The Omega Theory [Kindle Edition]

Mark Alpert (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Science meets geopolitics meets religious fanaticism in Alpert's breathless sequel to Final Theory. Science historian David Swift and his physicist wife, Monique Reynolds, go in search of their autistic adopted son, 19-year-old Michael Gupta, who, savantlike, has memorized Einstein's unified field theory, after members of a religious cult kidnap Michael from the Upper Manhattan Autism Center. The kidnapping occurs on the same day that Iran tests a nuclear device that does more than generate a seismic rumble. According to a Columbia colleague of Swift's, it "severed the continuity of our universe." Accompanied by FBI special agent Lucille Parker, Swift and Reynolds embark on a tiring (and sometimes tiresome) quest that takes them to Jerusalem and Turkmenistan. Those who can identify with characters who are little more than plot devices or mouthpieces for exposition—the good guys rant about advanced physics, the bad ones about the necessity of the coming apocalypse—will be most rewarded. (Feb.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Alpert’s follow-up to his acclaimed first novel, Final Theory (2008), continues the adventures of science historian David Swift. This time Swift’s adopted autistic son, Michael, is kidnapped by a radical cult that believes Armageddon is imminent. Buried in Michael’s brain is the formula for Einstein’s much-sought-after universal theory. The leader of the cult plans to use the theory to create a weapon that will destroy the world and lead his followers to heaven. The weapon he envisions, in fact, will be strong enough to destroy the entire solar system and create a new big bang. David must rescue his son (and the world) while somehow subduing the cult and its ever-increasing team of fanatical followers. With a little less intellectually exciting scientific theory this time and more straight-ahead action, Alpert may lose some of his high-end readers, but he stands to gain many more mainstream thriller fans, those who like a Michael Crichton–like mix of science and action. --Jeff Ayers

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 2079 KB
• Publisher: Touchstone (February 15, 2011)
• Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0043RSJ5E
• Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,594 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

MARK ALPERT has been an editor at Scientific American for the past ten years. His job is to simplify bewildering scientific ideas for the magazine's readers, explaining concepts such as string theory, extra dimensions and parallel universes. "Final Theory" is his debut novel, a thriller about Albert Einstein and a long-hidden set of equations that could destroy the world.

A lifelong science geek, he attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City and then majored in astrophysics at Princeton University. Working with his advisor, the Princeton theorist J. Richard Gott III, Mark wrote his undergraduate thesis on the application of the theory of relativity to Flatland, a model universe with only two spatial dimensions (length and width, but no depth). The resulting paper, 'General Relativity in a (2 + 1)-Dimensional Spacetime,' was published in the Journal of General Relativity and Gravitation in 1984 and has been cited in more than 100 physics papers since then. (Scientists who are searching for the Theory of Everything are particularly interested in Flatland because the mathematics gets simpler when one spatial dimension is removed from the equations.)

While at Princeton, Mark also studied creative writing with poets Michael Ryan and James Richardson. After graduation he made the fateful (and perhaps foolhardy) decision to pursue poetry rather than physics. So he entered the M.F.A. writing program at Columbia University, where he took courses taught by Stanley Kunitz, Octavio Paz, Derek Walcott, Susan Sontag and Elizabeth Hardwick. Two years later, when he realized that poetry would never pay the bills, Mark became a journalist. He started as a reporter for the Claremont (N.H.) Eagle Times, writing stories about school-board meetings and photographing traffic accidents with his beloved Nikon FG. Then he moved on to the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser, where he learned the history of the civil-rights movement by covering George Wallace's last year as governor.

In 1987 he returned to New York as a reporter for Fortune Magazine and over the next five years he wrote about the computer industry and emerging technologies. During the 1990s Mark worked freelance, contributing articles to Popular Mechanics and writing copy for the talking heads on CNN's Moneyline show. Throughout this period he was also writing novels and short stories, but the only piece of fiction he sold was a short story called 'My Life with Joanne Christiansen,' which was published in Playboy.

In 1998 Mark joined the board of editors at Scientific American. With his love for science reawakened, he soon came up with another idea for a novel. While working on a special issue about Albert Einstein, he was intrigued by the story of Einstein's long search for a unified field theory that would explain all the forces of Nature. Mark started writing a thriller about high-energy physics, incorporating many of the real ideas and technologies described in the pages of Scientific American: driverless cars, surveillance robots, virtual-reality combat and so on. The result is "Final Theory," which will be published by the Touchstone imprint of Simon & Schuster in June 2008. The book is the first in a planned series of science thrillers.

Mark lives in Manhattan with his wife and two children. He's a proud member of his magazine's softball team, the Scientific American Big Bangers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He's Done It Again. I Lost Yet Another Night of Sleep., February 27, 2011

By 

HighlandPark "fjm229" (Highland Park, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Omega Theory: A Novel (Hardcover)

What is it with this guy? I can't put his books down. Great read. And now I also know something about quantum computing, a phrase I thought I'd no sooner write in a review than actually understand. WHEN'S THE MOVIE COMING OUT?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Scientific Thriller, March 25, 2011

By 

Konrad Kern (OFallon, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Omega Theory: A Novel (Hardcover)

Mark Alpert has all the ingredients to write a great scientific thriller. His knowledge of, and ability to explain science, his great skill in producing a plot that puts it all together, and his talent in putting a high end suspense to the whole story. Loved this thriller and I loved the characters. Some characters I love to hate the most are religious fanatics and there minions. This thriller will give you that and more. The only minor grievance I have was that the ending could have been a bit more satisfying. In other words, some deaths came too quick. This one's a hit!

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars exhilarating Big Crunch thriller, February 16, 2011

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Omega Theory: A Novel (Hardcover)

Iran tests a nuclear device; a Columbia University physicist, based on readings from scientific instruments, claims that for a nanosecond the test ripped asunder the universe as if the Big Bang was about to explode. On the same day, the Upper Manhattan Autism Center informs science historian David Swift and his physicist wife, Monique Reynolds that their nineteen years old autistic adopted son Michael Gupta was snatched.

The True Believers cult kidnapped Michael, whose ancestor is Einstein and who has memorized his late relative's little known Unified Field's Final Theory. Worried for their son, FBI special agent Lucille Parker joins Swift and Reynolds on the rescue quest because the True Believers plan to deploy the Omega Theory as those who know the Big Bang of alpha creation also know the Big Crunch of omega nothingness.

From New York to Jerusalem to Turkmenistan, the chase is on as the good guy scientists (angels) battle the bad guy cultists (devils). Although none of the cast is developed beyond their role in the potential apocalypse final war, fans will enjoy the non-stop action as Mark Alpert provides an exhilarating Big Crunch thriller.

Harriet Klausner