I read the review of "Final Theory" in the New York Times and I knew I had to read this novel. It's a fast-paced, action-packed thriller, but it also gives you an easy-to-understand introduction to modern physics. The author is an editor at Scientific American magazine and in his author's note he reveals that many of the wild scientific ideas mentioned in the book are actually true. Plus, the writing is great, the plot is exciting, and the characters are truly memorable.

The book was a good read until the political messages were introduced. They added nothing to the context. The author missed the boat on what could have been a fun read.

Final Theory starts out good, but quickly degenerates. Good science, fair plot, poor execution. The author's liberal bias and ignorance and disdain for the military and the administration quickly comes thru. Teens may appreciate the endless crises and amazing escapes by the protagonist. Not I.

Final Theory is like a movie that lasts for hours and hours. It's so intensely visual. As you read the book you can practically see the action playing out in front of you: helicopters flying over the hills of West Virginia, a Ferrari speeding down a country highway, FBI agents firing their guns in a darkened office complex. And the characters are so smart. I can see Keanu Reeves as David Swift. Maybe Kathy Bates as Lucille Parker, the FBI agent who starts as a villain and becomes one of the heroes.

Einstein's once young and eager assistants are all now aged and dying. The trouble is they are not dying of old age they are being tortured & murdered. It is believed that Einstein had indeed discovered his final theory of everything but was afraid of sharing it with the world. This 'unified theory' would of course hold great promise for understanding our universe. Or it could be misused. That is the basic premise of this high octane story. David Swift, a scientific writer stumbles upon this secret by accident and then immediately finds himself being pursued by government agents and nefarious forces alike.

The writing is solid, scientifically plausible and exciting. Will Einstein's theory be unveiled to the world? Will it's possibilities lead to new forms of energy or will it just be used to make more advanced weapons?

This novel has lots of interesting information about Albert Einstein. For instance, I never knew that Einstein had an illegitimate daughter. The book's plot is very suspenseful and the subject of high-energy physics is fascinating. Now I can say that I know at least a little bit about the Theory of Everything.

The book held my interest. Though fiction, it parallels current developments in physics and takes it a step further, putting a bit of sci-fi in the blend.

I read many thrillers, at least one per month, and I can tell you that Final Theory is very good. If you know something about science you will recognize that the information in this book is accurate. Albert Einstein really was working on a Theory of Everything. Scientists are still reaching for this goal today; that's what string theory is all about. There really is a Tevatron at the Fermi national laboratory in Illinois, as well as a massive tank of mineral oil that is kept always in the dark so that sensitive instruments can see the light from speeding particles. It is very enjoyable to read a book that imagines a grand adventure in this fascinating place.

To be honest, I didn't read the whole book. I only made it about a quarter of the way through (to the part where David and Monique set out for Pittsburg) before I was overwhelmed by the sheer buffoonery of it.

Bear in mind that I am a big fan of F. Paul Wilson, Preston & Child, and James Rollins, so it's not like I'm unable to suspend disbelief. But the author has to exercise a bit of craft to make the believable at least seem believable while you're reading. Alpert has no such craft.

The protagonists are cardboard cutouts, and the villains (just about everybody else) are cartoons. Early on, an FBI agent is described as "an Oklahoma farm boy who'd picked up his conversational skills in the Marine Corps." A later description: "...Simon recognized the men from their gait: ex-Marines and ex-Rangers assigned to headquarters duty, most likely with the FBI." Would it have over-taxed Mr. Alpert to at least go to the FBI website and take a look at the qualifications required to become an FBI agent? (And if you think the FBI agents look foolish, just wait and see how the Secretary of Defence is depicted!)

