Book Review: 8.4

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

8.4     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Peter Hernon
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller   Scientific based
Putnam, Feb 1999, $24.95, 393 pp.

The first earthquake along the New Madrid fault registered a 7.1, the highest activity in over a century. Scientists flock to Memphis to conduct research, share their data, and asses the damage. Among the visitors is geologist Elizabeth Holleran and US Geological Survey disaster expert John Atkins. John quickly notices odd behavior and other natural phenomena that makes him conclude another quake is imminent. He is proven correct when the next quake hits 8.4. Wondering if history can repeat the series of quakes of 1811-12, John and Elizabeth believe another quake, of greater magnitude, will soon strike the beleaguered middle America, already devastated.

Desperate yet divided, a team forms that will go inside the Earth to set off a nuclear explosion to stop the next quake. They enter a deep coal mine in a journey to relieve the underground pressure. However, a member of the team has his own agenda that calls for insuring no one, but he survives the dangerous trek.

8.4 is a 10+ on the action scale. The entertaining story line is filled with non-stop energy that interweaves scientific information into a well-written novel. The characters are overwhelmed by the main protagonist, the earth, but that takes nothing away from the exhilarating story line. Peter Hernon is clearly at the top of the science thrillers with a novel that is off the Richter Scale.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner

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