FORMULA [Mass Market Paperback]

STEVE SHAGAN (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: BANTAM; First Thus edition (1979)
• ASIN: B0023XGPPG
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A '70s thriller that holds up surprisingly well., March 10, 2011

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This review is from: The Formula (Paperback)

Those folks who got to know THE FORMULA only through the 1980 film adaptation are likely to be quite surprised by Steve Shagan's novel. Though Shagan adapted his own book for the screen, something clearly got lost between formats, as THE FORMULA the movie is a narrative mess, while THE FORMULA the novel is a tightly plotted international thriller.

Lieutenant Barney Caine of the LAPD is called in when a former cop is killed under what appear to be drug-related circumstances. Barney smells a rat right away and begins digging in places he probably shouldn't, eventually turning up a conspiracy to cover-up the process of "hydrogenation," used by Nazi Germany to create synthetic fuel from coal in order to power their war machine. Written in the aftermath of the 1973 oil embargo (and the resultant fuel crisis), THE FORMULA postulates that powerful forces are at work to keep nations like the United States dependent on foreign oil and the companies that supply it very rich. It's a scenario that holds up quite well today.

Despite its ongoing relevance, THE FORMULA is very much of its time. The characters are freewheeling and sexual and drug use is common. Barney Caine would only be allowed into a contemporary thriller if he were a neutered version of himself. Similarly, the relative closeness of the Second World War (the book is set in 1978) and the ongoing Cold War cast a narrative pall over the book that would be difficult to replicate today.

Though it holds together FAR better than its filmic counterpart, THE FORMULA does have its shaky moments. A major character has murky reasons for hanging around and the hoops the conspirators jump through seem a touch contrived when the whole thing is out in the open. That said, THE FORMULA is a solid book with an interesting cast and some smart things to say about energy and the way we get it. And with copies available for next to nothing on Amazon, what have you got to lose?