The Bottom Line: A spectacularly written apocalypse thriller that seems destined for the big screen.
[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”left” asin=”B00F60YLD6″ cloaking=”default” height=”500″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”//ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51XYrBeGVlL.jpg” tag=”bestthricom-20″ width=”333″]Are those scary sinkholes we see in the news really caused by dissolving carbonate rock? Or could they instead be a sign of something far more mysterious and terrifying?
That’s the addictive premise of Dennis Meredith’s sci-fi novel, Wormholes. In suburban Oklahoma, a home vanishes into the abyss. A supertanker at sea goes up in fire. A blast in China creates a massive mountainside cavern.
Enter geologist Dacey Livingstone, an athletic blue-eyed beauty whose bravery nearly gets her killed in the opening chapters (to the horror of local authorities, she lowers herself into a sinkhole with the winch on her Range Rover). Even if you nodded off in your undergraduate geology class, you’ll find nothing dull about Meredith’s protagonist. Dacey’s analysis is always smart, and the action is never dull.
But talented as Dacey is, she needs an out of the box thinker to solve a riddle this strange. Physicist Gerald Meier fills the role nicely. Gerald’s childhood home may be full of masterpieces by French Impressionists, but the peculiar scientist’s concerns are altogether unearthly. Soon after meeting Dacey, Gerald reveals his theory, which is one you no doubt have already guessed from the book’s title.
Despite the seemingly far-fetched premise, Wormholes had me from page one. That’s no doubt thanks to Meredith’s background – he’s a longtime science writer, having worked with the likes of Caltech, MIT, Cornell and Duke. As a result, every word out of Dacey and Gerald’s mouths read as authentic. You’ll stay up long past your bedtime in hopes that Dacey and Gerald can save Earth before it’s too late.
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