Domain may take a few leaps of faith to get into, but if you can get around some of the not necessarily nonsense, it is a pretty darn good book. Julius Gabriel has spent most of his life searching for the connection between Stonehenge, The Great Pyramids, Anfkor Wat, and the Mayan ruins in Mexico. Unfortunately, when he had almost solved the riddle and announced his findings to the scientific community, his, at one time, best friend held him up to ridicule and, in the midst of this attack, died of a heart attack. As he collapsed on the stage, his son Mick, physically attacked the man responsible and ended up sitting in the local loony bin for 10 years. And this is where the story begins. Dominigue Vasquez is a new intern at the psychiatric facility where Mick has been kept, with no hope for escape. He is NOT crazy - he believes his fathers work is true, and that the end of the world is coming on VERY SOON! The Winter Solstice approaches in the year 2012. The ancient writings at the pyramids at Chichen Itza say that the the entire human civilizations of earth will be destroyed - the apocalypse is on its way. Mick enlists Dominique and he manages to escape the asylum - and they are now both on the run from the police, as well as a very powerful Secretary of State, Pierre Borgia, who just happens to be the guy who caused his fathers death. There is alot of back story between Julius and Pierre, that part was interesting. The political stuff was a bit far fetched and could have been eliminated. The nuclear problems between the US, China and Russia were a bit much, but I guess with all the explosions going on, someone had to get mad at someone else, and they are the 3 most likely candidates. And it did give Borgia (really stupid name) something to talk about. The globe hopping, fleeing the cops, bad guys and assorted people who want to stop Mick and Dominique from saving the world are pretty darn good. The book moves fast, the details and development of the characters is very well done, and the descriptions of where they are, the historical significance, and how all these places tie together are well integrated. I was a bit confused by some of the technical stuff - again, a little over the top like the politics stuff. It didn't really take away from the story, but in my opinion, didn't add a heck of alot either. The basic premise is pure sci-fi, the execution and explaination well done. There is a sequel in the works, so we'll see how he does on the next go-round. This book reminds me very much of the Area 51 5 part series in that all the old ruins left after all these centuries seem to have some sort of connection. The research tends to prove this point, as it does in Area 51. *wonders if Steve Alten and Robert Doherty ever compared notes?* On a scale of 1-5, I have to give this one a 4 for the pace of the story, the detail of the locations and the integration of so many different old and new stories (he even brings in the Old Testament), as well as the excellent job he does on Mick Gabriel. I really liked this guy - and I REALLY disliked Pierre Borgia - guess that means the author did his job. Now, lets see how Resurrection reads when I can find it.
Title: Domain |
9/12/04
