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Quake by Andy Remic
28/11/2005 . Source: Tomas L. Martin 
pub: Orbit/Times Warner. 573 page paperback. Price: £ 6.99 (UK). ISBN: 1-84149-204-3. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out websites: www.OrbitBooks.co.uk
You know that horrible moment towards the end of your holiday abroad when your stack of reading material runs out and you have to start reading the battered thriller paperback someone left in the hallway of your hotel? Andy Remic's new novel 'Quake' is just that kind of book: readable, enjoyable in a slightly hilarious way and completely and utterly ridiculous.
Remic writes at a fast, action-packed pace, leaving the pages constantly turning. The trouble is, to enjoy this fully, you first have to buy in to both the plot and the immensely purple prose, both of which are a challenge.
The style of writing is full of adjectives and overacting similes, which a lot of the time is bearable but occasionally gets a little too indulgent with its wordplay and on the nose dialogue. 'I didn't know Switzerland had earthquakes.' 'Neither did they.' is a good example of the overly dramatic way in which Remic's characters speak to each other.
I could get past the writing style, as aside from the occasionally unintentional funny sentence, it suits the thriller style. What I found harder to stomach was the frankly ridiculous storyline better suited for an episode of 'He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe' cartoon than a novel.
In 'Quake' and its predecessor 'Spiral', the world in the near future has ceased to be about national conflicts. The evil Nex, a genetic hybrid of human and insect made using some ancient device, want to destroy all the humans and create a world purely made of their new, less emotional race. To this end, they have found in an Egyptian temple, a deadly machine that can cause earthquakes anywhere in the world.
Standing in the way of this nefarious army of cold-blooded killers are the James Bond style secret organisation 'Spiral' and especially its best operative, Carter. When his colleague Jam is captured and the power of the earthquake generator used around the world, Carter has to stop them from destroying the world and turning everyone else into Nex.
The weird thing about the Nex creation is that it can be done on anyone, by putting the ancient device and some insects in the mouth and letting the change take effect. Although very implausible, it does offer up the interesting idea that anyone can be turned from the side of good to become a cold, heartless Nex hybrid. The character of 'The Priest', one of the Spiral operatives, was interesting and deserved more page time.
Despite all its problems 'Quake' is and easy, light and above all fun read. Unfortunately, a great deal of my fun was from the ridiculously over the top plot and imagery. If anything, this made me enjoy it far more than if it was a mediocre ordinary thriller, so I guess you could argue it improves the experience. I'm not really sure whether to recommend this one or not but it would certainly pass the time in that holiday hotel room enjoyably.
Tomas L. Martin
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