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Chain Reaction: A Novel
An inventor and his wife flee for their lives when he learns that a high ranking government official has a secret plan for one of his inventions
- GenresFiction
246 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 5, 2020
Chain Reaction was never my favourite Keanu Reeves film, and the only reason I have kept it in my collection, is because of Keanu Reeves. Unfortunately, the film and novelization will make no sense to those of us who are not part of the science world, but the book actually makes for a better read than the film.
I think Robert Tine has done the best he can with an overly complex script to begin with. I always found the beginning of the film very disjointed and a bit all over the place. In the novelization, up until the explosion, is considerably more fleshed out, and doesn't feel quite as disjointed as the film did. You get more of a fix on the characters, although Lily initially comes across as a bit of a snob. The beginning is greatly expanded, with lots of additional dialogue, and shows Eddie and Lily getting a bus back to hers after the experiment is deemed successful.
Bucky and Chen also leave the lab before Bucky mysteriously decides that he wants to gather all the data, and returns to the lab, with Chen in tow. (Chen disappears and does not reappear, unlike in the film.) Eddie doesn't return to the lab until page 59, which is when the book, and the film, kick off.
The book closely follows the film from this point onwards, with other some minor additional scenes, some of which are:
There is more background to the enigmatic Maggie, who felt she was intended to be a former flame of Eddie's, and we find out how they met, and there's also a scene of Maggie and Lily talking, once Lily gets over her spike of unnecessary jealousy.
When Lily and Eddie break into the house, after flying across the frozen river, there is an extended bath scene, where they both end up in the bath (with their underwear on), despite the film only depicting Lily being in the bath, with what appeared to be a top on.
Joe, the homeless man, who shares his grate with Eddie, has a few more lines, during a talk with Eddie. He also ends up getting arrested, rather than just being forgotten about in the film. It was sad to see his role cut down in the film.
The lead up to and the finale also changes but I think they made this more suspenseful and drawn out in the film, whereas the book speeds over it. Personally, I think I preferred the finale of the film, rather than the book - it's a lot more action based.
It's a fairly chunky novelization, coming in at 246 pages, but the chapters are reasonably short, so it won't take long to read at all. I would only say that the technical bits are what drags it down, but the same goes for the film. I think there may also be some technical errors between both, such as a line in the book, where Eddie is in the lab and can "smell the oxygen", and then goes out to get his motorbike and takes big lungfuls of fresh air. That just came across as a little odd to me.
It's a good novelization, for what the film was, and if you enjoyed the film, I would definitely recommend it. It's not up amongst my favourite novelizations, but Robert Tine has done a couple of other novelizations that I own and considering the technical-heavy script, he's done not too bad.
At the end of the book, there are also some adverts for the following novelizations: Dangerous Minds, Murder In The First, Die Hard With a Vengeance and Seven. I thought this was quite a nice little tie-in, for people who enjoy novelizations to find more.
I think Robert Tine has done the best he can with an overly complex script to begin with. I always found the beginning of the film very disjointed and a bit all over the place. In the novelization, up until the explosion, is considerably more fleshed out, and doesn't feel quite as disjointed as the film did. You get more of a fix on the characters, although Lily initially comes across as a bit of a snob. The beginning is greatly expanded, with lots of additional dialogue, and shows Eddie and Lily getting a bus back to hers after the experiment is deemed successful.
Bucky and Chen also leave the lab before Bucky mysteriously decides that he wants to gather all the data, and returns to the lab, with Chen in tow. (Chen disappears and does not reappear, unlike in the film.) Eddie doesn't return to the lab until page 59, which is when the book, and the film, kick off.
The book closely follows the film from this point onwards, with other some minor additional scenes, some of which are:
There is more background to the enigmatic Maggie, who felt she was intended to be a former flame of Eddie's, and we find out how they met, and there's also a scene of Maggie and Lily talking, once Lily gets over her spike of unnecessary jealousy.
When Lily and Eddie break into the house, after flying across the frozen river, there is an extended bath scene, where they both end up in the bath (with their underwear on), despite the film only depicting Lily being in the bath, with what appeared to be a top on.
Joe, the homeless man, who shares his grate with Eddie, has a few more lines, during a talk with Eddie. He also ends up getting arrested, rather than just being forgotten about in the film. It was sad to see his role cut down in the film.
The lead up to and the finale also changes but I think they made this more suspenseful and drawn out in the film, whereas the book speeds over it. Personally, I think I preferred the finale of the film, rather than the book - it's a lot more action based.
It's a fairly chunky novelization, coming in at 246 pages, but the chapters are reasonably short, so it won't take long to read at all. I would only say that the technical bits are what drags it down, but the same goes for the film. I think there may also be some technical errors between both, such as a line in the book, where Eddie is in the lab and can "smell the oxygen", and then goes out to get his motorbike and takes big lungfuls of fresh air. That just came across as a little odd to me.
It's a good novelization, for what the film was, and if you enjoyed the film, I would definitely recommend it. It's not up amongst my favourite novelizations, but Robert Tine has done a couple of other novelizations that I own and considering the technical-heavy script, he's done not too bad.
At the end of the book, there are also some adverts for the following novelizations: Dangerous Minds, Murder In The First, Die Hard With a Vengeance and Seven. I thought this was quite a nice little tie-in, for people who enjoy novelizations to find more.
January 22, 2016
Great story of conspiracy and thrills. Eddie Gould has a power source that everyone wants a piece of, Not to bring it to light so people can use it, but to hide it so no one has it. This story is amazing because people don't realize how close to the truth it really is. I also love the movie which I think almost does the book justice.
May 13, 2012
The film was great, but the novel isn't so good. Perhaps it was the original idea (not sure whether this was a novelisation of the film or the book the film was based on) in which case it's an awesome premise but I'm afraid not brilliantly executed. Disappointing compared to the film. The best thing about it is the film tie-in front cover.
The write up about this book - the story - isn't correct, other than the fact the film stars Morgan Freeman and Keanu Reeves, but that's evident by the cover.
The write up about this book - the story - isn't correct, other than the fact the film stars Morgan Freeman and Keanu Reeves, but that's evident by the cover.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews