“Oh, Mrs. Sirman, there’s a problem with your husband’s cremation.”“What sort of problem?”“It’s his body.”“What about it?”“It won’t burn.”
And so it begins for Pam Sirman…the first step toward learning that everything she thought she knew about her husband is wrong, perhaps even his humanity. But if he's not human, what is he? Pam is one of three lives that will be drawn together by the apocalypse of the Upwelling.The other two are Chan and Danni, but their worlds are already in chaos. A few weeks ago a fierce storm accompanied by an upwelling from the Atlantic abyssal plain tore into Atlantic City. When it receded, the city and its 25,000 inhabitants were gone without a trace. Chan and Danni remember being in the city that day, but the ten hours during which the Upwelling occurred have been wiped from their memories.They want those memories back. Or do they? Did they witness something so unspeakably ghastly that their minds can’t face it? Or was that ghastly thing something they did? And worst, were they responsible for the Upwelling?
The book shares many of the same plot points as Wilson’s The Adversary series. Both have unseen forces at work, both have humans who are more than human. But while The Upwelling is an interesting read, it doesn’t live up to the previous series. Though the Secret History of the World is noted and the books have been added to the History timeline, there are too many differences for me to see this book as part of that series.
Still, I enjoyed the book, but I think it would have worked better if it had been kept to its own universe. Another slight fault is that the characters aren’t as likable or compelling as those in The Adversary series. I sort of liked Chan and Danni, but found Pam to be too much of a cliché.
Yet, all in all, this combo science fiction/horror kept me interested, and I do look forward to the sequel (though, since it’s part of a series, it could be awhile.)
Mount TBR 2024 Book Links
Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.
1.
Bone Walker (Anasazi Mysteries #3) by Kathleen O'Neal Gear, W. Michael Gear2.
Holly by Stephen King3.
Inferno (Inferno#1) by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle4.
Fallout (Lois Lane #1) by Gwenda Bond5.
The Secret People by John Wyndham6.
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia7.
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia8.
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins9.
Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara10.
Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts by Shanna H. Swan, Stacey Colino11.
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas12.
Night Songs by Charles L. Grant13.
President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier by C.W. Goodyear14.
The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin15.
Mine by Robert R. McCammon16.
Time Travelers Never Die by Jack McDevitt17.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson18.
The Plots Against the President: FDR, A Nation in Crisis, and the Rise of the American Right by Sally Denton19.
The North Woods by Douglass Hoover20.
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill21.
Upon Dark Waters by Robert Radcliffe22.
Dread: 22 Tales of Terror by Kevin Bachar23.
Escape from Hell (Inferno #2) by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Jennifer Hanover (Illustrator)24.
Vicksburg: Grant's Campaign That Broke the Confederacy by Donald L. Miller25.
The Portent by Marilyn Harris26.
Just After Sunset by Stephen King27.
The Lighthouse Keeper Kindle Edition by Alan K. Baker28.
I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away by Bill Bryson29.
The Road Not Travelled : Alternative Tales of the Wars of the Roses by Joanne R. Larner30.
King's Fool by Margaret Campbell Barnes31.
The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton32.
Taming the Street: The Old Guard, the New Deal, and FDR's Fight to Regulate American Capitalism by Diana B. Henriques33.
Seven Perfect Things by Catherine Ryan Hyde34.
Legends by Robert Silverberg (Editor/Contributor)35.
The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next 1) by Jasper Fforde36.
Echoes of an Alien Sky by James P. Hogan37.
Dreamcatcher by Stephen King38.
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods39.
The Hike by Susi Holliday40.
The Opal-Eyed Fan by Andre Norton 41.
Queen by Right by Anne Easter Smith42.
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan43.
Yankee Privateer (Lyon Family #1) by Andre Norton44.
Say Goodbye for Now by Catherine Ryan Hyde45.
Midnight Mass by F. Paul Wilson46.
Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman47.
The Zero Stone (Murdoc Jern #1) by Andre Norton48.
Before Versailles: A Novel of Louis XIV by Karleen Koen49.
Boy’s Life by Robert R. McCammon50.
Caballero: A Historical Novel by Jovita Gonzalez, Eve Raleigh51.
The Upwelling (The Hidden #1) by F. Paul Wilson