Date first published	2004
ISBN Number	0 718 14566 6
Page Count	406 h/b
h/b= hardback : p/b= paperback

Storyline

In a distant galaxy a planet dies, fragmented in billions of pieces. Unfortunately some of those pieces have found earth.

Modern day earth, lunatics abound, fanatics from all sides striving to massacre the innocent, and in the middle of all this a piece of highly radioactive meteorite. Some will kill to get what they want.

The Corporation however are on the job, trying to ensure that mass death and destruction does not befall London and Mecca. Stretched to the limits they race to defuse a nuclear bomb and recover the meteorite.

Review

This novel is quite difficult to follow at times, you have a large number of characters to keep pace with. If you intend to read the book on and off over a period of time, I recommend that you don't, as you will lose track of who's who and which side they are on. Let me explain a bit more. The Corporation consists of a crew of 26 characters, all of whom appear at some point or another. The other characters in the novel number 28. 54 characters in a book. Wow. A lot of the characters are very bland which means that you can't always remember who is who and what their involvement with the main story is. One of the plot developments eventually works out to be a bit of a red herring, as the meteorite is stolen for one purpose, then stolen again by a third party. I have to admit I got a bit tied up with which Arab group was which and why they doing what they were.

If you tease the plot threads apart you find that the story is quite good, it is just that you are expected to try and remember who everyone is and where they fit in. If you have the time to read the book from cover to cover that is fairly straight forward, but, if like me you end up with large gaps between sessions it is overly confusing, and I have had to read large chunks of the book a second time.

The book is short on characterization as well. We learn nothing new about Cabrillo or his motley crew, and I certainly don't feel concerned when they get into danger. For a book to really work, the reader needs to empathize with the main characters, whether to like or hate doesn't matter. Unfortunately I don't feel anything for Cabrillo or his team.

Like a lot of books from American authors in the last few years Cussler and Dirgo have fallen into the trap of everything coming together to easily, purely it seems because they are American and have technology. This is a horrible trend, which I hope fizzles out as it becomes very tedious, if at the press of a key all the answers are found. Perhaps this is what the American market wants?

Despite the flaws, too many plot twists and far too many characters I will give the book a three, as it doesn't warrant a two. I feel the book is not worth a two rating as it's not that bad in some ways. The book would have been far better if a. a number of the characters had been dropped, or b. the characters were left in but the plot simplified.

If the series is to continue I feel that the Corporation characters should be reduced in number. This could easily be done, have your main team 4-5, with another 3 or 4 on the periphery. In some ways it could be like Star Trek, where you have the landing party, but are supported by lesser crew members as and when.

Read the book if you have the time to read it in a fairly short space of time. A poor 3 rating.

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