Booklist Review
This is Cussler's and Kemprecos' sixth novel starring Kurt Austin and his NUMA Files National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) Files Special Assignments Team. This one concerns a polar shift, a phenomenon that can trigger huge eruptions, earthquakes, and climate changes. Sixty years ago, a Hungarian scientist discovered how to artificially set off such a shift, and now an antiglobalization group plans to strike the world's industrialized countries. The water in the world's oceans and lakes will be jerked in a different direction, pounding the coastline, causing massive floods. All electrical devices will fail, and there will be hurricanes and tornadoes of unheard-of force. Radiation sickness from solar rays penetrating the earth's magnetic field will kill millions. The earth's crust will break open, causing volcanic eruptions and lava flows. But fear not; Austin and his cohorts are coming to the rescue. The plot is inconceivable, but Cussler's loyal fans won't care. --George Cohen Copyright 2005 Booklist
Kirkus Review
When the earth's poles are apart, everyone's comfy. Shift them a bit, you get headaches. Shift them a lot, you're in for cataclysm. And, believe it or not, there are malevolent geniuses out there prepared to shift an electromagnetic storm in the name of unspeakable ambitions. Precisely what these are, the authors don't make as clear as they perhaps should, but then they do have their priorities. What matters most to Cussler/Kemprecos is the big bang, the monstrous cause-and-effect. Cause: a man-made major shift in the magnetic poles. Effect: a geological movement that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. Next to this kind of planet-bashing, H.G. Wells is Mickey Mouse. So send in the super-heroes, namely ex-CIA guy Kurt Austin (Lost City, 2004, etc.), he of the "rugged, sun-burnished features" and "piercing light blue eyes the color of coral under water" (not to mention a nerd's brain and a jock's reflexes). "Just a simple marine engineer" is how he likes to describe himself, fooling no one who's ever gone up against the National Underwater Marine Agency (NUMA), for which he directs the storied Special Assignment Team. It's while kayaking among a pod of orca whales that Kurt first gets a whiff of connivance and conspiracy. The whales behave in a manner stunningly unlike themselves, and Kurt narrowly escapes with burnished features intact as playful orcas morph into sharp-toothed killers. Until Kurt and the gang find the cause--and foil the foul fiend behind it--the world as we know it will teeter on the brink of extinction. Glacial pace, paper-thin characters, slap-dash prose and a probable warm welcome from a large and loyal audience. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
A brilliant but slightly dotty Hungarian once discovered how to effect a polar shift, which has the potential to disrupt the planet (think earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, not to mention the possibility that all life will be wiped out). Now, in his sixth NUMAR outing, Kurt Austin must go after an antiglobalization group that has uncovered the Hungarian's work and intends to use it. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
