Review: Hot Water by Erin Brockovich with CJ Lyons

Hot Water
Author:  Erin Brockovich with CJ Lyons
Publisher: Vanguard Press
Published:  November 2011
Pages: 288
Genre:  Thriller
ISBN 978-1593156848


Source:  I was provided a copy of Hot Water by Leyane Jerejian of FSB Associates for review on this blog.  This does not influence my opinion nor this review.

From the publicity company:  No stranger to balancing an intensely demanding work schedule with the stresses of keeping her family together, AJ Palladino now faces another challenge: she is leaving her young son home with her ailing parents so that she can travel to the site of a new case involving a nuclear power plant in peril. And it will take all her skills to keep her cool while the action and tension build to a fever pitch.

Colleton River, a new, one-of-a-kind nuclear facility designed to create medical isotopes with the potential to save millions of lives, has recently been plagued by a series of unexplained mishaps. The accidents have caused the locals to protest the plant, drawing the attention of an anti-nuclear protest group as well as several home-grown terrorists who sense an opportunity to sow fear and chaos. The plant’s owner, Owen Grandel, has traveled from South Carolina to West Virginia to personally ask AJ for help. AJ knows she’s going to have her hands full investigating the accidents and calming the situation at the plant. What she doesn’t foresee is her simple business trip turning into disaster, with her family coming apart at the seams in her absence—and her young son disappearing. While AJ tries to find her missing child, she also discovers what caused the “accidents.” Soon the plant begins hurtling towards nuclear catastrophe, with AJ stranded at ground zero. But can she save her son, herself, and the community—and prevent a nuclear meltdown before it’s too late?

My Review:  I reviewed Erin Brockovich's (with CJ Lyons) previously published book Rock Bottom, in July of this year and loved it; so when I was offered the opportunity to review the second book by Erin Brockovich with CJ Lyons I didn't hesitate and it didn't disappoint!  

As you can tell when you read my preview post, Hot Water moves quickly, capturing the reader's attention from the very beginning.  Erin Brockovich is a master at writing a quick paced thriller.  

The author's attention to detail in research is evident as, in Hot Water, Colletin River, a nuclear facility, is in dispute with the people of the area and a religious group.  AJ is hired to quiet the storm (pun intended, see further into the book), so the owners might attract investors from Japan and abroad.  But they cannot court these investors with the protestors so visible in the news and around the facility.  Though this isn't typical work for AJ and her business partner Elizabeth, the proceeds from success would be sufficient to supply financial stability for AJ and her son David and for the business she and Elizabeth run.  Feeling like she is selling out, AJ reluctantly accepts the job which, in a short period of time, not only endangers her but could be the death of several thousands of people, a modern day apocalypse.  

I couldn't put this book down!  As the hours of the night drew late, I reluctantly had to set it aside so I could function the next day at work but the moment I was able to I delved in again.  The only complaint I have is that the author writes in the first person, in AJ's voice, and then in the third person as well.  It is not always a smooth transition as at one point in the novel, the narrator speaks of AJ while just before AJ was narrating.  Though there is a break in the chapter, signified by a symbol, I found it rather odd to read it that way.  Other than that, I absolutely loved it!  Hopefully Erin and CJ are fast at work on the next AJ Palladino novel, so their avid fans, me included, will have their thirst for adventure satisfied soon!

Rated 4.5/5