Review: Love at Absolute Zero by Christopher Meeks

Love at Absolute Zero
Author:  Christopher Meeks
Publisher:  White Whisker Books
Publishing Date:  September 17, 2011
Pages:  309
ISBN 978 0 983632917
Genre:  Comic Fiction-Adult
Source:  I was provided with an Advanced Reader's Copy for the purpose of this review.  This does not influence my opinion nor this review.

"Love at Absolute Zero is the story of Gunnar Gunderson, a 32-year old star physicist at the University of Wisconsin.  The moment he's given tenure at the university, he can think of only one thing:  finding a wife.  His research falters into what happens to matter near absolute zero (-459.67 F), but he has an instant new plan.  To meet his soul mate within three days -- that's what he wants and all time he can carve out -- he will use the Scientific Method.  His research team will help.  Can Gunnar survive his quest?   What happens if and when he goes to Denmark?"  (from the back cover)

For a star physicist, given tenure at the local university, the next quest he must embark on is that of marriage.  To be successful he must alter his image.  No one takes a second glance at a geek, right?  So off he goes to the dentist to get braces, which by the end of the evening have made the insides of his lips and cheeks feel like raw meat, followed by laser eye surgery and a trip to the hair salon.  He is now a blond not so bad looking man with metal braces and watery eyes who embarks on two nights of speed dating.  What ensues could evoke a great deal of laughter.

But the girl he meets, not through speed dating, but through a chance of accidental stepping on of a pretty high heeled foot, takes him on a roller coaster ride of emotions and turns his life upside down.  Is she the one for him?  Or is it the girl he knew from high school whom he unceremoniously dumped to pursue love in Denmark.

Through one calamity after another, Gunnar fumbles through, learning that love is not so scientific as he thought.  

Christopher Meeks' research is evident in the detail with which he writes of physics, absolute zero (which is beyond this reviewer's comprehension, so is Physics, for that matter), and the science of dentisty and ophthalmology.  The details are painstakingly written and can easily lose the less than enthusiastic reader.  The author is a talented creative writer whose talent pours from the page, with easily flowing descriptives.  

As you read Love At Absolute Zero, you can see the brilliance of the plot, appreciate the thoroughness of the author's research, and understand that there is a gifted writer at work here.  Though many will applaud Love at Absolute Zero for its approach of combining science and love, it wasn't one of my favourites this year.  I enjoyed the writing, just not the story so much.

 (Caution for the sensitive reader:  sexual situations and language, use of hashish)

Watch for my author interview tomorrow. (which, by the way, is a fabulous insight into the mind of the great Christopher Meeks.)