Book Review: Blasphemy

Blasphemy

Douglas Preston

If you’re familiar with the Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child books (check out their site at www.prestonchild.com to see their many titles), you already know the sort of writing style to expect from this novel:  clumsy, heavy on the adverbs, but an easy and quick read.  The fun part of their novels is always the scientific aspect:  they deal with archaeological digs, underwater drilling, trips to the North Pole, and … big machines that can recreate the Big Bang.  Yeah, they’re an ambitious pair.

Preston’s fourth solo novel (he has some pretty picture books too – I mean collections of photography) is about a “supercollider” that will unlock the mysteries of the universe.  The team in charge of this machine is ostensibly having difficulty getting the thing to work, so the U.S. government hires Wyman Ford, an “ex-monk and CIA operative,” to case the joint.  Not a word of a lie, this is how the jacket describes the protagonist.  I read this, bust out laughing in the store, and bought the book.  It was just too ridiculous to pass up.

The team of scientists working with Isabella (yes, they named the machine) is headed by another superman, Gregory Hazelius.  I say “another” because Preston and Child are big on super-amazing men in some of their novels; they have a recurring character named Pendergast in their latest series who can apparently do anything.  So Hazelius is like the smartest man on Earth.  But behold!  The fanatical Christian Right is not happy about these “secular humanists” (still don’t know what that means) trying to debunk the biblical version of creation.  And the Navajo who live in the area aren’t happy this machine is built on sacred ground, etc etc.  Throw in a few Wiccans pissed that the scientists are blocking their view of the moon and we’ll have a party. 

The last third of the book is very chaotic and difficult to visualize.  There is a map of Isabella’s layout in the first few pages, but it’s not very helpful.  Again, the writing isn’t the best, and none of the characters is very interesting, but it’s a quick, fun read and you can brag about how fast you finished a 400-page hardcover.