Kerry Nietz's Reviews > Impact

When a friend offered to loan me this book, I had my doubts about taking it. Don’t get me wrong, I was an early fan of Preston’s works with Lincoln Child—Riptide and The Ice Limit being two of my favorites. I’ve been a lot more lukewarm with the duo’s works as separate authors, though. Preston’s last book, Blasphemy, I couldn’t finish. The Christian characters portrayed were so Hollywood stereotypical (meaning all were hypocrites, violent or ignorant) that I thought Preston had to be joking when he wrote them. I was like “seriously…have you ever met a Christian in your life…?”

Regardless, I decided to give Impact a look. This time I almost didn’t get through the first chapter. Being a bit of an amateur astronomer, I couldn’t believe that one of the main characters—who is supposedly star literate—is observing the Andromeda Galaxy in the Orion Constellation. In reality, the Andromeda Galaxy is nowhere near the Orion Constellation. They’re not even in the same part of the sky! Was this going to be another book filled with faulty research? Again, I contemplated putting the book away.

Thankfully, I pressed on. After that first chapter the science got a lot better. It was accurate, and even in the times where the author speculates, was at least plausible. Really made me wonder what happened with that first chapter….

From a reader’s perspective, though, the book is great. It moves quickly and has a really fun, fun plot. The two main characters are very likable (Wyman Ford having appeared in other of Preston’s works) and the villains were the kind you can truly despise. There’s a good variety of locations, some nice twists and a fair conclusion. I think the only complaint I might have with the plot is that there are a few too many nautical dilemmas for my taste. But that’s purely a preference thing—some people might love all those.

Overall Impact restored my faith in Douglas Preston as an author. Really enjoyed it, and look forward to what he has planned next. Well done.

(One final note, this book is sprinkled with R-rated language. More so than in previous Preston books, I think. I don’t know if I’d call it gratuitous, but enough that those who notice such things would notice. )