Sample Review by LM Book Review

GP James - Meltdown

An earthquake in New York State. A nuclear reactor destroyed. Millions of people in peril and a family separated by horrific circumstances, desperately seeking one another amidst the bedlam and radiated rubble.

This book is an absolute heart-stopper. Very few adjectives could live up to the challenge of adequately describing this work. Imagine the most action packed thriller you've ever watched on the big screen, adrenalized by a level of detail possible only when put to paper. Here one can actually feel the fear and tension, and that is a rare thing indeed.

Can you recall that stomach-churning sense of disorientation you experienced right before you dropped over the edge of the first incline of the biggest, baddest roller coaster you had ever been on? That may give you some small sense of the effect this book can produce. This ride however goes on and on and on - swerving and looping nearly out of control until the very end, when you glide smoothly to a much welcomed stop and can finally breathe normally again.

The author's judicious use of scientific detail adds plausibility, while the inclusion of fallout maps give us a sense of the massive number of people affected by a nuclear event. The character development shows us that ordinary people really can rise to any occasion and do extraordinary things out of love for family and friends.

Highest recommendation.

Linda M. - LM Book Review

GP James - Meltdown

This tale starts with an earthquake and builds from there. Well, the title is a dead give-away.

GP James creates a hero (in at least two senses of the word) who grabs one’s interest almost immediately. It is a great gift to be able to create an entirely fictional character and cause the reader to care deeply about what happens to her or him on the first few pages.

The details of Trace Crane’s professional life is explained and his family life revealed, with many facets examined. I do not know Mr. James’ background but he certainly seems to know a lot about nuclear power generation and the management thereof. And you will learn a lot about it when you read Meltdown.

The earthquake at the beginning sets the story in motion literally and figuratively and it never stops. The tension is so relentless that the reader feels Trace Crane’s intensity and brilliance on every page. His conflict between duty to his job – trying desperately to prevent a nuclear disaster – and his family, his physicist wife and young daughter, will touch your heart.

There is so much of our infrastructure that we modern, urban citizens take for granted that can instantaneously be erased by a natural event and Mr. James reminds us of that fact vividly and without mercy.

This is not light reading. It is a serious, cautionary tale. The events will both engage and scare the living daylights out of you and you will think about these characters and Crane’s situation when you are not actively engaged in reading the book. These moments will be rare. I read in the elevator on the way to the laundry room, in line at the market and in every spare moment I had until the denouement. I’m willing to bet that you will too.

The only criticism I feel the need to share is that from time to time the author overdoes the details a bit. Just a few times I found myself muttering, “Okay. okay. I’ve got it. Let’s move on.” But these instances were rare.

Meltdown is a rich and important story well told. You will know a lot more about an important contemporary technology when you finish it. And you will have been intensely entertained.

Ben B. - LM Book Review