Revelation

by Bill Napier

When British scientist, Dr Fred Findhorn, is offered a king's ransom by a Japanese corporation to retrieve a briefcase from a Russian military aircraft that crashed fifty years ago, he's naturally intrigued. But finding the briefcase is the start of a deadly race against time as rival groups all stake their claims to its contents - the diary of Lev Petrosian, an East European wartime refugee who worked on the development of the hydrogen bomb. But Petrosian discovered something else - something that could change the course of human history, or put a very sudden end to it...

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Adventure, Suspense

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable yarn, that carried you along. I might try more of his when I have more spare time.
Was around a 3.5 stars so I'm giving it 4. Feeling generous :)

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of the sort of ‘Dan Brown wannabe’ books normally, and read them quite a lot. I also have a lot of tolerance for people who use artistic licence or stretch what is physically possible a bit, but this book was just so implausible it left me frowning quite a lot. I’m not a physicist - although I do take an interest - but it wasn’t particularly the physics that bothered me as much as the writing style. The main character was a bit of a dick which would have been fine but all the other character were improbable, or one dimensional, and so it all fell flat. It was also pretty sexist with one character even saying, “You’ve done okay, for a woman,” and yet even though the character it was said to was supposedly a strong woman, not one word was said back. I just basically didn’t care about the plot or any of the characters and merely finished it because I don’t like to leave books unfinished.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story starts extremely well, boarding an icebreaker to reach a large iceberg that calved off an Arctic glacier. And during a storm, climbing onto the berg and down inside it. All sheer madness but in the hope of finding something that was buried in said glacier. I would have read this kind of content all book. Unfortunately, the next thing we are in Scotland, which is nice enough but does not compare.
After this, the main character Findhorn looks for a translator of Armenian and the series of chases, with spies, mad scientists and threatening crazy alien religious disciples gets under way. Lots of these folks lie, swap sides and turn up again later. I lost count of the number of countries visited, fake passports apparently working well.
What sets the tale apart is the retro look at 1940s and 1950s through the diary of one of the nuclear scientists who fled the Nazis and came to Los Alamos. Lev Petrosian (the name of an an Armenian President as it happens) was fearful that his discoveries could be used to destroy the planet. Therefore he opted out of science after the war, but was later persecuted in case he was a communist. Which puts his documents, and maybe the man, in a small plane overflying a glacier.
There is a lot of violence at the end, some strong language. I had long since lost interest in the chase, after the visit to Armenia I believe. Anyone interested in physics will have a good time with some sections of the story.

[Jan Jaap · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this book is a surprise (using some advanced physics).

Looking for ZPE (Casimir effect http://www.mit.edu/~kardar/research/s... , here is (on page 154 of the Dutch translation) a connection with the Foucalt pendulum ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foucaul... ).


https://www.ias.edu/video/negative-en...

https://opc-kb.oclc.org/DB=1/SET=1/TT... KB.nl
https://www.boekbeschrijvingen.nl/nap... Duth translations

[Michael Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

Napier spins a good tale. Some awkward transitions between past and present, not as good as Splintered Icon but I enjoyed.

[Gary Runyon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre composition

Storyline does not flow smoothly. Even for sci-fi the premise lacks logical construct. Have read two previous works. No plans to try another

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like the Dan Brown books, you will probably like this. There are a lot of similarities- international settings, intrigue, and suspense. It was a real page turner for me.

[Mark Bidwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well crafted plot spanning over 50 years, some great characters and thrilling scenes.

[Lynne · Rating 1 out of 5]

This bill summed to keep flipping from one situation to another with different underlying plots. Got bored and gave up

[Fabian Davy · Rating 3 out of 5]

SPOILERS: A WILD GOOSE CHASE for a duck.

The story was that somehow an important science secret in tapping a new energy source let loose after years being undiscovered. And now people are killing people so that more people can be killed, or people avoiding themselves to be killed - in one way or another.

I was like - 'what REVELATION?' then.

And you'll be disappointed that there were nothing new to be revealed after 3/4 of the book. And one big book this is to be played with people's anticipation for climax. The writer tried to be funny but somehow it worked randomly well. Or not.

Numerous scientific terms and figures to explain the theory. But most of the times, the writer was just over self-indulgent. Which is cool if this is not a duck hunt cum goose rally. Around the world for nothing. You wanna go for an emotional roller coaster?

This book is for you.

[Kristin Lundgren · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book - set all over, it still retains some of the flavor of it's Scottish writer and character. It involves some old research at Los Alamos and beyond, and has some great flashbacks into what it was like back then. McCarthyism, missing information that could save or hurt the world, people who aren't and then are what they seem. Lots of action, no punches pulled, moral dilemmas. A very interesting read, and makes you want to read more about the Rise of the Third Reich, and the making of the atom bomb.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decided to read a second novel by Mr Napier, 3/4 the way thro I decided I didn't. Cant put my finger on why I got bored, dry, lacking lustre, couldn't be bothered with the characters. Some science in there - might need to google a few terms, promises more smoke than fire. Therefore a bit of a damp fizzle without the big bang

[Kaylol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good enough to enjoy reading it

[Bill Mclean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story line, author held the intrigue right til the very end. I would recommend this book to anyone.

[M.tariq Suleman · Rating 2 out of 5]

yeh that can be

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

far fetched.