Eruption

This electrifying fusion of science and suspense, an unfinished novel by the late Crichton (Jurassic Park), is now completed by Patterson at the request of Crichton’s wife. John “Mac” MacGregor, a geologist and head of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, holds an emergency press conference announcing the imminent eruption of Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world. According to Mac’s estimations, the lava should flow harmlessly through an uninhabited part of the island, posing no real danger to Hilo’s population. But then Mac is secretly whisked away by the U.S. military, and he learns that if the lava flows as planned, it could unleash a very different worldwide cataclysm. Mac is briefed about a secret government storage facility, secreted within a volcanic tube and containing canisters of unthinkably deadly chemicals. He and his team have just days to divert the flow away from the cache, and the odds are not in their favor. Scott Brick, a longtime narrator of Crichton’s works, once again does an excellent job conveying the mounting tension and capturing the characters’ fear and desperation.