false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175910643m/573809.jpg 5056 29 Ken Follett shook the mystery world with his debut (now classic) novel, <I>The Eye of the Needle</I>, and now he's shaking the earth again with <I>The Hammer of Eden</I>. Or, at least his bad guys are shaking it. The novel begins with a series of flashbacks while Priest and his girlfriend Star plot to steal a seismic vibrator. Priest, an illiterate street tough turned hippie guru, is rallying his commune to fight back against the state of California. Living out of time and out of society, the commune grows its own food, makes wine, and smokes a lot of dope, but the lives of Priest and his cohorts are about to be destroyed by the construction of a new power plant in their valley. Priest takes his cue from Melanie, a seismologist who joined his commune after being shaken by marital difficulties. With their seismic vibrator and under the code name Hammer of Eden, they plan to rock California with earthquakes until they get a promise of work stoppage. Judy Maddox is on their case. Daughter of an Irish American cop and a Vietnamese mother, Judy's slight in form though a rising force in the FBI. Office politics have placed her on a ludicrous case involving an earthquake threat, but the more she looks at the Hammer of Eden, the more she is convinced that the threat is for real. Her contact, seismologist Michael Quercus, provides compelling evidence that a major catastrophe is in the offing. From there, the novel becomes a race between Judy and Michael and the increasingly deadly and desperate Priest and his followers. <I>The Hammer of Eden</I> isn't, in the end, as groundbreaking as some of Follett's earlier work; the commune's jump from peace-loving band of hippies to state terrorists happens just a bit too quickly. Nevertheless, Follett's gift for plotting and intrigue keep the cracks in the narrative in check, and the denouement is sure to send tremors through the most sturdy of readers. <I>--Patrick O'Kelley</I> 1262361 1998 The Hammer of Eden total:910|5:100|4:236|3:411|2:137|1:26| 910 2977 1103 49 3 0 false false Tue Aug 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 13:12:13 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 13:21:09 -0700 2009
It had two main characters on opposite sides of the fence. The first character, Priest, was a criminal turned vineyard operator. His peaceful existance is threaten by the building of a dam in his northern California valley. He desperately turns...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Apr 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 19:42:01 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 19:50:02 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Dec 07 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Mon Dec 08 22:56:19 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 13 02:54:03 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Fri Oct 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 10:51:21 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 10:54:46 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Tue Apr 07 18:40:46 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 07 18:40:46 -0700 2009 Michel gave me a more historical setting Ken Follet book - may try this later.]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Wed Jan 21 18:08:28 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 21 18:09:34 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Fri Jul 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 11:26:12 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 11:27:32 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 24 12:35:36 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 24 12:41:24 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Fri Nov 21 07:37:00 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 21 07:38:30 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Sun Oct 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 20:43:39 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 20:45:13 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Dec 30 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 27 08:17:53 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 08:19:58 -0800 2009 2 0 false false Fri May 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 07:23:04 -0700 2009 Sat May 09 00:05:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Aug 12 14:05:35 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 14:06:22 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Aug 10 08:39:12 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 08:18:21 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 10 08:39:12 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Jun 03 15:40:40 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 15:41:24 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Mar 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 15:00:28 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 15:00:51 -0800 2009 1 0 false false Tue Nov 10 19:14:08 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 11 06:19:24 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Thu Jan 25 00:00:00 -0800 1996 Sun Nov 08 19:45:47 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 08 19:46:19 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sun Oct 11 05:53:54 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 11 05:54:15 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Jan 02 09:37:50 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 06:25:26 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=573809