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The Tsunami Countdown (2009)

by Boyd Morrison(Favorite Author)

3.98 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0751547158 (ISBN13: 9780751547153)

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

Sphere

review 1: The original title for this book was 'The Palmyra Impact' which references the asteroid impact that causes all the tsunamis throughout the story. It's probably an appropriate title change since the asteroid impact is never seen and hardly referenced, but the new title isn't exactly fitting either as there are four major tsunamis that occur. So despite the confusion, there's still an interesting, exciting story here. Tsunamis will always be scary, and this book is set in Hawaii so things are even worse for the heroes. Being the first real book I've read that deals exclusively with a disaster scenario concerning tsunamis, I was keen to read it, but I was also apprehensive because I didn't know if the tension could be maintained over the course of the whole book. Well, the bo... moreok definitely has an atmosphere of dread which was great. There are four major tsunamis, with a twenty-five minute or more lead-up before they strike Hawaii one at a time - and each time they get bigger and bigger, forcing people on the island to retreat to higher ground; in this case, climbing up taller and taller hotels on the shore. The main character is Kai Tanaka, who works for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. He warns everyone of what's coming, then he has to retrieve his family.Most of the characters were adequately drawn, though in a simplistic way because this is meant to be a thriller and there's no time for backstory. There are probably too many characters overall, too many perspective changes, and this dilutes the opportunity to really get to know Kai and his family, and get some development into their personal issues. I also had trouble with the amount of hotels that were acting as characters themselves - there were too many, I couldn't follow their names. Really, the main character is the ocean and thankfully you get a sense of its power when the waves come in. You get a sense of the mortality, the fact that some people are ignorant of the risk, too slow to escape or else willing to die. Some hotels are bashed so hard by the tsunamis, they collapse. Car roll, boats are thrown, it's pretty intense and it's described well. I cared about Kai just enough to want him and his family to live. I liked the tight escapes. There was one scene when Kai and his group of friends aren't going to get high enough to avoid a wave, so they tie themselves to a girder and wear scuba tanks - very inventive and fun. In terms of pace, all I can say is the book might not be overly fast, but it's smooth and I was never bored. The writing style was effortless to breeze through and there are no pointless bits. If you have a secret phobia of big waves at the beach, you need to read this.Enjoyment Factor: 4 starsMovie Potential: 5 stars
review 2: If they said this book is 'unputdownable', it is. You really can't wait turn to the next page to see what happens next. however, i still think the main character's (Kai) run of good lucks are too much. I can't help visualizing the whole ordeal with '2012' movie where one group of survivors held on through the toughest tests of mother nature. I thought it would be good for the story to end after the third wave of the tsunami, where Kai's wife's struggle to survive finally ended. the fourth tsunami is just to complete what would be a stereotype of a hollywood blockbuster - to end with the big boom. overall, i was entertained. that's the whole point right? so i gave this book a 4 star review. less

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