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Blasphemy
by Douglas J. Preston
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"Blasphemy will be considered precisely that by many readers on the Christian right, and even a secular humanist would have to say its bad guys are cartoonish. But the scenes of howling Christians eagerly killing fellow Americans who don't share their views are chilling..." Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post Book World (read the entire Washington Post Book World review)
Synopses & Reviews The world's biggest supercollider, locked in an Arizona mountain, was built to reveal the secrets of the very moment of creation: the Big Bang itself. The Torus is the most expensive machine ever created by humankind, run by the world's most powerful supercomputer. It is the brainchild of Nobel Laureate William North Hazelius. Will the Torus divulge the mysteries of the creation of the universe? Or will it, as some predict, suck the earth into a mini black hole? Or is the Torus a Satanic attempt, as a powerful televangelist decries, to challenge God Almighty on the very throne of Heaven?
Twelve scientists under the leadership of Hazelius are sent to the remote mountain to turn it on, and what they discover must be hidden from the world at all costs. Wyman Ford, ex-monk and CIA operative, is tapped to wrest their secret, a secret that will either destroy the world...or save it. The countdown begins... Review: "Like Isabella, a giant 'superconducting supercollider particle accelerator,' the thought-provoking new thriller from bestseller Preston (Tyrannosaur Canyon) takes a while to power up, but once it does, this baby roars. The ostensible goal of Isabella's creator, physicist Gregory North Hazelius, is to discover new forms of energy, but what he really wants is to talk to God. The project, located inside Red Mesa ('a five-hundred-square-mile tableland on the Navajo Indian Reservation'), is behind schedule, so presidential science adviser Stanton Lockwood hires ex-CIA man Wyman Ford to go to Red Mesa and find out what's causing the holdup. Meanwhile, a Navajo medicine man, a televangelist and a pastor who runs a failed mission on the reservation are gearing up to pull the plug on Isabella before she destroys the earth. Science has often tangled with religion in this genre, but Preston puts his own philosophical spin on the usual proceedings, and when he gets his irate villagers with their burning torches headed for the castle, the pages simply fly. (Jan.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review: "In Douglas Preston's new best-seller, American scientists engage in a lengthy dialogue with God, whereupon all hell breaks loose. The violent aftermath of this divine dialogue is not God's fault — His is the most rational voice in the book. The trouble, rather, comes from us mortals, who in this case include a clueless president, an egocentric scientific genius, a greedy lobbyist in the Abramoff ... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review) mode, a hypocritical TV preacher in Virginia, a crazed evangelist in the Arizona desert and several thousand excitable Christians who are easily convinced that the supposed voice of God is really Satan and the time is nigh for the rapture and Armageddon. A Nobel Prize-winning scientist named Gregory Hazelius has persuaded Congress to build the world's largest supercollider, which will investigate the big bang and potential energy sources. Hazelius and a dozen handpicked scientists are starting the project deep under an Arizona mesa, but there are problems with Isabella, its all-powerful computer. Meanwhile, back in Washington, worse trouble is brewing. A scheming lobbyist known as Crawley, determined to squeeze millions out of the Navajo Nation, enlists the help of the Rev. Don T. Spates, a celebrated TV evangelist. For a price, Spates tells his audience that the Isabella project is anti-Christian because it accepts the big-bang theory rather than the biblical version of creation. Spates needs the money because recent publicity about him and two prostitutes in a motel has slowed his cash flow. The White House sends former CIA man Wyman Ford to investigate problems with the Isabella project. This being a piece of popular fiction, he finds that one of the scientists is his onetime lover, Kate Mercer, which complicates matters, but not nearly as much as the voice of God, who speaks to the scientists through the supercomputer. At first they suspect that a hacker is playing tricks on them, but God's ability to reveal their inmost secrets persuades most of them that He's for real. Exchanges like this follow: 'Are you saying that our reality is an illusion?' 