Tuesday, April 29, 2014

"Impact" by Douglas Preston

We selected this audiobook because of the excitement and fascination we had reading The Monster of Florence, by Preston & Spezi. 

Summary: There are three main story lines that eventually all weave into one. There is a NASA scientist who identifies and investigates strange phenomenon recorded by the Mars Orbiter satellite, Wyman Ford an ex-CIA agent hired to track down the source of radioactive gems, and two young women who search for a meteorite that struck off the east coast. Most of the book is spent following each character as they learn more and more through their investigations. All the characters eventually meet and put their heads together to figure out how it is all connected. There is also an assassin trying to kill all of them and some other exciting dangers like ships in storms, drug addled gunmen/rapists, Cambodian separatists, and more.

What I Liked: Preston does a good job writing individual scenes so that they are exciting and interesting. He also fleshes out the characters and gives them opportunities to develop.

What I Didn't Like: Early on, the NASA scientist (who has no social life and studies Mars all day every day) forgot the length of a Martian day. It led to him profoundly bungling a work presentation. That is one example how the professionals in this book made amateur mistakes. The professional assassin was really sloppy and the experienced boaters kept destroying their boats.

Rating: Skip it, even if you like Preston's other work.

Also Read by this Author: The Monster of Florence (with Mario Spezi).

Reviewed by: Nick

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