Overview
"Columbia University professor David Swift is called to the hospital to comfort his mentor, a physicist who's been brutally attacked. With his last words, the dying man gives his former pupil a seemingly random string of numbers that could hold the key to Einstein's last and greatest secret." "Einheitliche Feldtheorie. The Theory of Everything. Einstein's proposed Unified Theory - a set of equations that could explain all the forces of nature - would have revolutionized our understanding of the universe. But Einstein never discovered it. Or did he?" "Within hours, David is arrested by the FBI and taken to a secret interrogation center. But the FBI isn't the only faction pursuing Einstein's long-hidden theory. A Russian mercenary wants to force David to talk - and he will do whatever it takes." On the run for his life, David teams up with an old girlfriend, a brilliant Princeton scientist, and frantically tries to piece together Einstein's final theory to reveal its staggering consequences.Synopsis
IN A BLAZING FICTION DEBUT, MARK ALPERT TAKES PHYSICS OUT OF THE CLASSROOM AND INTO THE HIGH-STAKES REALM OF ACTION, DANGER, AND A PLOT THAT COULD DOOM THE WORLD. . . .
An elderly physicist, one of Einstein’s last living colleagues, is brutally tortured, then left to die, when he refuses to reveal what he knows about a long-hidden secret—the solution to Einstein’s proposed Unified Field Theory.
As his life ebbs, he whispers a mysterious string of numbers to Columbia professor David Swift. Torn between excitement and disbelief that such a momentous discovery could have remained a secret for all these years, David has no time for thought. Already, both a lethal Russian assassin and the FBI are hot on his trail. His one hope is to team up with his former girlfriend Monique Reynolds, a brilliant Princeton scientist, in a desperate race to uncover the shocking truth before they are both silenced . . . forever.
Publishers Weekly
Alpert's extensive scientific knowledge, combined with his love of literature, make his latest novel a truly thrilling and engaging experience. In what can be described as a The Da Vinci Code for Einstein enthusiasts, Alpert twists fact and fiction and takes his readers on a sprawling epic adventure. Sadly, Adam Grupper overplays his narrator role, reading with an almost synthetic urgency in which his voice takes on an annoying, high pitched urgency as if every word were crucial to the plot. His Eastern European dialect is about as realistic as Boris and Natasha from "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show." Grupper seems desperate to capture the reader's attention immediately and put them on the edge of their seats until the very end, but unfortunately it fails. A Touchstone hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 24).
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Alpert's extensive scientific knowledge, combined with his love of literature, make his latest novel a truly thrilling and engaging experience. In what can be described as a The Da Vinci Code for Einstein enthusiasts, Alpert twists fact and fiction and takes his readers on a sprawling epic adventure. Sadly, Adam Grupper overplays his narrator role, reading with an almost synthetic urgency in which his voice takes on an annoying, high pitched urgency as if every word were crucial to the plot. His Eastern European dialect is about as realistic as Boris and Natasha from "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show." Grupper seems desperate to capture the reader's attention immediately and put them on the edge of their seats until the very end, but unfortunately it fails. A Touchstone hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 24).Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Peter S. YA
Video-game players with a head for science and a love of clever, fast-moving mysteries featuring smart heroes with high morals and advanced degrees will enjoy this technology-strewn adventure.Booklist
Although David Swift wanted to become a scientist like his beloved professor, Dr. Hans Kleinman, he couldn't manage the math. Instead, he wrote a best-selling book about Albert Einstein. Now Swift is shocked to learn that his elderly mentor has been brutally tortured. With his dying breaths, Kleinman tells Swift that, contrary to common knowledge, Einstein did complete his unified field theory, but the consequences were so catastrophic, he kept it secret. Now the feds and the sadistic Chechnyan who attacked Kleinman will do anything to secure Einstein's secret formula. Accordingly, Swift must live up to his name, outrun his vicious assailants, and find Einstein's hidden notebooks. With the help of cool-under-pressure Monique Reynolds, a resourceful African American physicist, Swift leads a wildly choreographed chase. Alpert, an editor for Scientific American, laces his high-IQ doomsday thriller with clearly explicated and hauntingly beautiful scientific theories and delivers readers to such intriguing locations as Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute and the Fermi National Acceleration Laboratory. An ingenious scientist turned evil mastermind, a snake handler, a stripper, a video-game-obsessed autistic teen, and sly digs at a certain presidential administration add up to a strikingly sweet-natured yet satisfyingly barbed high-tech, high-stakes adventure. Starred review.—Donna Seaman
Library Journal
On the run from the U.S. government and a ruthless assassin, science historian David Swift tries to uncover the meaning of a series of numbers whispered to him by his dying mentor. David hurtles from the Northeast to Appalachia to solve the puzzle that may be tied to Einstein's final theory, but the answer takes him by surprise. First-timer Alpert, a Scientific American editor, executes the action sequences with enthusiasm, although his hero performs some incredible feats for a civilian. Alpert also lays out the science without overwhelming the casual reader. Recommended, especially for Michael Crichton fans.
