The Rift

Rating:
Summary: Shaken...not Stirred!
Review: I was at first intimidated by The Rift's size, and the fact that Williams is basically an unknown author. I didn't know if Willimas and the story could hold my intrigue and attention for 900+ pages. The good news is that Walter J. Williams is a really good story teller, and despite what some of the other reveiwers have stated, he does a great job of character development. The science mixed in with the story is well done, and enhances the story quite well. I don't want to spoil any plot points by giving away who survives the terrifying earthquake, or what they encounter afterwared, so I will just state, that if you like disaster stories, you will enjoy The Rift. The series of disasters hitting the Midwest and deep-South is even more terrifying in the fact the Williams' disasters, the quakes, actually occured at the turn of the 19th Century.
The are a couple reasons I only rate the book with 3 stars though. The social commentary, specifically the racial tensions in the novel are pretty heavy-handed and preachy. And the last 3rd of the novel focuses more on the would be race-war, than on the quakes, and other disasters looming on the Mississippi.
Williams also has you invest time in some interesting characters, such as a Park Ranger working the St. Louis Arch, who after following her through some harrowing experiences is forgotten by the author. The same can be said for the many pages devoted to the devious stockbroker, and though we learn of his fate, his whole storyline just sort of peters out without a satisfying conclusion. And the final drawback to the novel is the excerpts and accounts of the 1811 quakes the begin each chapter. After about one third of the novel, these excerpts begin to repeat the same information over and over. After reading half the novel, I just began skipping them. There was really no need to insert so many old accounts of the previous quakes that did not further the current story in the novel.
So overall, there was quite a bit in The Rift that should have been left on the editing room floor.
But saying all of that, I would still recommend you give this entertaining book a shot and I will be sure to read the next book I see by this author.

Rating:
Summary: Great story, horrible story-telling
Review: This novel tells a wonderful story, if you're willing to sit through all the extraneous story lines that amount to nothing. Some have claimed that the almost 200 pages of character development was valuable. Unfortunately, I think that some of the best characters in this story had very little wasted on their "development". Those that were "developed" still stayed relatively shallow. All that truly mattered in thier development could have easily been done in just 20 pages. If that weren't enough, I thought it was a joke when I realized that some of the isolated characters who wer "developed" were ignored as soon as the action started, and the development phase was complete. Characters that were developed and used in the story were extremely disposable to the author, which also annoyed me. At least 2 characters who were followed died, but onlt amounted to a sentence or 2 spelling that out. Yes, this is supposed to be a catastrophe, and the frailty of life may be a point, but I'd expect that if I invest 100 pages in a character, that character's death can have an ending, and not just comments about someone seeing flies coming from the house.

I also found all the short snippets from historical letters of previous quakes to be extremely annoying, to the point where I skipped them. I found that they added nothing to the story.

On the positive side, there is plenty of action in this story. I do find this story much more believable and entertaining than that _The New Madrid Run_. Additionally, it did feel as if the author spent a lot of good time on background research that made its way into the detailed story.

If all you want is a good story, then this is for you. Otherwise, the book's faults may just run the risk of you putting the book down for good before you even get to the meat of the story.