Total Cringe

Eruption by Michael Crichton
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I started this knowing full well that it would be over the top; a B movie in book form.

I don't personally care if it was more of Crichton's writing or Patterson's, I wanted a fun but believable disaster story.

The characters were ridiculous. Throughout we as readers are reading a countdown to the big eruuption (which is complicated by a military/environmental secret, which was literally the only thing I found believable..that a horrible waste product wouldn't be disposed of properly or cared for properly), yet while the characters (who also know exactly when the eruption will be) debate what to do, they also take time to go out for drinks and other unnecessary endeavors.

I do not mean they have months to prepare, this is when things are within days and then literally a few hours prior to the eruption. They have very petty squabbles on how to proceed (not learned debates on what makes the most sense). I probably sound petty here, but it is what made much of this unbelievable. Yes, there will be personality issues, and various opinions, and some people won't be respected who do indeed know a lot, in groups when things need to be figured out, but again, I just didn't buy the scenarios.

The main guy in charge, who happens to teach the local youth how to surf on the side, (I mean, seriously? He's from the mainland and he's teaching them to surf???) goes to the beach within hours of the eruption to see his favorite student??? Um, a phone call would have made more sense, but even then dude, time is ticking.....

Anyway, lots of reviews have bashed it because it doesn't read like a Crichton book. I have read a few of his, but as I said I wasn't expecting it to read like he wrote it. It had been a long buried draft, and Patterson took the project on at the behest of Crichton's wife.

I personally give loads of kudos to Patterson for his worthy work with literacy and independent bookstores. I truly love him for his work in those areas, and loved his early Alex Cross novels, his books for middle school students, and look forward to reading The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians.

I expected a fast read from him, but didn't quite expect the ludricousness of this plot.

I did put on hold a non-fiction book by Tamsin Mather Adventures in Volcano Land: What Volcanoes Tell Us About the World and Ourselves since volcanoes, and their potential eruptions, do indeed interest me.

Beverage Pairing Initially this was looking like a perfect pairing with any cold beverage of your choice, and a big bag of popcorn. A perfect B movie pairing, right? But, after just a bit the book was clearly turning into a not great book, and the only thing to drink would perhaps be chamomile tea or a tums or two to digest the blather in this book.