The ridiculous elements that ruin many thrillers are all here, writ large. The lone killer, who can casually saunter into the FBI's secure compound, disable their communications and kill all the agents, the protagonists who can out-maneuver professionals and the entirety of America's law enforcement and solve cryptic puzzles by improbable feats of logic. Early in the book, the hero manages to escape from FBI custody (and the killer) because the FBI agents conveniently left him alone in the interrogation room, uncuffed, with a Super Soaker water rifle, a flask of alcohol, and a cigarette lighter. No, I'm not kidding, and it wasn't even at this point that I gave up; it had to get a lot dumber.

The novel is also tainted by the unmistakable whiff of contempt this author seems to hold for anybody not of his peer group. This includes the police, military, and ordinary citizens (all of whom seem to have enormous beer bellies).

The only redeeming factor in this mess is that the author knows his physics and can explain it well. But if you're interested in this, you'd be better off picking up a copy of Brian Greene's "The Elegant Universe."

Don't waste your money on this drivel.

This book reminded me of the Bond movies: thrilling fun action, one man against the world. With cool scientific weapons, of course. Final Theory is about the hidden secrets of Albert Einstein and it has a lot of real science in the plot. (The author works for Scientific American.) But the book also has exotic locales, car chases, guns blazing from helicopters - all the things you love in a Bond movie.

My favorite novel of the summer. First and foremost, it's an incredibly fast read. Once you start the book, it's almost impossible to put it down. I completely identified with the characters, especially David Swift, the Columbia University professor who stumbles upon the Final Theory discovered by Albert Einstein. And the story is very up-to-date. Shadowy terrorists and rogue states threaten America with terrible new weapons, and the political bureaucrats in the federal government (who are supposed to protect us) make a mess of things instead. You can't help but root for David. Against all odds, the ordinary guy outsmarts the bad guys.

How did I dislike this book? Let me count the ways.

First, as others reviewers have so correctly noted, this was a straight up adaptation of "The deVinci Code." The common plot narrative and the characters appeared to be created by way of a global edit routine. "Replace Sauniere with Kleinman." The common aspects were truly incredible. From the basic premise of the secret, to the maniaical killer (Silas in deVinci; Simon in Final), to the national policeman (Bezu Fache; Lucille), to the powerful manipulator (Bishop Aringarosa; VP of USA), to the helpful friend turned bad guy (Teabing; Gupta), I could go on and on. Not much creativity is displayed here.

Second, the science is les than compelling. Mr. Alpert suggests a solution to the unified field theory, that isn't even consistent with any of the current theories being discussed. Perhaps a bit more mathematical rationale would have made the science come alive. For example. he could have mentioned the transformations of invarient modular functions, which are the underlying mathematics of the multi dimensionality of string theory. Perhaps a mere mention of the Calabi-Yau maifold would have added some weight to the science.

Next, it seems the author has a political agenda to forward. Although many other authors have taken shots at the Patriot Act, a particular annoying act to the self proclaimed intelligensia, Alpert can't resist but note that the neanderthalish FBI agent, co-opted for cash by the bad guys, listened to reruns of the Rush Limbaugh Show. Or that the VP leaked information to Fox News. Well, I suppose when you live in Manhatten, you will become one of the transcendently liberals who "get it."

Well after all this negativity, can I offer any good notes for this book? No. It is dribble. It is dreadful. It was one of the most annoying books I've ever read. I wish I could sue Alpert to get my $15.00 refunded.

I liked this book a lot. It was a fun, quick read and I learned a little bit of physics by the time I finished. The idea behind the novel is that Albert Einstein kept his greatest discovery hidden because it would pose a more dangerous threat to humanity than even nuclear bombs. The heroes of the book have to figure out the theory before the bad guys do. The action moves from New York City to Albert Einstein's home in Princeton, New Jersey, and then to the Robotics Institute in Pittsburgh and Fort Benning in Georgia. The plot is like a rollercoaster ride. It would make a terrific movie.

