In an effort to get a better look at the mammoth animals, two members of the research team decide to rake a rather chilly scuba dive. Upon their return from their watery adventure, the two men begin to exhibit signs of extreme radiation sickness. Carol can only conclude that their symptoms have been brought on by their exposure to the Arctic water, but how, and why has radiation managed to seep into these waters?

Immediately, Carol thinks of her former husband, Brock Garner. Garner has developed an underwater tracking device that he has named Medusa. She thinks Medusa may be the answer to her problem. Although located, literally, at the other end of the earth in the Antarctic, Garner is contacted and informed of Carol’s dilemma. Up to the challenge, Garner and his assistant, Sergei Zubov, recognizing the seriousness of Carol’s discovery agree to bring Medusa to the Arctic try to locate the source of the radiation, and stem it, if possible.

A radiation expert seems critical to the mission’s success, so Carol cannot believe her luck to learn that Junko Kokura, an eminent nuclear researcher is, at present, in western Greenland studying the Inuit population. When asked to assist in the project, Junko is more than willing to come to assess the situation and deal with what appears to be a growing radiation menace.

Meltdown amply meets the criteria for a textbook example of a thriller. A threat of cataclysmic proportions that, without intervention, will wipe out entire settlements in the albeit sparsely populated Arctic region. Whether this threat is the result of an accidental series of events or has been initiated by an individual or government bent on mass destruction is unclear even at the end of the book, but the possibility for devastation is enough to generate excitement for the reader. A wealth of historical information on real life radiation disasters from Hiroshima to Chernobyl is presented as well as the events leading up to these catastrophes.

For those readers with a penchant for acronyms, Meltdown should prove to be an absolute delight. From the well known EPA to the rather obscure SCAMP (Seafloor Characterization and Mapping Pods) author Powlik peppers his narrative with such lingo. Personally, I’m not a great fan of such language uses as it interrupts my train of thought, but for those devotees, this is your kind of book.

I found the characterization in the novel a bit hard to believe. Two characters, Junko Kokura, a Japanese woman, and Sergei Zubov, a Russian immigrant show little evidence of their cultural heritage. They seem to think and act very much like their American colleagues. Especially Junko, who, according to the biographical data, lived in Japan until she graduated from university, gives no indication that she is Japanese. She is very self sufficient and comfortable giving orders to other people, which is very unusual for a Japanese woman of her generation.

Although the gist of the plot is frighteningly believable, several of the events that take place in the later chapters of the book rely heavily on propitious circumstances. At one point Garner is pulling an Inuit sled across the frozen Arctic landscape. There are few visual clues to orient him, and he just happens to find the person he is seeking - dramatically, as his quarry is within minutes of succumbing to the cold. Moreover, Zubov does the same thing and is successful as well. It should be noted that neither of these men has any experience in this environment, as perhaps, a native Inuit would. These are two terribly fortunate events occurring quite close together where the margin for error would be expected to be quite high.

As a thriller, Meltdown achieves its purpose. As a satisfying reading experience, a lot will depend on what an individual reader needs to achieve satisfaction.

--Andy Plonka