New science-themed movie The Current War :

I just saw an ad for this movie that opens next week. Looking forward to seeing it!

Directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Benedict Cumberbatch

Synopsis:

Three brilliant visionaries set off in a charged battle for the future in The Current War, the epic story of the cutthroat competition that literally lit up the modern world. Benedict Cumberbatch is Thomas Edison, the celebrity inventor on the verge of bringing electricity to Manhattan with his radical new DC technology. On the eve of triumph, his plans are upended by charismatic businessman George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon), who believes he and his partner, the upstart genius Nikolai Tesla (Nicholas Hoult), have a superior idea for how to rapidly electrify America: with AC current. As Edison and Westinghouse grapple for who will power the nation, they spark one of the first and greatest corporate feuds in American history, establishing for future Titans of Industry the need to break all the rules.

ScienceThrillers.com book review of Synapse :

SYNAPSE combines suspense, spirituality, and science to ask, can machines have a soul? Highly recommended for mystery/thriller readers with an interest in big philosophical questions.

SYNAPSE came to my attention because I have reviewed, and enjoyed, previous thrillers by Steven James that had scientific themes. James stands out among authors I review as a superb storyteller who uses the implications of contemporary science and technology without getting into a lot of tech detail in stories peopled by emotionally rich characters. In SYNAPSE, he creates a near-future world in which artificial intelligence has been advanced to the point that humans can create humanlike “Artificials” as companions and servants. This of course is not an original premise for science fiction. SYNAPSE is distinctive because it is a character-driven mystery-thriller that openly explores themes of Christian spirituality.

The main character is Kestrel Hathaway, a Methodist minister who in the opening chapter finds her faith in God shaken by tragedy. She becomes entangled in an investigation of a pending terrorist threat by “Purists” while at the same time she is given an Artificial. Her Artificial, Jordan, is nearly indistinguishable from a real human. Kestrel’s relationship with Jordan, and Jordan’s blossoming inner life, are the heart of this book (much more than the ticking clock to foil an attack.)

Jordan, though a creation of humans, has memories and a conscience. In the course of the book he turns to Kestrel to ask whether he has a soul. Specifically, whether God can forgive him for something he regrets, and whether he can have hope of an afterlife. Author James deftly handles some wonderfully thought-provoking scenes, using the minister’s point of view and the robot’s. What is prayer and forgiveness? What is faith? What is the basis of hope?

I particularly liked the way the Purists–villains of the story–have a wise and compelling motivation: that there is such a thing as too much technology, and that supra-human intelligence carries too many risks.

While Big Questions float through the pages, this is a thriller novel. James keeps the plot secrets and surprises long enough to build suspense and keep you reading. And his books always promise a twist or two.

Although it’s not hugely important, I’ll also mention I liked the book’s interior design with the techno header and chapter title pages.

I received an advance reader copy from the publisher.

ScienceThrillers.com book review of Trauma :

Wow, another CJ Lyons book that I just loved. This is book #3 (of 4) in the Angels of Mercy series which began with Lifelines. (I strongly recommend you start with that book.) All three books in the series so far have some things in common.

• A cast of four strong women in the medical profession, women with well-developed characters and believable problems & weaknesses;
• A setting in the ER of a big-city hospital (Pittsburgh) with all the attendant chaos, surprises, and heroism of such a place;
• A powerful romance subtext with four men, any of whom I’d run away with;
• Fascinating, accurate, and original medical scenarios;
• Un-put-downable pacing with interwoven plot lines. Dr. Lyons writes like a movie filmed without any cuts.

Obviously I’m a fan. As a reviewer, however, here are things that might not make this the book for you.  The driving force in Urgent Care is the mystery of who assaulted and murdered the nurse. Violent sexual assault and victimization of women is a dominant theme, and some may find this off-putting. CJ Lyons does not use graphic descriptions as much as many thriller writers (such as Tess Gerritsen or Kathy Reichs) do. On the contrary, her emphasis is on how survivors endure and cope, and the reader is spared forensic detail. This is ultimately a story of a woman’s strength, not her weakness. But there are several emotionally disturbing scenes.

The book has a soap-opera quality to it that may appeal more to women than men. I mean that in a good way; author CJ Lyons describes her work as “thrillers with heart,” by which she means the story is about people and relationships, not just action.