Final Theory was great on the science. However, the plot was entirely predictable. As stated in an earlier review, it is filled with rank amateurs eluding the claws of professional killers. Reminiscent of B-Movies from the 50s & 60s, the hero often escaped because the killer took great pride in explaining either what evil was going to happen next or how much fun it was going to be killing the hero and then molesting his family and friends. Of course, these speeches provided the "good guy" sufficient time to figure out a means for "getting the drop on the killer". I guess the author didn't realize that modern day terrorists tend to dispense with explanations and quickly proceed with the be-headings unless there is a need to gain some other objective in holding a hostage. Ho-Hum....

The real dangerous scenario in the story was caused by an American Delta Force helicopter crew that mistakenly kills the family of a Russian mercenary who has the predictable angry reaction and conveniently becomes the villain in the story. The author implies that invading Iraq could potentially set off such a scenario. There were other anti-war political innuendos in the story. All of this helped in the construction of the plot.

The other thing that amazed me is that the author wrote an epilogue to justify the science. Mmmmmmm... if something is believable it generally doesn't require an additional explanation... Right????

If you are at the beach, this B-book will give you a couple of afternoons of "shoot-em up" - "Blow-em up fun"!!!! No more... no less

As many reviewer pointed out, the premise is interesting mixing physics with an action story. However the execution is poor, there are so many holes in the story that it is not even worth to point out.
Halfaway through the book it took me a lot of effort to finish it.
Not worth the time.

Final Theory is a thriller written by Mark Alpert, an editor at Scientific American. His specialty is physics, specifically the theories of Albert Einstein. He has written about these subjects in Scientific American and now he has put them into an exciting novel that is so entertaining it kept me reading until three-thirty in the morning! Give this one a try. You'll miss some sleep but you won't regret it.

It's really hard to find a book that is as exciting and smart as this one. It's an adventure about science but you don't have to know much about science to enjoy the book. The main character is an ordinary Joe (actually his name is David Swift) who happens to uncover what is probably the most dangerous scientific theory ever, originally discovered by none other than Albert Einstein. Einstein concealed the theory before the Army could use it to make weapons and it stayed hidden for fifty years after his death. But when an old physics professor gives David Swift the key to the theory, he becomes the most wanted man in America. The Army and the FBI and the terrorists are all after him, and David has to use all his smarts to stay one step ahead of them. It's a great chase story and it has a fantastic ending. Plus there's a love story with a beautiful physicist named Monique Reynolds.

Holy protons, this is a great book! I couldn't put it down! "Final Theory" is exactly the kind of thriller I like, a fun, fast read that doesn't insult your intelligence. The characters are smart and likable and the plot moves at warp speed from one exciting scene to the next. It would work even better as a movie. You have to give this book a try.

The idea of the Field Theory of Everything (it explains the relationship of all physical laws, particularly those between relativity and quantum mechanics) is an amazing, but apparently a real, Holy Grail for physics. The thought to fictionalize it is a wonderful story concept. Only with the science, which is apparently, and I'm no expert, reasonably accurate, it must coalesce with a believable story-line. The fictional tale of the hero David Swift and his adventure is ludicrous with concocted strange characters including the dope-addicted, prostitute daughter of a leading physicist and her autistic son, whom the author late in the book calls an "idiot" (interesting politically or socially incorrect verbiage)and a crazed, revengeful (on a senseless mission) Russian assasin are all much too far out for me.

The science and the threat the Field Theory presents, and it's a true historic tie to Einstein, are fascinating; someone else should have scripted the fictional part. Read it for the intersting science and whiz past the rest of the story.

I bought the book on the strength of the book jacket blurb as it sounded intriguing: Einstein's Unified Theory discovered and used for furtherance of a massive act of terrorism. One man's fight against an array of evil forces. Math and science combined into a thriller a la Doug Preston and Lincoln Childs.

Who could ask for more?

Well... apparently it was too much to ask, in this case.

This book is simply chock-full of amateur goofs. About the only thing that makes any sense is the science, and I suspect that even that will only work for people with an interest in the topic, as it's pretty arcane and specialized, though kudos to Alpert for trying to make it accessible to the average reader. Even the science, though, is based on some pretty wild extrapolations and suppositions.

