Landslide

Desmond Bagley is one of the best action/adventure writers around, and this is one of his best novels. Not as good as "Running Blind" or "Wyatt's Hurricane", but on a par with "High Citadel", "Snow Tiger", "The Bahama Crisis", and "The Freedom Trap", this book, like many of his stories, not only has fast-paced action and plausible, very realistic characters, it also has some interesting information in the background. I've learned a lot from reading Bagley's novels, (in this case, about the geology of quick clay) all the while being thoroughly entertained.

Back in the 1960s and even 1970s, Desmond Bagley was easily one of the best thriller writers around. As a rule, his books tend to be short and to the point, filled with action and marked with innovative ideas. Landslide is one of my personal favorites which I suddenly stumbled upon after many years. Set in a "company town" in north America, this is a story of dominant business families and cowed townspeople which awakes when a stranger named Boyd arrives in town (Yes, you might almost say this is a classic Western novel!!). Recovering from a bad car accident and attendant amnesia, Boyd happens on the town by chance, then stays on as dim memory flickers make him realize he has been a part of it before - to what extent, his memory cannot say. In true "Western" fashion of course, the crimes are solved and he gets the beautiful girl as well. The story itself is very well told with Boyd as the narrator and the climactic collapse of the dam is every bit startling as it is educative. Great way to fill a holiday!

Some of the best books written by Bagley are based on a scientific phenomena.. This is one of them, based on a Landslide.