'Yes. Natural selection has given you the illusion that you understand fundamental reality. But you do not. How could you? Do beetles understand fundamental reality? Do chimpanzees? You are an animal like them.' God finally reveals that He has a new mission for humankind: 'The great monotheistic religions were a necessary stage in the development of human culture. Your task is to guide the human race to the next belief system.' But whether that will be possible is unclear because of alarming events unfolding outside the scientists' underground sanctuary. The trouble begins when Spates enlists the help of Pastor Russell Eddy, leader of the Gathered in Thy Name Mission in Blue Gap, Ariz. Eddy, a crazed, penniless and sometimes homicidal evangelist, agrees to spy on the Isabella project for his hero, Spates. Eddy overhears the scientists talking about their dialogues with God and decides this is blasphemy. Soon God — his God — tells him what to do, and Eddy sends an e-mail to thousands of like-minded Christians announcing: 'The End Days have arrived. The Apocalypse and the Rapture are at hand.' He declares that Hazelius, the project director, is the Antichrist, that he and his scientist-disciples are talking to Satan, and that it's time for all believers to join Eddy's Army of God in the final battle against the Antichrist. Several thousand wild-eyed believers gather on a mesa while the unwitting scientists are busy talking to God, and they soon overpower the forces of law and order. The president, back in Washington, orders troops to the scene but, as is often the case, the Pentagon needs several days to get its act together. What follows is bloody and unsettling. At one point, as gunshots and explosions rage, we get this: 'All Ford could think of was Hieronymus Bosch's "Last Judgment." The eastern end of the mesa, where Isabella had been, was a vast pillar of incandescent fire boring up into the night sky. ... People wandered aimlessly about the ghastly hellscape or ran about, crying dementedly.' But Douglas Preston has more on his mind than a slam-bang ending. As the scientists flee for their lives, we are given surprising new information about the God who has been speaking through Isabella. In the end, human history is changed by these possibly miraculous events — whether for better or worse is open to debate. 'Blasphemy' will be considered precisely that by many readers on the Christian right, and even a secular humanist would have to say its bad guys are cartoonish. But the scenes of howling Christians eagerly killing fellow Americans who don't share their views are chilling, and history reminds us that the more feverish advocates of most religions have been spilling innocent blood for centuries. The novel is entirely readable, and its satire of religious extremism, if heavy-handed, often strikes home." Reviewed by Patrick Anderson, whose e-mail address is mondaythrillers(at symbol)aol.com, Washington Post Book World (Copyright 2006 Washington Post Book World Service/Washington Post Writers Group)
(hide most of this review)Review: "Preston balances the fine line between fundamentalism and science with a sure hand and joins Michael Crichton as a master of suspenseful novels that tackle controversial issues in the realm of science. Highly recommended." Library Journal Review: "Readers interested in exploring the science-versus-religion debate will be particularly entranced." Booklist Synopsis: The world's biggest supercollider, the Torus, was built to rreveal the secrets of the very moment of creation: the Big Bang itself. Will the Torus divulge the mysteries of the creation of the universe? Or is it an attempt to challenge God on the very throne of heaven?
Video About the Author Douglas Preston is the co-author with Lincoln Child of a bestselling thriller/adventure series. He also writes novels and nonfiction books of his own and is a frequent contributor to magazines like National Geographic, The New Yorker, Natural History, Smithsonian, Harper's, and Travel & Leisure.
Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9780765311054
- Author:
- Preston, Douglas J.
- Publisher:
- Forge
- Author:
- Preston, Douglas
- Subject:
- Thrillers
- Subject:
- Scientists
- Subject:
- Arizona
- Subject:
- Science fiction
- Subject:
- Spy stories
- Copyright:
- 2008
- Edition Description:
- Hardcover
- Publication Date:
- January 2008
- Binding:
- Hardcover
- Language:
- English
- Illustrations:
- Y
- Pages:
- 414
- Dimensions:
- 9.58x6.47x1.40 in. 1.46 lbs.
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