Customer Reviews

PW2: 2012 The End of the Beginning

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you like Michael Crichton, Carl Sagan, Tom Clancy, and Dan Brown, you'll love this book. It's got Crichton's unique imagination with a scientific flair, Sagan's ability to explain science facts easily and with a sense of awe and wonder, Clancy's thrilling in-depth drama and action, and Brown's puzzles and layers of mystery within mystery. Combine all that with Dr. Strangelove's black comedy and sarcastic humor and you've got PW2.

It's an entertaining yet serious take on the 2012 prophecy. Sometimes, I forgot it was fiction and got rather spooked. I couldn't tell where real science left off and the fictional stuff began. This book had me believing this was an actual reverse-engineering of a new scientific discovery. The author expands current science / quantum / probability theory and crafts a suspenseful tale that is believable and riveting. Super well written - I liked the many quotes, and the way the author lays out the story, easily describing the science back of it all and at just the right level of detail. The dialogue is spot-on. The humor is like a spicy dish that gives you a hint of the heat and spice, but then lets you slide by as you enjoy the full flavor, and then it hits you a few seconds later - very cleverly done.

This book is funny, sarcastic and witty. The characters are lively and fun to watch as they are buffeted by the crazy happenings and try to figure it all out...in time. This is a refreshing new spin on the 2012 end times mania - the plotline isn't predictable and there are some surprising twists and turns that made it a real page-turner for me.

PW2 isn't your typical end of the world apocalypse book. I've read several 2012 books, both fiction and nonfiction, and this one tops the list. I couldn't put it down - it's engaging, funny, and ultimately inspiring. You'll never be able to say "What's the probability?" again without smiling and remembering this book.

Hamilton Ray is the ex-prof who's been studying an unlikely probability theory found in old notebooks. He starts to figure out that there might be a connection to the weird days happening in the world. Seems like cause and effect are really screwed up and out of control. The first time it's noticeable is on April Fools Day 2011. Even more reason for people not to believe something's haywire.

The story is well written and well developed. There are many subplots and a variety of characters that add to the richness of the story. The tongue in cheek humor works well with a serious subject. It holds up a mirror to our nature, and highlights our human quirks irreverently but respectfully. A must-read for anyone interested in 2012.

Excellent doomsday novel about what might happen in 2012. The author is imaginative and spins a fun and complex tale. I found myself slowing down to read it to catch all his tongue in cheek humor (like one of characters is named Dr. Won R. Kee) and the many digs at science, religion, and humanity in general. When you think of it, if the laws around probability got all messed up and people knew there really was an impending doom on 12/21/2012, how would everyone react? He captures true human nature at its best and worst, even funniest and most bizarre (his Blizzard of Bizzards festivals were hilarious!) This author has alot of talent and is good at his craft and creating visual images. I look forward to his other books. PW2 2012 would be a great movie or better yet a TV series. Highly recommend to anyone who wants an entertaining well written book exploring 2012 (I had to keep remembering it's a novel and his imagination but it still made me wonder if it could all be true).

PW2 is an exciting read, with well developed chartacters, facinating and intricate plot,and a remarkable ending! A great adventure of a read!!!

All right, here's the thing - apocalypse books are either trying too hard to be all scholarly and serious, presenting "the evidence" about why the end is near for real...OR they get all airy-fairy about how the ascendent masters of the astral plane are about to merge with the Grand Overmind as was foretold in the book of Enoch or something.

This book (thankfully so!) is not like those. It's tongue-in-cheek with dry humor that caught me off guard. At times I thought I was being punk'd. The main character is a physicist. The techy stuff and silver bullet secrets are cool. The whole idea of probability being some kind of wave energy generated at the Big Bang was a great hook. Bring it on! Being a sci-fi buff, I like it when there's more meat to the bones than just explaining away how and why things work by blaming it on the "flux capacitor." A couple of the characters, like Lester Ruff and The Facilitator, I wanted to see more of but hey, personal preference. The point is, we get the end of the world we deserve - the one we make for ourselves. It's up to us. The end of the world becomes a mirror to see all of our glorious potential despite how whacked we are. That's what I liked about this book. You can take it literally or as a cosmic joke, as a self-parody or serious as a heart-attack, but that's the point -- it's just like us. 4.44 stars out of 5.

So this is the first review that I have written but after reading all of these reviews, I felt the need to share my opinion. I am an avid reader of apocalyptic fiction and this one falls short. There were endless chapters dedicated to explaning physics theory after theory after theory. Many times I started to put it down but felt the need to see it through because I am not a quitter. There is the basis of a good story here and there were some good characters. Had the author paid less attention to the technical aspects of the probability wave and more on the characters - then I would agree with the other reviewers. This book is a long read and there was chapter after chapter where I didn't know what had happened to some of the main characters. There was a massive (and I mean massive) amount of build-up to the climax of the story (2012) and then the let down of the ending was just the nail in the coffin for me. It was as if the author just said, "Screw it, I give."