Impact

Douglas Preston pulls out all the stops in this thriller. While the characters and situations are stock science fiction--involving strange natural phenomena appearing all over the Solar System--Preston packages them in a plot intricate and timely enough to keep the listener engaged. Scott Sowers demonstrates the proficiency that has earned him a reputation as an accomplished narrator. His skillful use of volume and pace delivers intensity and drama while keeping the scene and character transitions clear and easy to follow. Minor flaws in this strong performance that will grate on the Downeast ear are his inability to accurately duplicate the region's accent and the repeated mispronunciation of a prominent location in the story, Damariscotta, Maine. Overall, however, Preston and Sowers fans will find much to enjoy. M.O.B. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

November 2, 2009
Near the start of this solid thriller from bestseller Preston, the U.S. president's science adviser asks former CIA operative Wyman Ford, last seen in 2008's Blasphemy
, to look into the sudden appearance of radioactive gemstones, in particular to identify the precise location of their origin in Cambodia. Meanwhile, college dropout and frustrated astronomer Abbey Straw, who believes she witnessed a meteor's fall, embarks on a search of small islands near her Maine home to locate pieces of the meteorite to sell on eBay. In California, soon-to-be murdered professor Jason Freeman sends Mark Corso, a Mars mission technician at the National Propulsion Facility, a classified hard drive with evidence of gamma rays emanating from the red planet. The three story lines end up neatly intersecting, though the final payoff doesn't do justice to the engaging setup. Preston refrains from inserting the scientific minilectures of which the late Michael Crichton was so fond.