Final Impact [Paperback]

Yvonne Navarro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1997

Life As the World Knows It

New York, Early October...
[fade to Marti Nunciata]

From the middle segment of the seven o'clock Cable News Network
broadcast:

"Excitement continues to build as astronomers around the world prepare to record the impact of the rogue planet Millennium on the far side of Jupiter in late November. The rogue planet was dubbed Millennium because when discovered by the Kin Peak National Observatory in Arizona, it was originally estimated to strike Jupiter early in the year 2000. Now, however, astronomers estimate the impact will occur on November twenty-sixth, the Friday after Thanksgiving. This is what Professor Frank Gelasias had to say when asked about the more than one month discrepancy between the originally projected date of impact and when scientists now believe the rogue planet will actually strike the gas giant."

[cut to window and expand to fill, Professor Frank Gelasias]

"There are many factors which can affect the date we calculate that a body in space will strike another one, or pass close by, so much changing information on an object of this size and speed, that exact projections early on are chancy at best. But we're fairly certain that this one will strike the day after Thanksgiving, and when it does, the impact on Jupiter will dwarf what Shoemaker-Levy did to the planet in 1994. Millennium is huge by comparison, and the resulting damage to Jupiter's atmosphere could change the way we see the planet--its gas atmosphere--for decades."

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Yvonne Navarro's work is an intricate, delicate tapestry of bizarre images and intriguing characters."
--Poppy Z. Brite

"The voice of horror has a new cutting edge. Yvonne Navarro places a fresh blood-wet shine on tarnished and familiar themes. Things still go bump in the night, and there just may be a monster under the bed after all..."
--Kevin J. Anderson

From the Inside Flap

Life As the World Knows It

New York, Early October...
[fade to Marti Nunciata]

From the middle segment of the seven o'clock Cable News Network
broadcast:

"Excitement continues to build as astronomers around the world prepare to record the impact of the rogue planet Millennium on the far side of Jupiter in late November. The rogue planet was dubbed Millennium because when discovered by the Kin Peak National Observatory in Arizona, it was originally estimated to strike Jupiter early in the year 2000. Now, however, astronomers estimate the impact will occur on November twenty-sixth, the Friday after Thanksgiving. This is what Professor Frank Gelasias had to say when asked about the more than one month discrepancy between the originally projected date of impact and when scientists now believe the rogue planet will actually strike the gas giant."

[cut to window and expand to fill, Professor Frank Gelasias]

"There are many factors which can affect the date we calculate that a body in space will strike another one, or pass close by, so much changing information on an object of this size and speed, that exact projections early on are chancy at best. But we're fairly certain that this one will strike the day after Thanksgiving, and when it does, the impact on Jupiter will dwarf what Shoemaker-Levy did to the planet in 1994. Millennium is huge by comparison, and the resulting damage to Jupiter's atmosphere could change the way we see the planet--its gas atmosphere--for decades."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553563602
• ISBN-13: 978-0553563603
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,413,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born back in the early days when black and white photographs were considered normal instead of artsy. As a child I always thought I'd grow up to be an artist, and I was was convinced I'd spend my life doing line drawings of long, leggy models like the ones in the daily newspapers. Life, however, did not cooperate: a foul-up in grammar school resulted in a transfer to a local high school instead of the technical, arts-heavy one I'd planned to attend.

Following that was a move that really made things start winding around. By the time I returned to Chicago for the second time in 1981, I'd worked as a waitress, a nurse's aide, a bookkeeper and gift shop cashier, an accounting clerk, and a secretary in everything from office furniture stores to a hotel to a journalism society. In 1981 I came back to my old job in a Chicago law firm and settled down in the Windy City for awhile. In 1982 I tried to write because my mother said "You could do this." The seed had still been planted, and I sold my first story in 1984. Since then I've written around a hundred stories, most of which have been or are scheduled to be published.