But putting that aside, you'd think someone who's spent so much effort learning about the science would have put at least SOME effort into learning about other things he's going to use in a novel he writes.

Sadly, not so.

First of all, he obviously knows absolutely nothing about firearms other than maybe some brand names someone told him, because the way guns are used in this book is absurd. Revolvers don't have safeties, for instance. Uzis don't have shoulder holsters fitted for them.

Alpert's political commentary was annoying and amateurish, executed at about the level of a political cartoon in a high school newspaper. It's okay for a writer to have a political view woven into his story, but it would help if he knew how to pull it off with some elan. Not so here; this was clumsy beyond belief.

Worst of all, he seems to have no idea how to make characters act believably. One of his characters suffers an almost fatal gunshot wound to the thigh, then spends the next third of the book running around and carrying on as if it's no worse than a minor hangnail.

Near the end of the story, one of the bad guys dunks his hands into a vat of mineral oil for absolutely no reason at all that I can figure out, and this act sets up the escape of one of the good guys.

Puh-leeze! What was THAT all about?

Weren't there any editors working on this book? Well, anyway, wait for it in paperback. Better yet, if you want to read it, get it from your library, or a friend who already spent their money on it.


ADDENDUM ON 5 AUGUST:

Being somewhat surprised at the number of 5-star reviews for this book, I went through and clicked on those reviewers' profiles, and was ASTOUNDED (not really) at the percentage of them for whom THIS book was the only review they'd ever written.

In other words, it looks like the Alpert fans are taking a page from the playbook of Patricia Cornwell and trying to pack the opinion rating for this book on Amazon.

I'll be bringing this to the attention of the site operators.

I hate to admit that I wasted the time to read the whole book. What a great premise--Einstein actually discovers the Unified Theory. But what's with the "video game" violence and some of the silliest characters in fiction. I hope every physics grad student sues you for defamation of character. Good grief.
You had the chance to create a wonderfully subtle and intelligent mystery, but you blew it.

This book is a real page turner. I couldn't put it down and finished it in 2 days. I'm thrilled to know that the author is a bona fida scientist and I can reread the parts involving physics so as to better understand the way a cyclotron works and a better concept of string theory, etc. but most of all I loved the hero, David Swift. I wonder who will play him in the movie?

Alpert knows his physics, and he always makes it interesting. Unfortunately he could have done a lot more with his basic premise about Einstein's lost "unified field" theory, it's almost a shame to have wasted such a good idea on this ultimately slight and forgettable thriller. The book is also marred by its puerile politics. It's OK to portray Cheney and Rumsfeld as evil, but presenting them as cartoon stick figures undermines the plot's already thin credibility. Having the FBI villain casually murder a muckraking New York Times journalist and then drive away listening to Rush Limbaugh might have made a funny Saturday Night Live sketch, but here it comes off as just plain dumb. The descriptions of the military are simply inept - the Black Hawk helicopters that ferry around Delta carry multi-barrel miniguns, not M240 machine guns, and anyway the M240 doesn't fire an "8 mm round". Obviously Alpert didn't care enough about the subject to get those details right. The description of hardware and procedures at the Fermilab particle accelerator, on the other hand, has the ring of authenticity. But Alpert's real problem is that he doesn't like people very much (a problem for a novelist). Nearly every character in the book who is not an academic turns out to be an evil moron of one sort or another. I'm torn between hoping he returns to science journalism and wishing that he would try his hand at a physics thriller one more time, but take things a little more seriously.

Alpert has some talent, but he and his editors couldn't resist making silly (and rabidly lefty) political statements throughout.

And (of course) one wouldn't learn this from any of the "mainstream" reviewers because his sentiments and expressions are in everyday parlance amongst the "intellectuals" (How does one join? Is there a certification body? A test? How many parts?)

