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The hammer of Eden : a novel / Ken Follett.
"When controversial radio talk host John Truth broadcasts a terrorist threat of a man-made earthquake, few people take it seriously. Crackerjack young FBI agent Judy Maddox is assigned to track down the elusive, sinister group called the “Hammer of Eden.” Judy’s boss, who has a grudge against her, thinks he has given her a waste-of-time assignment. But Judy’s research leads her to maverick seismologist Michael Quercus, who gives her the shocking news that it might just be possible for an earthquake to be deliberately triggered. And when a tremor in a remote California desert shows evidence of being machine-generated, Judy knows the threat is terrifying real. Suddenly in charge of a life-or-death investigation, Judy must pinpoint the terrorists’ next target, with the help of the erratic but attractive Michael. Their compelling romantic drama is played out as they race to beat the terrorist deadline and prevent an unthinkable disaster. Unknown to them, Michael’s estranged wife, gorgeous but angry, has fallen under the spell of a clever, sexy cult leader called Priest—and they have stolen from Michael’s computer the key data that enables the Hammer of Eden to carry out their cataclysmic threat. Worse still, Michael’s son is with his wife—and under the control of Priest. All of them are in mortal jeopardy as Judy and Michael fight to save San Francisco from being brought down in ruins."-- [Goodreads]
Record details
- ISBN: 9780609603086 (hc.)
- ISBN: 9780449006771 (pbk.)
- ISBN: 9780449227541 (pbk.)
- ISBN: 0609603086 (hc.)
- ISBN: 0449006778 (pbk.)
- ISBN: 0449004589 (pbk.)
- Physical Description: 404 p. ; 24 cm.
- Edition: 1st ed.
- Publisher: New York : Crown Publishers : c1998.
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Cults > Fiction. Seismology > Fiction. Terrorists > California > Fiction. Power-plants > Fiction. Terrorism > Prevention > Fiction. Induced seismicity > Fiction. California > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Ecological thrillers. Terrorist thrillers. Adventure stories. |
Available copies
- 15 of 15 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Elkford Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 15 total copies.
Other Formats and Editions
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elkford Public Library | FC FOL (Text) | 35170000148767 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Monthly Selections - #1 September 1998
/*Starred Review*/ Follett's latest concerns a secret California hippie commune whose existence is threatened when the state opts to build a power plant on the site. Priest, the commune's charismatic leader, vows to stay put no matter what. He figures the threat of a major earthquake is a perfect way to blackmail the state into abandoning the power-plant idea, and just in case he needs to deliver the goods, he thinks he knows how to produce a huge trembler that will bring the state to its knees. Stealing a seismic vibrator from a local oil-drilling site, Priest persuades one of his followers, a wanna-be seismologist, to help him figure out the rest. Pitted against Priest is FBI agent Judy Maddox, who's hot to solve the case and convince her superiors she's ready for a major promotion. Racing to find the mysterious Priest and stop him before he can shake California to smithereens, Maddox enlists the help of handsome seismologist Michael Quercus. But even the predictable romance doesn't deter the two from taking care of the bad guys and saving California from the Big One. Fortunately, a ho-hum premise turns into a riveting thriller in Follett's skillful hands. Taut plotting, tense action, skillful writing, and myriad unexpected twists make this one utterly unputdownable. Destined for bestsellerdom. ((Reviewed September 1, 1998)) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 1998 October #1
A man-made earthquake is at the epicenter of a dull thud of a thriller. Richard Granger semi-reformed thief, occasional murderer, practicing guru heads a cult hunkered down in an idyllic California valley. The cult, in fact, has been hunkered down for 25 long years, making wine and babies and fashioning a life free of the crassness seen as endemic to capitalist America. But now the valley is threatened with extinction. It's The Guv'ment! It's nuclear testing! It's a situation that cannot be tolerated, decides Granger, who sets about stealing something called a seismic vibrator. This, in addition to generating a fair number of wink-wink, nudge-nudge jokes throughout the story, is the piece of equipment needed to implement a counter threat, the artificial earthquake. You use the vibrator to pound the earth at strategic places along a sensitive fault line places that can be identified by any well-disposed seismologist, one such happening to be the cult member who is Granger's lover. The Guv'ment is duly warned: Cease nuclear testing, Granger advises via a talk-radio show, or watch while we make a disaster. Enter Judy Maddox, a sprightly young FBI agent with obligatory great body and groovy brain. With her comes hunkish Michael Quercus, seismologist for the good guys. Then, this being the kind of novel it is, also enter some nasty, plot-thickening office politics. Tension heightens when the cult (a.k.a. the Hammer of Eden) demonstrates that its capability is for real. And next time, Granger promises, we won't be wreaking havoc on some worthless expanse of uninhabited desert. But will there be a next time? Will there be a showdown/shootout? Will there be a clinch at the end? Pat, predictable, relentlessly formulaic. Still, Follett s (The Third Twin, 1996, etc.) eager and ample following will no doubt come through again. (Television satellite tour) Copyright 1998 Kirkus Reviews - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 1998 October #1
Richard Granger, a charismatic fugitive known as Priest, controls a long-established winemaking commune in northern California that loses its government lease because of a dam project. Ignoring other alternatives, his group becomes "The Hammer of Eden" and threatens to cause an earthquake unless the governor halts construction. When the threats are ignored, Priest uses a seismic vibrator to ever-increasing effect. San Francisco-based FBI agent Judy Maddox teams up with a seismic expert who is estranged from one of the terrorists and attracted to Judy; together, they guide the FBI in a frantic effort to prevent an earthquake on the Embarcadero. The promising concept and characterizations are weakened by too many coincidences and the sympathetic portrayal of Priest, an antihero of the first rank. Though Follett's latest thriller is not at the level of his earlier titles (e.g., The Third Twin, LJ 9/15/96), his fans and the planned media blitz will create demand. V. Louise Saylor, Eastern Washington Univ. Lib., Cheney Copyright 1998 Library Journal Reviews - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 1998 August #4
After 20 years of writing bestselling novels, Follett is enough of a pro to produce a reliable page-turner from a flimsy premise as he does here. His working out of how a rural, socially radical California commune moves not heaven but earth to stave off the loss of their land to a government dam and the ensuing flood is smartly paced if nearly devoid of inspiration. What distinguishes it is not the communards' weapon, a stolen seismic vibrator generally used by oil companies to sound for liquid gold but also handy for starting earthquakes. Nor is it the mechanical progression of the plot, as the radicals, calling themselves the Hammer of Eden, escalate threats and consequent quakes in order to blackmail the state into halting the dam until the finale finds them about to devastate San Francisco. Nor is it the by-the-book chase of the terrorists by a headstrong female FBI agent who might have walked onstage from any of a dozen other thrillers. What does other than its efficient telling raise the novel above mundanity is the depth of characterization of its villains, a Follett forte since his splendid debut in Eye of the Needle. Follett devotes many pages to backstory, creating in Priest, once a smalltime hood and now the commune's leader, in Star, his hippie earth-woman, and in Melanie, a bitter young beauty who throws in with the commune, fully realized outcasts, crazed and desperate idealists whose actions are as believable as they are heinous. All else in the novel, including the perfunctory prose, serve only to push the story quickly through its paces, but Follett's troupe of lost souls makes it dance to a memorable, mournful tune. Agent, Al Zuckerman; major ad/promo; simultaneous Random House audio and large-print edition. (Nov.) Copyright 1998 Publishers Weekly Reviews
