Golden, Christopher. Force Majeure. Simon Pulse, 2002. ISBN 978-0743426701 400 pp. $

****

As if we didn’t have enough to worry about with the bioterrorism threat, now we have to be concerned about manufactured weather that could be used as a weapon. College student and super genius Shane is thrilled to have figured out how to create a tornado in a lab, thinking his discovery is pure science to be used to predict weather; when it turns out he is actually working for a secret government agency interested in using his experiment for harm, he walks out of the project–but when a series of suspicious weather patterns indicate someone has stolen his idea, a confrontation with his supervisor results in everyone whose lives he touches being in danger–as is his own.

This is a high drama tale that would translate well to film. The plot itself is unpredictable but not completely outrageous. The premise of the existence of a group of Truth Seekers working to stall government plots borders on X-Files but could lend itself well to a whole series of books.