My first novel, AfterAge, was published in 1993 and was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. In 1995 my second solo novel, deadrush, was published, and it also was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award, this time in the category of Superior Achievement in a novel. Final Impact, the third solo novel, was published in 1997, and won both the Chicago Women In Publishing's Award for Excellence in Adult Fiction and the "Unreal Worlds" Award for Best Horror Paperback of 1997 from the Rocky Mountain News. Since then I've published several more solo novels, Red Shadows (a follow-up to Final Impact), DeadTimes, and That's Not My Name, her first suspense novel. That's Not My Name, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Paleo, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Willow Files, Vol. 2 all won at the Illinois State level of the IWPA 2001 Mate E. Palmer Communications contest (two first place and one second place, respectively), plus I somehow swept all three awards of the Short Story category with "Ascension," "Divine Justice," and "Santa Alma." I've also written a number of media tie-in novels, including several Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels, Hellboy, Elektra, and Ultraviolet. Full info about all her books can be found on her website along with a lot of free excerpts.

I moved to my beloved Arizona in 2002 and currently work on historic Fort Huachuca. in southern Arizona. Numerically, I'm up to about twenty novels and one non-fiction book, with those never-ending plans for more. I love heat, Godiva chocolates, and Great Danes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grad your ankles and kiss the Earth good-bye!, June 7, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Final Impact (Paperback)

Earth gets hit by an asteroid and gets destroyed. Simple concept, right? Wrong. Navarro weaves a complex tapestry of over a dozen characters and several plot threads. The fateful asteroid, Millennium, doesn't even make its presence known until 100 pages into the book, by which point she has made her characters so vivid, so alive, that you are praying for their survival through the horrors of their everday lives before you even start to worrry about that damned asteroid. It's an amazing feat. This novel isn't straight science fiction -- it's a mix of SF, horror, the supernatural, and some mystery as well. It's also amazing writing. After reading FINAL IMPACT, you'll want to call everyone you know to make sure they're still alive, and that the world hasn't really been destroyed

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Apocalyptic Fiction At Its Best, August 11, 2006

By 

Patricia Lewin "Author" (Outside Dallas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Final Impact (Paperback)

First, I love apocalyptic fiction. Like most authors, however, I'm a bit picky. (g) I discovered Yvonne Navarro when one of the readers on my message board recommended her. I was not disappointed. FINAL IMPACT and its sequel RED SHADOWS are apocalyptic fiction at its best. They are fast paced, with great characters, and a story line that will make you shudder. I highly recommend both.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pales in comparison to Lucifer's Hammer ., June 24, 2008

By 

Dan Misanthrope "danscollectibles" (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Final Impact (Paperback)

OK, Let's start with the fact that the action does not start until page 300, after 300 long pages of character development, the Rogue Planet finally hits the Earth. But wait, there are very few details of the "Final Impact" you know that it is dark and there have been Earthquakes, there are some descriptions of dead bodies and collapsed buildings, and then back to your collection of Psychic Protagonists who keep getting hit the head. Our collection of protagonists then undertakes a journey to seek medical help, for a head injury, along the way you discover that they have no common sense whatsoever. They do not collect any food, they do not even outfit themselves in cold weather gear which would be laying around everywhere in Chicago, and they refuse to gather any kind of weapon, instead they rely on one protagonist who can move things with his mind for defense. Then comes the showdown with the Antagonist, and instead of using telekinesis boy, for a quick victory, they instead go into a hospital to rescue a complete stranger, who they all seem to love for some reason, and leave the antagonist to a 100 pound, scantily clad girl, to defeat, with a knife.
One of the dumbest parts is when they are rescuing the stranger who they love, and hear gunshots, instead of taking off and seeing if it was their pregnant wives who had been shot, they ignore the shots and make sure the beloved stranger is safe from rats.
And for some reason all the protagonists except one, decide to become conscientious objectors, in the midst of this apocalypse. Not a great decision considering every other survivor is trying to kill you.
I still have a hundred more pages to read, but I hold out little hope.
On a final note, it would be nice if the author would learn the correct terminology when referring to guns. "A mean looking double barreled pump shotgun" does not exist.