Why is America always evil to you people? And why do you think silly and deranged caricatures of our President, Vice President, and former Secretary of Defense are funny? You really gummed up your book with this nonsense. And of course the evil protagonist has a deep seated animus towards these United States because his family was "collateral damage" -- killed by a US Army helicopter gunship in Chechnya. Never mind that we've NEVER operated there. Never mind that Apaches are never deployed in less than battalion strength (they need a LOT of maintenance). Never mind that the United States is second only to Israel in her precautions against civilian casualties. Never mind all that, Let's not let facts get in the way of one's prejudices.

And, of course, only the New York Times can keep our evil government in check. Give me a break! The Times is hemorrhaging readers because the only stories that make it to print are the ones that appeal to the likes of Mr. Alpert.

How 'bout the science, you ask?

Well, Mr. Alpert seems to have skipped his lectures in thermodynamics -- his premise violates the first law (you can't get rich), and Einstein's famous equation (mass to energy -- in Mr. Alpert's universe you can create energy from nothing). The maximum energy the Tevatron can produce is limited to the complete conversion of the mass of the protons and antiprotons that are annihilated. And, if there ain't enough of them to blow up the facility (and, of course there aren't) it's an exercise in science fantasy -- not fiction -- to imagine megaton yields.

The beginning of the story was reminiscent of Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, with top physicists getting mudered due to some sinister plot. The explanation of the physics wasn't as "educational" as I hoped, but then it's theoretical physics! The imminent danger in the plot came from the possibility of rogue nations and terrorist groups like AQ using the theory to cause mass destruction. But then again not everyone can build a 4 mile radius particle accelerator to create the sterile neutrinos needed for mass destruction!

Final Theory is an amazing novel. I read it in just two days and now I can't wait to read the author's next book. The characters are great and the plot is very exciting. My favorite part was the scene at Fort Benning where the characters fight each other in a virtual reality world. What an incredible, mind-expanding adventure!

It's a pretty good thriller. if you can disregard the inplausible events and unbelievable actions. I know James Bond carried it off, but that was part of the attraction to see how it would be done. Here it is just not that well handled. The science doesn't matter as most people don't understand it anyway.

The idea of a hidden Einstein Theory of Everything is a wonderful premise. And there are definitely things to like about this book. The writing is more than adequate from a style perspective; not great, but very good. Alpert does a little too much spoon feeding (telling the reader things that are blatantly obvious, as if the reader isn't smart enough to figure it out), but not enough to make the writing itself unpleasant. He also did an admirable job of working in twists that are so important to a story like this. The pacing was good, and the science was very nicely incorporated with a minimum of info-dumping. Then there are the problems...

It frustrates me to no end when an author won't do even the tiniest bit of research in order to get the details right on issues they know nothing about. For example, a character engages the safety on their revolver. Puh-leeze. Revolvers don't have safeties. (The only revolver that has a safety is an old western style single-action, definitely not the thing you tuck into the small of your back as did the character.) Things go from bad to worse when he approaches the issue of computers. A character "smashes" a computer on the floor and, voila, we have parts everywhere. Among these parts, he is able to spot the hard drive because it looks like a turntable with glass platters. He of course proceeds to smash the platters into tiny shards. Good grief. It takes five seconds on Google to see what a hard drive looks like. Or hey, walk into any computer store and ask them to let you hold one. Then get back to me on whether you saw platters and were able to "smash" them. Every time an author does something like this, it yanks you out of the story and it takes time to reestablish the immersion. I find this way too often with authors who obviously have zero understanding of things of the real world, whether the topic is cars, guns, computers, etc. It's frustrating, and so easily avoidable.

The more troubling issue with the book is the ultra-poor character development, both on the micro and macro levels. On the micro level, there's just little there to make one bond with the individual characters. They're stereotypical and wooden. On the macro level, the evil government is after the poor innocent little people while an evil Master Killer stalks them, as well. Yawn.