I’ve read a lot of sci/med thrillers so it’s very hard to surprise me, yet this book made me gasp out loud when something totally unexpected—yet not ridiculous—happened in the story. If I needed another reason to bump up into the four-star rating, that clinched it.

Search terms: ECMO; encephalitis; rape kit; Somalia; sleepwalking

This book was originally published as Urgent Care

Pick this book up if: you loved the TV show ER

Angels of Mercy series: Lifelines; Catalyst; Trauma; Isolation

ScienceThrillers.com book review of Catalyst :

Second release in CJ Lyons’ Angels of Mercy series set in a gritty Pittsburgh emergency room, spinning the lives and loves of an ensemble of four strong women with medical careers. This book belongs to Amanda Mason, the proper young medical student who is too proud and too insecure to accept the help she needs.

Two young women die of a perplexing and terrifying neurological syndrome that leaves them awake and alert but utterly paralyzed. Amanda shows early warning signs of the same condition. While in conscious denial, she investigates the cause. Meanwhile, the other three main characters fight their own battles against cheating boyfriends, bulimia, and in Lydia’s case, “the system”. Action-filled climax leads to a very satisfying resolution.

Like Lifelines, Catalyst is part medical thriller, part mystery, part romantic suspense. Again, the men are totally hot, the kinds of guys any smart woman would want to be with. The book offers excellent pacing, can’t-put-it-down story lines, and superb use of medical terminology and concepts.

Plot themes in this book: emergency room drama; neurology; rowing; bulimia; toxic exposures; whole-body cooling; urban paramedics; locked-box syndrome; hyberbaric medicine

This book was originally published as Warning Signs

Pick this book up if: you loved the TV show ER

Angels of Mercy series: Lifelines; Catalyst; Trauma; Isolation

ScienceThrillers.com book review of Lifelines :

Lifelines is the debut novel by pediatric emergency medicine physician CJ Lyons that reads like a long version of the best ER episode ever.  In Lifelines, she introduces us to an ensemble cast of four women of the Angels of Mercy hospital emergency room: Lydia, the attending physician; Nora, the charge nurse; Gina, the resident; and Amanda, the medical student. All are strong, richly portrayed characters. This first book in Lyons’ Angels of Mercy series focuses on Dr. Lydia Fiore, with subsequent volumes clearly conceived as a series to explore each character in turn. Lyons has since moved into grittier FBI-based suspense and more; visit her website to learn about her books.

Lydia is a smart, high-achieving loner who has a hard time trusting others. Paramedic Trey Garrison cuts through her layers of toughness and wins her love. Lyons’ novel ignores the traditional medical thriller formulas used by authors like Robin Cook and Michael Palmer and carves its own unbeatable trajectory of romantic suspense in a hospital setting. I felt the book had a decidedly female tone, and I loved it. The author’s choices of details to emphasize reflect a female sensibility and romantic ideals: the power of subtle touches and glances, a pattern of strong women who have individual frailties and crave the love of a strong, sensitive man. And in notable contrast to many thrillers written by men, the reader is spared a description of every female character’s butt and bustline.

Don’t underestimate this novel, however. It’s first and foremost a THRILLER, not a romance. It’s a page-turner of the first magnitude. The central plot line is spiced with wonderful anecdotal scenes of crazy stuff that happens in big-city emergency rooms (like the jilted lover who swallows fireworks). Friendship, loyalty, integrity, bravery—all these traits are part of the action-packed and satisfying climax.

Highly recommended “beach” reading.

Plot themes in this book: right-wing Aryan militias; gay rights; homelessness; urban riots; bomb threats; emergency room drama

Pick up this book if: you love the TV show ER

Angels of Mercy series: Lifelines; Catalyst; Trauma; Isolation

ScienceThrillers.com book review of Isolation :

Author CJ Lyons pitches Isolation (original title: Critical Condition) as “Die Hard in a hospital”.  I don’t need to tell you any more about the plot than that, because this comparison accurately sums it up. One key difference is women are the tough-as-nails heroes, not Bruce Willis. This is a fast-paced thriller that fulfills all the expectations of the genre, and as usual I found Dr. Lyons’ style a pleasure to read.

For you hospital-based thriller junkies out there, you’ll love the clever ways our heroines use the resources of a major medical center to foil their attackers’ plan. (No spoilers!)

