8.4

by Peter Hernon

Book Overview

A massive earthquake in America's heartland causes massive destruction and a launches an equally epic struggle to save the survivors. Reprint. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399144005
• ISBN13: 9780399144004
• Release Date: February 1999
• Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
• Length: 393 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Ignore those other, negative, reviews, it's a ripper.

After you've read all the other reviews, with all their nitpicking, give Hernon a read. You'll love it. To those other reviewers I say, "C'mon, get a life -- this is FICTION!!" Sure, I even spotted a misuse of the possessive "its" (in the book it's printed as "it's). But give the author his due, he's done a magnificent job of stringing together a whole bunch of boring factoids, so his plot really rocks. Short chapters, each one ending with a hook to throw you forward to the next scene; plenty of power-packed verbs and adjectives to add spice. So there's little "romance!" Big deal. There's enough. I say you should cut Hernon plenty of slack for the way he's snapped up a little-known subject (the New Madrid Fault) and given it vivid credibility. I've been a "drive by" amateur geologist for many years. I've followed the San Andreas Fault nearly every inch of the way and gazed with awe at the site where New Madrid lit up with a triple play in 1811-1812, so this book hit me right square in the gut. About my 5-star rating: I awarded five for "readability." On other grounds I might drop to four or four-and-a-half, but I guarantee you this: I can't wait for Peter Hernon's next novel.

Very Good Book

I just read 8.4, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. I like earth science- earthquakes in particular - , and have always enjoyed learning more. I learned a great deal with this book - mainly, the scary picture of what would happen to the entire United States the NMSZ goes off as it did almost two hundred years ago. I currently live in a moderate damage area, but I have close family in the direct hit area. It is disturbing to contemplate. I recommend this book, as well as The Rift, by Walter J. Williams.

Superb!

A roller-coaster ride of a book! Excellent! Non-stop action and fascinating detail about earthquakes make this book addictive. It is well-crafted plot and well written. Perhaps some of the characters are a bit shallow (you would like to know them a bit better), but on the whole, it is an excellent read. Not a summer read or light fancy, but a really good book.

Excellent scientific thriller

The first earthquake along the New Madrid fault registered a 7.1, the highest activity in over a century. Scientists flock to Memphis to conduct research, share their data, and asses the damage. Among the visitors is geologist Elizabeth Holleran and US Geological Survey disaster expert John Atkins. John quickly notices odd behavior and other natural phenomena that makes him conclude another quake is imminent. He is proven correct when the next quake hits 8.4. Wondering if history can repeat the series of quakes of 1811-12, John and Elizabeth believe another quake, of greater magnitude, will soon strike the beleaguered middle America, already devastated. Desperate yet divided, a team forms that will go inside the Earth to set off a nuclear explosion to stop the next quake. They enter a deep coal mine in a journey to relieve the underground pressure. However, a member of the team has his own agenda that calls for insuring no one, but he survives the dangerous trek. 8.4 is a 10+ on the action scale. The entertaining story line is filled with non-stop energy that interweaves scientific information into a well-written novel. The characters are overwhelmed by the main protagonist, the earth, but that takes nothing away from the exhilarating story line. Peter Hernon is clearly at the top of the science thrillers with a novel that is off the Richter Scale.Harriet Klausner

Better than Crichton!!!!

8.4 is throughly exciting. I love "science thrillers" and Peter Hernon's is better than anything Michael Crichton's written. It's a consistently absorbing and frightening page-turner. I couldn't put it down. Go for it -- this one'll really "shake you up!!"