Finally, although it contributed absolutely nothing to the story, the author had to take time to inject his liberal politics. The evil vice-president with a crooked smile has to run the country for the "boob" from Texas. Again, yawn. Maybe the author found this cathartic, but it's an incredibly stupid thing to do in a book that has nothing to do with politics. By including elements like this, he added nothing to the story, but did manage to insult any conservative who happened to have bought and read his book. Nothing quite so smart as alienating half your potential market for no reason other than your own need to "vent."

All in all, it was a first book that had vast potential but in the end fell way short of the mark. Perhaps the author will read some of these reviews and take them to heart. Or perhaps not.

Three words can describe this effort by Mark Alpert: Dan Brown lawsuit.

It is a clear, unadulterated ripoff of The Da Vinci Code.

The hero is an ivy-league professor of History.

He runs around with an exciting girlfriend during his exploits to save the world.

There is a bad-guy blonde Russian special-ops veteran trying to kill him after he kills everyone else.

The FBI and Delta Force chase them everywhere and act like buffoons.

The fellow who you thought is a helping professor is really the bad-dest guy.

There is a code involved.

They are led to several places by the code before they figure it all out.

They find the Holy Grail (Einstein's Unified Theory of Everything) but realize it must be kept secret to save the world.

Sound familiar?

I first learned of Alpert's book when he was interviewed on the Scientific American podcast. I was intrigued by the plot and impressed by the author's comments in the interview. As a fan of good science writing and good science based fiction, I thought this book would be a home run, slam dunk. Then I read it.

Uhhh. Problems started almost immediately. Alpert's facility with science is beyond dispute, but unfortunately his ability to weave it into a plausible plot is almost entirely absent. My "implausibility meter" started to peg almost instantly with the protagonists getting into tough situations and then, improbably, escaping them. Not once. Not twice, but time after time after time. Eventually I was groaning audibly as I turned the pages, wondering where it was going to go next - and not in a good way.

I'm embarrassed to say that i didn't finish the book. I made it to the 75% mark and had to have a serious talk with myself about whether I could take any more. I have a stack of books I'm waiting to get to, so I decided, reluctantly, to toss in the towel. I will finish, it's just that I couldn't take the mental abuse any longer.

Mr. Alpert, I hope you continue to write. We don't have enough committed, solidly science-saavy authors who are willing to take on fiction. I hope ten years from now I'm in a position to write off your first effort as a failed freshman project.

When his physicist mentor is brutally murdered for his possible knowledge about Einstein's Unified Theory, Columbia University professor David Swift and his Princeton scientist girlfriend are swept up by a violent race between the FBI and a ruthless mercenary for control of the information and its staggering potential. BT.
I found this to be a very intelligent thriller with well researched science and a fast a suspenseful plot. Scientific thrillers have always been my favorite and I hope this author comes out with another novel soon.

Unified Theory-a single set of equations that would incorporate both relativity and quantum mechanics, combining the physics of stars and galazies with the laws of the subatomic realm.

I so much wanted to like this book. What a great premise: Einstein struggles for the last decades of his life to discover a Theory of Everything and, in fact, succeeds. However, he realizes the dangerous consequences of his theory so he decides to keep it hidden, entrusting it to some of his young assistants. Now, Einstein is long dead and his young assistants are elderly, and someone starts killing them off in an effort to find the theory. David Swift, a physics student turned science writer, gets caught up in the deadly chase when he visits his former mentor, one of Einstein's former assistants. And the race is on!

Credit where credit's due: Mr. Alpert handles the science very well. He is clearly knowledgeable and he integrates it into this novel effectively. The history is accurate (except for what he's needed to fictionalize), his real science plays well, and his speculations about what a TOE might look like play right into a physics-lover's fantasies. Even as a writer, he manages to pull off some coups, delivering a series of nice surprises, particularly as the novel draws to a close.

