I love MacLean but this book was not well written and was boring. The book consisted of basically one main character who was over the top, "Ryder" (no first name) who was a LAPD Sergeant who is smarter than the entire FBI and CIA combined, shows no emotion or worry although his beautiful wife and beautiful daughter are being held captive (and his daughter has been shot), is able to understand everything there is to know about Earthquakes by reading library books for 90 minutes, and basically, (after much tedium and lack of any action except Ryder beating the shit out of bad guys mentally and physically), saves the day.
I picked this up because it was the only book in English at the hotel in Bali and it wasn't bad holiday reading. In some ways the book had to be read from a bit of a historical perspective, for example, cops resigning, then running their own investigation on a major terrorist threat outside the law wouldn't really be getting congratulated in the middle of it, and the gentleman terrorist, who doesn't really want to kill anyone is also a little far fetched. However, the characters were interesting and likeable and the book had some really interesting ideas.
Do You like book Goodbye California (1980)?
I must say I am surprised that this book had so few takers! This is one of Maclean's best works after Guns of Navarone! Bits and pieces were boring especially a lot of seismological references.. but this one kept us holding our breath till the last page, to say nothing of the dry humour. A map would have been excellent with the text... being a non-American naturally I had no idea about the geographical references. If you are a Maclean (or for all that matters suspense) lover... this is a must for you!
—Subhojit
