Michael Crichton and James Patterson. Eruption. Little Brown, 2024.

I was looking through new books at a library when this title jumped out at me. Michael Crichton and James Patterson? This had to be something…

Patterson often co-authors, but this was different. After all, Michael Crichton died over a decade ago. We have reviewed a number of his scientific thrillers on these pages. It turns out that when he died, Crichton had extensive notes for a thriller based on a volcanic eruption in Hawaii. His widow was waiting for someone who could turn them into another bestseller. It comes as no surprise that eventually she and Patterson reached an agreement.

It is clear from the plot and details that the story of Eruption is Crichton’s. While stories like Congo, Jurassic Park, or Next begin with what we know of biology to tell a wild tale, Eruption is about the geology—more specifically, volcanology. I have had the opportunity to visit the Big Island of Hawaii and visit Volcanoes National Park, but the story is told well enough that a reader who has never left his home town can visualize and understand what it going on.

Patterson’s contribution is the pacing and storytelling. Typical of his style, some chapters are a single page. The average chapter length is less than four pages. There are multiple characters and points of view. The action is pretty relentless. Even without describing any details, a reader can probably guess how the novel will unfold.

People in California sometimes speculate about the Big One. In that state, they are referring to an earthquake. On the Island of Hawaii, the Big One is a potential huge volcanic eruption. In recent years we have occasionally read about Kilauea, a relatively small active volcano on the island that erupts from time to time. The second largest peak on the island, however, is Mauna Loa, and that is still active. Indeed, it is considered the largest active volcano in the world. Its last eruption was in 2022. Fortunately, it did not last too long or do too much damage, but what if the next one was not so little?

That is what volcanologist John MacGregor and army General Rivers are trying to confront. Seismic activity tells us this is going to be a big one. Is there anything people can do to divert some of the lava flow to protect populated areas? It becomes a race against time.

Experts are brought in, including some Italian scientists who had succeeded in diverting the flow of Etna the last time it erupted. It also includes some publicity-seeking volcano chasers led by J.P. Brett, one of the richest men in the world—an adventure seeker perhaps reminiscent of Branson or Bezos. Local politicians have to be involved, as do others who are connected to the HVO, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. A construction company known mostly for building demolitions is called in as well.

Naturally, with such a potential emergency, the press is involved. Perhaps the most pointed line in the whole book is spoken by one of the reporters: “Hey, we’re from the New York Times. We know everything” (252). If anyone has read some of Crichton’s nonfiction like “Aliens Cause Global Warming,” that line sounds like pure Crichton.

A big secret creates more tension. It turns out that in the 1940s and 1950s one of the volcano tubes (a lava cave created after an eruption) was used to store canisters of radioactive biological waste from a NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) weapons program that was discontinued. There was a leak once that killed all living things it came in contact with. The biological aspect means that it was capable of reproducing. Not only is there a possible deadly eruption, but a situation not unlike The Andromeda Strain that could put an end to all life on earth if the stuff in those canisters gets out.

The tension builds. People die. There are heroes. There are fools. There is a enthralling page turner, an effective collaboration of two masters of popular fiction.