It is very rare at this stage of my life that I find myself unable to put a book down.
Mark Alpert has written a novel.
"Final Theory" - Touchstone Books (Simon & Schuster) ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-7287-9
David is a historian of science, ex-physicist and divorced father.
His former advisor is found tortured and before dying he tells David a clue... hijinks ensue, with the FBI, very bad bad guys and a range of implausible physicists. Some good cameos in there also.
The tone is reminiscent of a Dan Brown novel, but the science is much, much more plausible, and the plot not nearly as moronic.
It is not James Joyce, and there times when we are really grateful for that, because sometimes a lighter read is what the mind needs, and this book is a fun read that doesn't insult the intelligence.
I found it delightful, with moderate suspension of disbelief required, and I really did stay up till 2 in the morning to finish it because I enjoyed it.
I don't know if it will have the sort of success Brown's book have, the science may be a bit too heavy for the general public, and the prose may not be quite light enough to capture the bigger market.
If you like harder science in fiction, and you read Brown or other "airport" novels despite yourself, then you should read this book.
Oh, and if Alpert writes another book I am reading it.
Did you read Angels & Demons?
I'm hoping you thought A&D stunk as badly as I did, and you still liked this one. If so, I'll check it out.
Yes, I read A&D.
I thought it was poor - terrible science and bloated writing. I gather the theology and art were not much better than the physics.
Final Theory has much better science, and is more crisply written.
It is a novel, and the style is very much "airport thriller", but I found it genuine fun and wanted to read through to the end, not put it down.
YMMV
Yikes, I thought you were referring to this for a second... http://www.amazon.com/Final-Theory-Rethinking-Scientific-Legacy/dp/1581…
What a disaster that one is!