Savant [Hardcover]

James Follett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 28, 1993

While gathering information in Riyadh after the Gulf War, an arms developer hears of a miraculous Iraqi tank which survived all the West's weaponry. The link between this phenomenon and an unsmiling 16-year-old girl is the key to this thriller by the author of "Dominator", "Swift" and "Mirage".

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd (January 28, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 043426766X
• ISBN-13: 978-0434267668
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,932,496 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Puzzling but fascinating., January 23, 2004

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Savant (Hardcover)

I found this book to be a fascinating, compulsive read but am not smart enough to work out if any of it is even remotely possible..I suspect that it would take a physicist to explain all the references to the harnessing of energies and the use of them to control the atmosphere.I also don't understand the "matter..anti-matter" theories and will almost certainly never do so, but, as a gripping read, I couldn't put it down, so to heck with the technology side of it--truth or fantasy--just read and enjoy !The premise is that a couple of scientists discover the whereabouts of two teenaged savants who can perform kinetic feats that defy logic and see in them, a path to fabulous riches.It's set partly in Iraq at the time of the first Gulf war and partly in England and if your mind can get around the supposition that some minds can control matter, you'll thoroughly enjoy this book.

2.0 out of 5 stars Good fiction, but just fiction, and poor editting, July 18, 2002

By 

snowy "Lorne Vallen" (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Savant (Paperback)

The story started in the heat of the battle during operation Desert Storm 1991 when the Iraqi military were getting whipped by the international coalition.

Max Shannon, head of British arms R&D firm, came to know of an unkillable Iraqi tank. Don't ask who is Martin Hussey, that name never appeared in the book at all. Upon investigation, he came across a name of the Iraqi tank driver, Khalid, who appeared to possess extraordinary "good luck" which kept his tank from being obliterated.

At the same time, a savant English girl demonstrated some interesting capabilities which intrigued a writer for a British science magazine.

Both the tank driver and the English girl became target for the ruthless Max Shannon who sought to duplicate their prowess, even if it meant killing them in the process.

The writer made some research into paranormal studies done, and offered some insight into certain scientific, or pseudo-scientific, perspective into the functioning of the universe.

However, he made bad errors in using Uri Geller as a subject. According to information found the website for CSICOP, Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, in 1994, Uri Geller's libel suit filed in 1992 against Prometheus Books was dismissed with Uri Geller being required to pay for the costs. Prometheus Books had published "Physics and Psychics" which denied Uri Geller's claim to psychic prowess and revealed them as tricks.

Other than that though, it was rather entertaining except for the ending epilogue which left the picture rather ambiguous.