—Andrew Smith
Kirkus Reviews
Disappointing debut thriller sends scientists, the FBI and a hired killer scrambling for Einstein's last, unpublished theory. Alpert works from a Hitchcock template that promises a breathtaking cross-country chase in the tradition of Saboteur and North by Northwest. The story takes off when David Swift, a professor and science writer, learns from a dying physicist the details of a theory Einstein left unpublished. Put into action, this "final theory" could lead to the destruction of the universe. A man who knows too much, Swift finds his life imperiled. Terrorists want to know what Swift knows, as does the U.S. government, who sic the FBI on him. Dodging the Bureau boys and their tactics, which equal the Gestapo's in violence and treachery, Swift heads to Princeton to uncover the full details of Einstein's theory. There he teams with a former girlfriend and soon they're off to Carnegie Tech, the hills of Western Pennsylvania, then to West Virginia and Georgia. Alpert sets a brisk pace and laces his lean prose with refreshing wit. Blowsy FBI agent Lucille Parker, a Texan who shoots from the hip, will make a great part for an actress of a certain age and girth should the book ever become a movie. But prospective movie sales may have led the author to the letdown that comes in the book's second half. After sketching out promising characters and relationships, Alpert, it seems, aims for action-movie fans. As Armageddon draws nigh, he brings on the Delta Force, helicopters and all, for a series of sober, over-the-top action scenes. Alpert's plotting, meanwhile, turns facile. In particular, he undermines suspense by almost never letting anyone get cornered without a quick escape readily athand. Hard-action fans may turn the pages, but others will sense a missed opportunity, especially after the sharp first half. Agent: Daniel Lazar/Writers HouseFrom the Publisher
"Wow! Einstein would have loved this book. It's a great thriller, it has a sure feel for politics, and the science is both fun and solid. He always dreamed that he would discover a unified theory that explained all of nature's forces. Now this book makes the quest come alive." — Walter Isaacson, New York Times bestselling author of Einstein"Final Theory is a stupendous read! Real characters, real science, a deliciously explosive premise, and a breakneck plot combine to make this one of the finest science-based thrillers to appear in a long time. Final Theory rules. If I were Michael Crichton, I'd be packing my bags and heading for a quiet retirement in Tahiti..." — Douglas Preston, New York Times bestselling author of Blasphemy
"A high-IQ doomsday thriller with clearly explicated and hauntingly beautiful scientific theories...[A] satisfying high-tech, high-stakes adventure." — Booklist (starred)
"A pure potboiler...Well-plotted, well-written...You'll love it." — Sharon Begley, Newsweek.com
"A physics-based version of the Da Vinci Code...The work of an expert with a pertinent skill". — Janet Maslin, The New York Times
"Final Theory has everything I love in a novel: heart-pounding tension, astonishing plot twists, and fascinating science. Mark Alpert manages to make physics more thrilling than I ever imagined!" — Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Garden
"An ingenious twist on Einstein's genius." — Thomas Greanias, New York Times bestselling author of Raising Atlantis
"Alpert has a rare gift for combining cutting-edge science with an unrelenting pace and edge-of-the-seat action. An impressive debut." — Kyle Mills, New York Times bestselling author of Rising Phoenix
"I have always been fascinated by the potential of science, the point where physics appears to defy its own laws and behave in uncertain ways. Thanks to this wonderful novel, I have reunited with an old passion and enjoyed a journey full of unexpected twists and drama." — Javier Sierra, New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Supper
"The relentless action, including one giant twist and plenty of smaller ones, builds to a pulse-pounding conclusion." — Publishers Weekly