What happens when you team up two legendary writers? You get what could be one of the best and most incendiary novels of 2024.

One day, Michael Crichton’s widow, Sherri, was going through his folder of stories and found an unfinished manuscript titled The Black Zone. Along with that was extensive research on volcanoes, specifically volcanic eruptions. She sat on this information for years hoping to find the ideal author to take over this project. Then she was introduced to James Patterson, who eagerly agreed to dive in and pick up where her late husband left off. The result is the wonderfully thrilling ERUPTION, which just cries out for cinematic treatment from page one.

"ERUPTION is so much more than just a great summer read. It combines the impeccable research and scientific knowledge that Crichton consistently infused into everything he wrote with the breakneck suspense of a James Patterson novel."

The action opens in 2016 in Hilo, Hawaii. Rachel Sherrill is taking her class on a tour of the Hilo Botanical Gardens when she notices a group of “sick trees.” Before she can speak to someone there about it, an announcement is made requesting that everyone evacuate the premises due to strong suspicion of a possible eruption from the surrounding mammoth volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.

We then jump ahead to April 24, 2025. No one is aware yet that they are just 116 hours away from the massive eruption that could wipe out all of Hilo and then some. John “Mac” MacGregor of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is monitoring the situation closely and deciding how soon to warn the locals by updating the volcano alert level. A helicopter is getting way too close to the volcanic flow and going down. This is just the start of the nonstop action that is ERUPTION, complete with a chapter-by-chapter countdown towards the big blast.

Once Mac saves the day, he begins discussing with his team what they can do to avoid the tragedy that occurred during the last big eruption in 1984. Creating man-made vents in the mountains is proposed, but that is easier said than done and has never been tried. Before Mac can put any large-scale plan into motion, he is interrupted by the appearance of Colonel James Briggs from the local military base.

Briggs shares top-secret information about a venture known as Project Hades, or Agent Black. It involves the creation of a military chemical weapon far more powerful than Agent Orange. The worst part is that tons of cylinders containing Agent Black have been stored for years in one of the nearby mountains as sort of a giant chemical waste receptacle. If the military, with some local assistance, is unable to remove all of these cylinders before the volcanoes erupt, the product that will be released into the atmosphere will be strong enough to wipe out every living thing on earth. This will make readers think back to Rachel’s discovery of blackened plant life in 2016 that reveals just some of the deadly potential of Agent Black.

Mac and his team are now in a literal race against time, not only to get the surrounding residents prepared to evacuate, but to assist the military in removing all of the Agent Black materials while building huge barriers and reinforcements to quell the lava flow. Along with the constantly depleting time clock we see at the top of each chapter, Crichton and Patterson have created a situation that will not allow readers to catch their breath as the pages turn by themselves. It’s a traumatic race to the finish where not everyone will survive, and the fate of the entire globe is at risk. In other words, failure is not an option!

ERUPTION is so much more than just a great summer read. It combines the impeccable research and scientific knowledge that Crichton consistently infused into everything he wrote with the breakneck suspense of a James Patterson novel. In true Patterson style, the chapters are short and have the impact of jabs from a prize fighter who is setting you up for the knockout punch. When it arrives, hold on to your seats because ERUPTION is a wild ride that takes no prisoners.