On the other hand, he goes right along with some of the qualities I hate most about thrillers like this. First, rank amateurs continually escape from and/or kill professional killers and other trained people. For example, in this novel, an entire crew of amateurs breaks into an Army base and then escapes from it during lockdown. Second, the police are nowhere to be found. Or, in the variation in this novel, the FBI is incompetent and corrupt. It's just too much for me to take for an extended period of time.

Am I being unreasonable? Perhaps. I know there are a lot of people out there who don't consider that kind of believability important. But I've seen authors write thrillers with premises just as exciting and interesting as this one while making the events unfold much more realistically. On the whole, this was an enjoyable novel, especially for an author's first. Clearly, Mr. Alpert's talents are extensive. Still, I'd like to see something more believable next time out.

Final Theory by Mark Alpert is a great and fast read. It moves along at breakneck speed and I couldn`t put it down. Mr. Alpert writes intelligently and convincingly and sweeps you right along. I love science and adventure stories and this combines both. I certainly will be looking for this author`s work in the future.

Man, this is a fun book! I read Final Theory over the weekend and it was a blast. The book is smart, the plot is exciting, and there are some funny scenes too. I took a physics course in college (and nearly failed it) but this is a much more entertaining way to learn about science.

I very seldom do not complete reading a book once I start but reading it even as far as I did was pure torture. Even though the concept of writing a novel about a Final Theory in physics is intriguing the story line of this book borders on the rediculous and is an insult to anyone serious about this subject.

Final Theory hooks you from the opening paragraph as Professor Hans Kleinman fights for his life and the secret that Albert Einstein tried to keep. There are plot twists and turns that keep you breathless, and importantly, always believing! No "I could see it coming from a mile away". No "Baloney, that could never happen." Every cliffhanger and reveal is totally out of the blue and backed by details that you never paid attention to the first time but now make you say "Of Course!"

I highly recommend this "science for the masses" to anyone who likes to bite into a meaty book but doesn't want to struggle to understand it.

Fun, accessible, and a real thrill ride!

This book elicited two different responses from me: its science was interesting and informative, while its depiction of the US political system, and its military and law enforcement agencies, was distorted and naive, and as a result I found myself disappointed and even annoyed at times.

What could have been a secular DaVinci Code instead reads like a liberal/leftist critique of the United States using the device of a breakthrough scientific theory as a mechanism for focusing the complaints. Mr. Alpert obviously knows his science, and his excitement shines through when he discusses it, but his criticisms of the current Administration read like rehashed propaganda from the Daily Kos, and his depictions of the FBI and the Army paint a picture of the US as a police state with few if any individual rights.

And whenever the UN is presented as the epitome of international security and integrity I found myself fighting the impulse to just discard the book without finishing it. I never did enjoy fantasy novels.

But I did finish it. and had that familiar feeling that accompanies all disappointing fiction- I probably should have spent my time doing something else.

If you're looking for a book to take to the beach this summer, "Final Theory" is a great choice. I became totally involved in the story right from the first chapter. The hero is a regular guy named David Swift who gets caught in a horrible mess, a battle over a scientific theory that could destroy the world. The bad guys chase him across the country but Swift lives up to his name and manages to outsmart them at every turn. Part of the reason why I liked David so much is that he's a dad who's driven by the love for his son. Also the novel has some humorous touches that help relieve the tension. I give this book five stars!

Reading the "Final Theory" is a waste of time. Using a novel to vent personal irrational viewpoints of the author and insult President Bush, Vice President Cheney, the FBI, the United States Military, Fundamentalist Christians, Fox News and even Rush Limbaugh under the guise of being a science writer trying his hand at novel writing is childish. The story line and characters remind me of comic books without the intellectual stimulation. The author apparently was good at physics and tried to be a poet and now a writer. The phrase, "Don't quit your day job." comes to my mind but apparently did not enter his liberal fantasy world.

