was doing on cyanobacteria and how they release oxygen.
There's a mysterious and powerful man who wants the research. And there's a mysterious and sexy industrial spy who is helping or hindering Paul's work.
I think what doesn't work so well is Bova's keen intellectualism in the thriller genre. They don't seem to go together as well as something more firmly in the sci-fi category.
September 14, 2013
A fair to good read with some interesting premises but the characters are stock and there is a gaping plot hole that is never explained. Bova writes clearly and concisely, very much in the style of the golden age classics. No style points, just the "invisible author" that Asimov stated was his writing goal. The book, in fact, could be best described as one of Asimov's poorer efforts......not an insult really, but still not the level of writing that Bova is capable of doing.
December 31, 2013
Ben Bova is really a prolific writer, and enjoyed some of his other pure science fiction novels better than this one. The factual information embedded in this predictably lame murder mystery are the only thing that save this dog. I enjoyed the information about hydrogen fuel and the insane politics of the military industrial complex, but the central characters just plain stink. I couldn't even finish this one.
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