The Colorado Sequence

by Stacey Cochran

Physicist Dr. Amy Levine has discovered a mathematical sequence--the Colorado Sequence--that describes an underlying pattern and a guiding force within the very fabric of reality. 
Now she's on the verge of an astonishing breakthrough, and the U.S. government wants to know how she has done it. How has Dr. Levine learned to accurately predict the future? And they're willing to kill her to find out. 
Levine and a group of friends escape to Colorado to unravel the mystery of the sequence, but there they become snowbound. They must locate a secret treasure room, find a hidden key, and answer an ancient riddle before a devastating eruption destroys them all 
...and the power of the Colorado Sequence is lost forever.

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Science Fiction, Audiobook

442 pages, Paperback

First published May 9, 2007

Reviews

[Catherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was like a train wreck that went on and on and on.

The storyline was vague and confusing, full of broken plot threads. At times, I felt I was reading something patched together by a team of middle-school adventure-story fanboys. It begins with a scientist who has discovered a mathematical formula to predict the future and somehow ends with her restoring "balance" to Earth by traveling to another universe and re-hydrating a desert planet. Along the way, she visits the secret island hideaway of an evil organization (nod to Ian Fleming), is snowbound in a deserted Colorado hotel (nod to Stephen King), takes a ride in a mine cart (nod to Spielberg's Indiana Jones), and is menaced by evil, shadowy horsemen with glowing eyes (nod to J.R.R. Tolkien). I think I also caught references to Star Wars, The Matrix, and Alice in Wonderland, but perhaps I was merely delirious.

Cochran's writing is awkward and clumsy. He has occasional trouble maintaining the proper tense from the beginning of a sentence to its end: "And the feeling was exhilarating to her that they may be entering a deserted Rocky Mountain town that was covered in deep white snow." He tends to use the same words over and over. In one ten-line excerpt from the novel, the words "look" or "looked" are used eight times. That's a lot of looking. From his bio, I was shocked to discover the author teaches writing at a North Carolina university.

In short, this book is desperately seeking an editor. As it was self-published, I'm sure no professional editor came anywhere near it. Although this was a Kindle download and cost me only eighty cents, I was angered to think I could have saved the change and downloaded one of the classics absolutely free. In the future I will be wary of self-published "bargains."

[Don · Rating 2 out of 5]

It has an interesting story but is sometimes disjointed and hard to follow. He needs to be a little more consistent using the first and last names of his characters in a manner that makes it easier to follow who did what and who said what.

Also, some of the transitions from one part of the story to other parts of the story are not very smooth. In short, the concept and story were good but the writing was disjointed and confusing.

[Rowan]

Struggling through it. If she mentions the words stairwell or hallway one more time...... as in twice in the same sentence even...good grief.

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great plot made this a four star read. I enjoyed it quote a bit, and while the ending left me slightly disappointed, there was so much else to the plot that it didn't matter.

The characters were good, especially the main character.

The writing was technically very sound, but my one complaint about the book is that the writing was inconsistent. Mostly it was excellent, flowing prose, with great word choices, but sprinkled throughout were sentences and paragraphs that were not up to snuff. Not typos and not errors, just stuff that didn't flow as well.

all in all, I enjoyed it a lot.

[Becka Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sequels of good book are often lackluster but "The Colorado Sequence" actually outshines its predecessor. It's much better written than "Coral Stone" and I liked that one. It's also a much beefier book at near 450 pages which is always good.

It's also one of those sequels that shines by being stand alone. You don't need to have read "Coral Stone" to read this book. The stories interconnect and concepts from he first book - such as "The Line" are revisited, but they are each complete in their own right.

Another immensely readable story. Well done, Stacey!

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I always feel badly about rating books less than four stars, but honestly this book got them because it couldn't hold my interest long enough for me to want to finish it. It seems like a fun story, but just not captivating for me.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a little hard to follow sometimes with the 'science' content. But otherwise a good thriller.

[Larry Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Stacey Cochran book. The best of hers so far.

[Russell Proctor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good compelling yarn.