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Book Description
London has stood for nearly two thousand years. Until today.
Product Description
Flood is a devastating and compulsive thriller that reads like fact. The country has suffered floods on an unprecedented scale in recent years, but have we seen the worst, an inundation that threatens millions of lives? Doyle's vision is incontestable, backed up by over twenty-five years of research. Flood is the disaster novel of today. A storm rages over the north of Britain, a troop carrier founders in the Irish Sea, flood indicators go off the scale, the seas are mountainous and a spring tide is about to strike the East Coast. Air sea rescue and military personnel struggle to save lives all down the coast. The worse is yet to come. When the storm reaches the south the two forces of wind and tide will combine and send a huge one-in-a-thousand tidal surge up the Thames. But surely London is safe: the Thames Barrier will save the capital from disaster as it was intended to do? The river is a titanic presence by now, higher than anyone has known it, and the surge thunders towards the Barrier. Scientists begin to talk of the possibility of overtopping. Can fifty feet high gates be overwhelmed by a wave? Then there is an explosion the size of a small Hiroshima: a supertanker is ablaze in the estuary and most of the Essex petrochemical works are going up with it. The Thames catches fire and the wall of fire and water thunders towards Britain's capital. This is the story of what happens next, and the desperate attempts to save the capital from destruction. (20020614)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In 1976, Richard Doyle wrote a disaster novel called DELUGE, about London flooding. This was written before the Thames Barrier was built, and such a disaster was after that inconceivable. However, when you read this updated and much more realistic version, you will be left wondering whether the Barrier will be safe enough to stop a massive tidal surge. The research behind how such an event could take place is spot on. Not only that, in this story a tanker explodes, hitting oil refineries in Canvey Island , Essex, just east of London, causing a massive burning oil slick to head for the capital. The British Government's people - Home Secretary Venetia Maitland and Royal Navy troubleshooter Roland Raikes do all they can to prevent the disaster from getting worse as the burning flood tide heads at an alarming pace towards London. Richard Doyle has certainly done his research into how such a huge disaster could occur and just who it would affect. The locations featured are as authentic as you could get - the Van Ommeren oil refinery in Essex is a place I used to work next door to and brought back some memories. The descriptions of the fire and flood destroying landmarks is so well told it's unsettling at times, but this is a book you just cannot stop reading. There are no main characters, apart from, perhaps Raikes and Maitland, this story is told as-it-happens in a present tense making you feel you are there, the disaster itself is the main element focused on. There are assorted subplots of people being rescued from the London Underground, the THames Barrier and how it fails, schoolchildren escaping the Millennium Dome and shoppers trapped at Bluewater retail city - and a massive inferno at Canary Wharf tower. Overall, very frightening and hard to fault, and a book that makes compelling reading!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book stunned me. As soon as you start reading, it's almost impossible to put down. It is written in the present tense which makes everything feel more immediate and 'real-time'. I've been reading this on the way to work (in the centre of London where much of the story is set), and every time I get off the train, I'm suprised that the weather is different to that in the book. The entire premise is frighteningly plausible, and I'm hoping that my 5th floor office is high enough!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'm not usually a great fan of 'faction', however it's on my son's reading list at University and he's been raving about it so I thought I should at least try to read it, well I'm so glad I did.
Mr. Doyle has obviously done a great deal of research (my son keeps telling me it's amazingly accurate) yet he manages not to overwhelm with science. He casts the characters with such skill and talks with such knowledge about there roles that one is forced to wonder whether Mr. Doyle does/has not worked in one of these roles himself?
I reread this book recently and was again unable to put it down, thank you Richard Doyle.
Mr. Doyle has obviously done a great deal of research (my son keeps telling me it's amazingly accurate) yet he manages not to overwhelm with science. He casts the characters with such skill and talks with such knowledge about there roles that one is forced to wonder whether Mr. Doyle does/has not worked in one of these roles himself?
I reread this book recently and was again unable to put it down, thank you Richard Doyle.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent Read
I am a big fan of disaster movies such as Armageddon, Deep Impact, Volcano, Dante's Peak and so on, the list is endless. But this book takes it to a new level. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Gavin Hyland
An interesting read
I must admit I was a bit shocked by some of the reviewers who said that they found no empathy for the characters. Read more
Published on 29 Dec 2009 by The travel review.
Astonsishingly detailed and vivid picture of London's networks and...
Entirely written in the present tense, you need to take a deep breath and submerge yourself for a few hours in this rollercoasting, incredibly detailed book. Read more
Published on 26 Aug 2009 by Rasselas
Captivating
Superbly written and gripping, this lengthy book never bores. It starts off as a storm in the US; a ship sinks off the coast, while storms batter Britain; before you know it, the... Read more
Published on 9 Sep 2007 by Dan the Man
What if....taken to the extreme
This book starts well..the author has obviously done his research and the premise is entirely believable especially given global warming and the continual building on flood plain... Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2007 by owen63
chilling
Wow, this book has to be the best i've read in a long time. As an eastender it was chilling to read about places that i knew. Read more
Published on 20 April 2007 by cockney girl
If you don't normally read thrillers then here's a reason to start.
I was completely gripped by this. I hardly ever read thrillers but this deserves to be given a much higher title than that! Read more
Published on 11 April 2007 by Grey Barnes
Wow!!
A joy to read! At first i was worried that the writer might drown me in facts (pardon the pun) but he managed to mix fact with emotion wonderfully. Read more
Published on 11 April 2007 by Henry Realto
If you're a londoner - you'll want an ordnance survey map at hand
This is an update of the author's 1970's book Deluge (which was written pre-Thames barrier putting forward a good case to have it). Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2007 by DiverKitty
It could happen...
Reading it is amazing...it has the feel of a documentary but feels quite real at the same time. The speed of the flooding is staggering and it shows accurately just how events... Read more
Published on 28 April 2006 by M. P. Crowther
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