Be alert, however, that Isolation is the fourth and final installment in CJ Lyons’ “Angels of Mercy” series, that began with Lifelines. You should not bother reading Isolation until you’ve read the other three books, or at a minimum, Lifelines (book 1) and Trauma (book 3). While it’s a well-constructed story, what makes this series shine is the wonderful characters Lyons created. You really must know and love them to fully appreciate book 4.

The Angels of Mercy series is set in the gritty emergency room of a Pittsburgh hospital. Each of the four books emphasizes one of the four women of Angels: Lydia Fiore, a new attending physician with a troubled past; Amanda Mason, a medical student transplanted from the South who cares deeply about her patients; Nora Halloran, the head nurse in the ER, whose personal tragedy is the subject of Trauma; and Gina Freeman, a medical resident (doctor) who despite her privileged upbringing is plagued by selfishness and doubt.

All four books feature wonderful glimpses of crazy things that really do happen in ERs. Through the series, romances evolve for all four women to a most satisfying conclusion.

Lifelines (#1) is probably the best book of the bunch. By the time you finish it, you’ll be so hooked on the characters that you’ll willingly tolerate any shortcomings in the later volumes. I for one am sorry that this series of tales is now over.

CJ Lyons’ Angels of Mercy series:
Lifelines (2008); Catalyst (2009); Trauma (2009); Isolation (2010)

ScienceThrillers.com book review of Sphere :

Nobody—and I mean nobody—writes like Michael Crichton.  

There are authors whose books are as good as Crichton’s, but MC has a gifted style all his own that no one has been able to replicate.

Sphere is a first-rate white-knuckle story set deep underwater, with strong sci-fi themes in the form of potential contact with alien life. As I read it, I swear I had trouble breathing because of the stale, compressed, helium-rich air! We read the story from the point of view of middle-aged psychology professor Norman Johnson, who clearly has no business enduring the physical rigors of deep ocean life. Johnson’s psychological insights and understanding of group dynamics under pressure play a key role as the situation turns sour.

Unsurprisingly, the cast of characters is cut off from the surface by a storm, and their habitat comes under attack. The real reasons behind the attack unfold as the pages turn. The mental states of the characters are a major source of tension and plot development.

It wouldn’t be Crichton without a lot of intellectual fireworks. Details about U.S. Navy operations in deep water are meticulously researched and well-utilized in the plot. Numerous discourses on the hunt for alien life, astrophysics, psychology of stress, Jungian psychology, evolution, and more are scattered across the pages. Miraculously they inform and entertain without ever feeling pushy or preachy.

All the usual Crichton strengths are on display here: a claustrophobic setting (deep underwater habitat), isolation (storm has forced surface support vessels to depart), a cast of characters working together and against one another with different motivations, goals, and styles. The tension begins on page one, and relentlessly ratchets up until the very last page. Unanswered questions compel you to keep reading: what’s the deal with the ship? The sphere? The squid? In most thrillers, the reader has a pretty good idea of where the plot is going and what the characters will do. Crichton manages to keep you on your toes, never divulging excess information and keeping you guessing at every turn. He uses a lot of foreshadowing to crank up the tension; often, but not always, these hints come true.

One weak plot point: the characters begin communicating with an unknown entity who is using some kind of code. This sequence is clever and engaging but ultimately illogical. If the entity knows English, why must it use a code?

Interesting character: Mathematician Harry Adams has a lot in common with Crichton’s more famous math genius, Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park.

Like most of Crichton’s works, Sphere is an excellent choice for teens/pre-teens who are strong readers. No profanity or sex, plenty of action and imagination.

Key words: spacecraft; black hole; deep ocean; decompression sickness; bioluminescence; manifestations; sea snakes; thought control

If you like deep-ocean settings, read:
Raise the Titanic by Clive Cussler, Meg by Steve Alten, or Chromosome 8 by Peter Holt

ScienceThrillers.com book review of The White Plague :

Yes, the author is the same Frank Herbert who wrote the science fiction classic Dune.

In terms of style, The White Plague has much in common with Dune. It’s moody, complex, deeply psychological, political and apocalyptic, and certainly bears little resemblance to the potato-chippy quick snacks that most contemporary thrillers are. The White Plague is long and thought-provoking, delving into morality and the meaning of insanity. It is also an exceedingly well-written story, though Herbert’s style for conveying action is sometimes obtuse.