I love Dan Brown, but this book is better. Final Theory is about the mysteries of science. The secret at the heart of the novel is a theory that scientists have been trying to discover for the past century. Einstein called it the Unified Field Theory, Brian Greene calls it string theory. In this novel it's called "the ultimate triumph of physics" and the characters are engaged in a deadly race to decipher the equations.

It's pretty rare to find a thriller that can actually teach you something, but "Final Theory" does exactly that. I'm not a science person and I've long forgotten everything I once learned about physics in high school, but after reading this book I feel like I know at least a LITTLE about Albert Einstein and his theories and the work that scientists are doing now in this area. And the best part was, it didn't feel like a lecture! It's an exciting novel about scientists who are trying to find a hidden Einstein theory that can describe everything in the Universe and it turns out that this theory is dangerous as well as beautiful. The characters don't understand the theory at first, they just know that it's dangerous because some very evil people are torturing and killing scientists to learn the formulas. The hero and heroine learn bits and pieces of the theory as the story moves along, and at the same time the reader learns some science too. It was a wonderful read, very enjoyable!

Fun book. Moves fast. Interesting characters. Big explosions. Evil villains. Scrappy heroes. Thrilling chases. Surprising twists.

I'd heard good things about Final Theory from several of my friends, so I decided to give it a try. I wasn't disappointed! Once I started reading, I just couldn't stop. It's a fun, intelligent thriller. Someone is going to turn this book into a phenomenal movie.

Unfortunately the author hasn't a clue about computers, the military, government or law enforcement. I did enjoy the science and the biographical detail. The character development was actually pretty good for a thriller like this. The naivete in dealing with the military, FBI and government goons was irritatingly heavy-handed (but at times it was so far from reality to be almost comical).

Einstein spent a significant part of his life on a unified theory, where classical physics and quantum mechanics could be coupled into one series of equations. Final Theory's plot illustrates that Einstein was successful, realized the political implications of bringing this theory to the forfront of science, gives the equations, in parts, to three friends before he dies, and tells them to not release it to noone.

The concept is exciting and the novel begins with fast paced action, indicating the novel will surely entertain. Although some facets of the story line did illicit some imagination and fun reading, the majority of the action scenes were juvenile at best. (A history professor simultaneously takes on both the FBI and terrorists who are attempting to find the equations at any cost. I don't think so.) The book isn't bad, just farfetched. 2.5 stars

This novel is a little to farfetched for me. A little scientific jargon thrown in to make it sound more intellectual than it is but highly unbelievable.

Couldn't put this book down! I was hooked from the first page. It's a great mix of suspense and science, like "Jurassic Park." I'm going to tell all my friends about it.

Nice read of a complex theory. I lived through the Einstein period and remember some details mentioned in the book. Some of the "action" parts were a little contrived. It didn't seem to me that the government (although often slow and ponderous) actions represented reality. I recomend the book, highly to those inclined toward science and physics.

This book was great fun to read. You may wonder why there are some reviews that are so harsh and vehement negative. I think politics be the clue.

The writer seems (well, to me) to be referring to George when he writes: "The president was a boob, a brainless figurehead who had a talent for winning elections but little else." There are enough references to the VP and Secretary of Defense to create a sense if currency in his descriptions of the immoral executive branch of the government. The Secretary of Defense describes the protaganists as "professors, probably ultraliberal Looney Tunes" reflecting some of the attitudes of the current administration.

I'll bet political disagreements with the author are the real sources of the vehemence of the negative reviews. The percentages seem about right. :)

As with the other 4-5 star reviewers out there whom I tend to agree with, this book was one exciting thrill ride! I read this within three days and enjoyed it immensely. Those who reviewed with 1-2 star ratings need to lighten up and enjoy the story for what it truly is; "Fiction"! "... when an air bag inflates, it deflates almost immediately." Please! That's why you gave it a poor review?!? This plot merely asks "what if..." and it was executed very well. Kudos to his first book, look forward to reading his future stories only to get better with age.