Anticlimactic

I kept waiting for the big reveal the twist I wasn't expecting. Instead it's a long set up for the other books. Hopefully they deliver.

5 people found this helpful

Not bad

I love Ben Bova books. That being said, this one is just OK. It is a decent story and good science. I thoroughly enjoyed it but it is not one of his best. I would still recommend is as Ben Bova, at his worst, is still fanatastic.

4 people found this helpful

Political 'thriller' passing for science fiction

First, I have read and enjoyed many Ben Bova novels and his favorite narrator, Stefan Rudnicki, is always an attraction but not even he can save this one. The story has promise and the science is interesting but the story reads like the first novel of a high school student. Certainly, the main character displays all the political, emotional, and romantic sophistication of a 16 year old. An assistant professor of astronomy at an unnamed university he is drawn into politics as the science advisor of a first run senate candidate. There he encounters murder, corruption, and 'politics' while helping his candidate promote a new form of efficient, green energy using local coal. (No mention of how burning coal can be good for the environment.) The novel is populated by cardboard characters - heroes and villains - who are hard to care about or take seriously. Had it not been free I would have felt I had wasted my money.

2 people found this helpful

Good, but…

A solid story but the main character was hard to care about. Don’t know when this was written but the relationships between men and women are in the 60s and simple caricatures even for that time. Not much science fiction here either. A weak crime drama. I finished this book but won’t be going on. Too bad I was looking forward to a good Ben Bova series.

Not really SciFi

This is a great book and I enjoyed it - well, Ben Bova!
But I’d characterize it as a political thriller (and an excellent one) and not as science fiction.

Characters F, plot B-

The characters feel like cardboard cut-outs that the author is moving around. In particular, the male-female relating feels like its entirely from the author's imagination, like he's never actually hung out with women. It's like reading a novel written by a bright adolescent virgin.

The central character, Jake Ross, is completely pathetic. He has an inferiority complex, fawns over women who treat him like dirt, and is completely unassertive. The only charming character in the book is a hoodlum named Monster. I'm hoping that Monster will wack Jake and put him out of his misery.

On the bright side, the author weaves a reasonably workman-like plot, with a decent degree of dramatic tension. Enough to keep me reading, despite my disgust with most of the characters.

My recommendation is to try this if you're looking for some literary junk-food. Keep your expectations low.

Thebook was too slow and lacked enough plot line.

Way to slow and not enough of a plot line . Should have been a short story

A Good Setup?

I read all 3 of the other available reviews, after having listened to the book. I was curious what others had to say. I didn't hate this book, but I didn't love it either. I found the story interesting but the characters were not riveting, and as one other reviewer said "cardboard". I'm hoping this is what someone else said "a good setup for the following books". I decided to give the next in the series a try as it seems Ben Bova has a loyal following, which is usually a good indicator of likely appeal.