Most of the plot takes place in Ireland, a country hard-hit as the first target of the biologist’s revenge. We follow the travails of a young couple, a (male) medical student and his nursing student girlfriend who wander the countryside trying to avoid contamination that would lead to her death. Civil war and terrible cruelty haunt their steps. Also traveling the dangerous country roads of Ireland is the perpetrator, who is mentally unhinged but the target of an intensive manhunt because only he knows how to end the holocaust he began.

Note the publication date: 1982. The single most remarkable thing about this book is the prescience Herbert shows in regard to biotechnology. At that time, genetic engineering was in its infancy; only the simplest gene splicing experiments had been performed, and few members of the general public had a clue of the growing power of the biological sciences. Frank Herbert’s imagination leaped forward a generation, postulating the creation of a disease specifically designed by a bioterrorist (before the word existed) with a molecular preference for a targeted subset of humans: females. Herbert impressed me by tossing around a variety of relevant technical terms, though ultimately the scientific details are vague and don’t hold up to scrutiny.

But technical accuracy isn’t the point. The White Plague is a compelling story that defies easy categorization: part literary fiction, part science fiction, part thriller. Definitely worth reading.

This book also was part of the inspiration for my third novel, The Han Agent.

ScienceThrillers.com book review of Boiling Point :

If you like volcanoes, Boiling Point is the thriller for you.

Filled with intense depictions of what it would be like to actually experience an eruption—from a distance, up close, in the air, on the ground—this novel will fuel your imagination without scorching your lungs. Various aspects of eruptions, including prediction and evacuation, comfortably fit into a plot which revolves around the central mystery of a convoy of trucks engaged in illegal dumping (who? why?), and the fight for survival on the mountain.

In this her second novel with ecological themes, author Karen Dionne again makes use of a spectacular, extreme setting to unroll a page-turning story of courage and foolhardiness, noble and ignoble intentions, and unexpected consequences. In my opinion, this second book is superior to her first (Freezing Point), with a straight-forward storyline, engaging characters, and a foundation of sound science which is gently offered to the reader. Boiling Point is a fast, pleasing read, an excellent choice for the proverbial beach, or to digest easily on a long flight.

Key words: Ring of Fire; global warming; copper mine; sulfuric acid; geoengineering; pyroclastic flow; lahar; ashfall; steam vent; tephra; obsidian

Special note to parents and teachers: This might be an excellent book to engage reluctant readers ages 12+, especially if they like science or volcanoes.

ScienceThrillers.com book review of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde :

I expect there is no need to worry about the spoiler for this plot. The phrase “Jekyll and Hyde” is part of common speech, and most literate adults know it refers to two opposite sides of one person, one good, one evil. But many fewer people have actually read this compact 19th century novelette. You should read it, if for no other reason than it’s remarkably short and you can get it for free on your Kindle.

This book is structured as a mystery/thriller, told from the perspective of a lawyer named Utterson. Utterson’s steady, rational approach to life lends credibility to the strange and ultimately horrifying events he reports. Utterson is a lifelong friend of the famed surgeon Dr. Henry Jekyll, who has some deep, inexplicable association with a mysterious sociopath who goes by the name of Hyde. Utterson believes Hyde is blackmailing Jekyll and tries to persuade Jekyll to confide in him, so that he might help free his friend from this baleful influence. But Jekyll refuses to reveal anything of his relationship with Hyde.

Utterson relates the progression of Hyde’s criminality, and the effect this has on Jekyll. One mystery piles on another as Jekyll breaks his association first with another physician friend, then isolates himself entirely from the outside world. In a climactic scene at the end, Utterson breaches the walls surrounding Jekyll, and learns the truth.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde no doubt provides fodder for intellectual discourse on the moral and psychological nature of humankind. But it’s also a cracking good tale, even if you know the punch line in advance. I categorize Jekyll and Hyde as a science thriller (very old school, of course) because a key plot aspect involves 19th century chemistry and pharmaceuticals. It is also, like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a criticism of science meddling in areas traditionally the realm of religion. With the modern era of genomics, this issue is more pertinent than ever.

If you like this book, you’ll enjoy:
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.