better plot . the nuclear thing a bit out there but a good story
933709
Liked the plot, better than some of the others. Nuclear thing a bit far fetched but entertaining.  Good suspense , plot moves well
1410604
This is meant to be a technothriller set in the near future. It's got some of the same plot devices relevant today--Terrorists and government agencies.

The plot works and it's believable, but some of the pacing was a little off for me. I got that the author was trying to build up some sort of love/hate relationship between Lara and Donovan, but eventually, after several chapters of "RAWRR I will protect you!" "RAWRR I don't want you to!" "I'm going to shoot you!" I wanted it to move past that into something else. I felt like maybe I would have enjoyed it more if some of those chapters had been cut and less time devoted to Lara and Donovan going back and forth about that and seeing more Oracle in action or more into the investigation or into Elejahn's head.

I did enjoy the book, it just took me a little while to get through it because of those specific scenes. I guess I was a little more interested in how Oracle itself worked (and I'm not revealing that because it's a big plot point). The Oracle secret gets revealed fairly early on in the book, but for a lot of the beginning, Donovan is trying to figure out what it is and why someone broke into a data center to steal information about it. Once we know the mystery behind Oracle, I wanted to know more about how this theory worked and how it effected the people involved with it.

That's just me personally as a reader and I think people who like thriller movies would enjoy this. It reads like a spy movie or an action movie with the different plot elements and banter
3223039
I found this storyline exciting and plausible. Good action and thoughtful plot.
The few sex scenes we're not necessary and did not add anything to the plot. Maybe Mr. Goldberg just threw them in because most people expect it. I prefer more humor and plot twists, which this author did provide. Will read his next time installment and hope he concentrates on humor and twists.
1751028
This is an interesting, futuristic, mystery with an off beat plot. There is action and intrigue but it does tend to get preachy about an conformist and regulated society.  In any case, I found it a good read.
3665459
Was engaging and had a good plot line. Science seemed authentic and plausible. Not Avatar, but better than most. Really 4-1/2 stars IMO.
2765539
This book is better than the usual offering in the disaster genre.  It has a few spelling and grammer errors and would be better with an editor.  The story itself is well crafted and expressed.  The plot. while rather standard, is better than most.  The only really glaring thing is the  sudden military aptitude and physical ability when early in the book he had been mustered out with a bad knee.  That and saving ipod music and not a word about the art in the museums.  There should be a Librarian character. This book needs and deserves sequel.
3694558
I liked this well enough.  The story is good but I can see potential for it being better and hope that will happen for the sequel.
1182035
I liked the "showdown at high noon" plot with the "silver bullet" possessed by the good guys.  It would have been nice to detail more about the futuristic complexities of the giant sub so the reader would savor all the nasty power more fully.  Overall a fun read and I would enjoy reading more like it.
2424309
I enjoyed this second book a bit more than the first.  Good characters, good plot, and good action.  Being a former Marine and into prepping I enjoyed the military equipment and weapons used in the story, and how the cache's were prepared.  I wasn't crazy about the ending though...
3948199
the writing is better then most and the plot was certainly interesting. some of the subplots seemed pretty extraneous but over all a fun read.
4562518
Improved as it got nearer the end.  Took a while for character development.  A fun new premise in time traveling plots.  Will read the series
3711703
Unlike some of the other reviewers, I was not a fan of Karen Dionne's first novel, Freezing Point.  In fact, I wouldn't have picked up Boiling Point given that experience, except for the fact that I have read a bit on volcanic activity and had a long plane ride in my immediate future.  I suppose the good news is that the plot/science in Boiling Point is not nearly as silly and over-the-top as in Freezing Point and that certain aspects of the writing are improved this go around.

On the other hand, I don't really understand or agree with the increasing trend in allegedly thrilling books, movies, and TV shows of opening with a taut action scene and then immediately backtracking to a time before it occurs and ramping back up to that critical moment, especially in this case.  Yes, I understand that thrillers need to have a hook, but when you know by the end of page 2 that the volcano is going to explode and the bad guy is identified quite early on, any pretense of suspense falls quickly away.  Since the eruption takes up the rest of the book and the only (minor) mystery is the lack of clarity about the precise relationship between the illegal dumping and the bad guy's scheme, there's no suspense to propell one to turn the page.  Add to that the abundance of unlikeable characters, the overly convenient familial and romantic interests between all of them, and the fact that the bad guy's scheme is ultimately not really causally related to the natural events which do occur, you end up with an action/rescue yarn that falls far from the science-gone-wrong yarns of Crichton or the clue-tracking of Dan Brown. (State of Fear (four stars), which was not Crichton's best, is more thought-provoking on global warming and provides a greater variety of action sequences.)  What you get with Boiling Point is a bookish version of Dante's Peak--with all the same action sequences (the pyroclastic cloud; the SUV floating in the current; the tires melting; the rescuer jumping into the hot, acidic lake to save others; etc.).  And while some of the description is vivid, it's not enough to carry the book.  The author's attempts to broaden the scope of the plot are tangential and actually end up undercutting the plausibility of the bad guy's scheme, given the numbers (in terms of henchmen, locations, and funds required) implied.

A few pet peeves:  While there are less than in Freezing Point, the overuse of cliche' "like" comparisons is an irritant.  Conveniences in relationships, geography, and events are all too frequent.  References to events in the prior book are too numerous and too cryptic.  And the amount of internal exposition can at times be overwhelming.  For example, on p. 33 one character asks the other "What's got you in such a good mood?"  After five paragraphs and almost two pages, during which the other reflects on his job, the bonus he expects, schoolgirls and the Japanese terms for them, a specific girl, hiking, secret knowledge of what is going on, the nature of science, the celebrity of his benefactor, the derivation of his own stage name, and the lack of his colleague's appreciation of him, the first character finally gets around to responding to his own question.  By then, I had entirely forgotten that a question had been asked, much less what it was.

In the end, not enough suspense, not enough unique action, and not enough science in the explanations or enough scope in the plot to hold my interest.
4967951
This was a pretty good story.  A little far fetched but decent.
654499
Mediocre acting. Sub par plot. Especially the lack luster attempt to describe the technology aspect. Better if they had left that to the imagination. Otherwise an interesting view. A little sad. A little scary. Keeps your interest as they unfold character complexities and nuances.
2160213
The description of the nuclear facility in the beginning was a little technical for me.  It was only towards the end was I able to get into the story.  Was hoping for a more conclusive ending and it left me cold and uncertain. Sequel planned?
2357130
A good tale with some nice plot twists. Not for a serious scientist but good for the average sci-fi guy.  The ending is not very satisfying bit maybe there is a sequel.
1316226
This, I found better than The  Last Colony.  Skim over the parts that do not add to the plot.  The premise is good, but the execution of the dialogue is sometimes too drawn out.