Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006483836 ISBN 13: 9780006483830

Publisher: Voyager, 2000

From Arthur C. Clarke, bestselling author of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Creator Of The Rama Series, and Michael Kube-Mcdowell comes a breathtaking new novel of bold scientific speculation and edge-of-your-seat suspense: a riveting thriller in which the fate of humanity depends on whose finger is on...The Trigger

It is the ultimate anti-weapon. A device that can render guns and bombs virtually harmless. At least that is how Dr. Jeffrey Horton, the brilliant young physicist who developed the Trigger, hopes his discovery will be used. Yet, like the scientists who first believed nuclear weapons would be the ultimate deterrent to war, could Horton and his colleagues be wrong? Will this new technology bring peace, or chaos? Will it be used to protect people, or control them? Will it mean the end of war, or a whole new kind of war? Not even Horton could have foreseen the fierce power struggle emerging for control of the Trigger. Soon it becomes clear that no one can be trusted. Not even those closest to him. Someone has already betrayed the project. Others will do anything to stop it--or co-opt it for their own ends. And the greatest enemy may be those with the best intentions.

Review:

The early 21st century ushers in a revolution in unified field theory, and free-thinking physicist Jeffrey Horton and his team are pushing the cutting edge. Sequestered on a maximum-security research campus, the scientists are testing "Baby," a device they hope will create "a laser for gravity," a tractor beam. But during an early run, every gun in the area (and even a secret stash of fireworks) simultaneously explodes. Follow-up tests soon prove their device was responsible--that it can in fact neutralize every conventional gun, bomb, and explosive--and that's when Baby becomes the "Trigger."

This speculative novel by sci-fi legend Arthur C. Clarke and genre workman Michael Kube-McDowell follows the vast sea changes such an invention would bring, reading as part thriller, part social tract. Horton and his Trigger follow a course not unlike that of Einstein and the A-bomb, but ratcheted up by an order of magnitude--idealistic scientists, overwhelmed politicians, rabid lobbyists, and entrenched generals must deal with the device's deployment and consequences, both political and social, in a gun-rich, gun-dependent culture. A well-researched, plausible plot line keeps The Trigger not just readable but downright engrossing, despite its sometimes distracting lack of subtlety. All in all, a worthwhile, entertaining meditation on how technological progress always proves as unpredictable as it is inevitable. --Paul Hughes

From the Back Cover:

FROM ARTHUR C. CLARKE, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY AND CREATOR OF THE RAMA SERIES, AND MICHAEL KUBE-McDOWELL COMES A BREATHTAKING NEW NOVEL OF BOLD SCIENTIFIC SPECULATION AND EDGE-OF-YOUR-SEAT SUSPENSE: A RIVETING THRILLER IN WHICH THE FATE OF HUMANITY DEPENDS ON WHOSE FINGER IS ON...

THE TRIGGER

It is the ultimate antiweapon. A device that can render guns and bombs virtually harmless. At least that is how Dr. Jeffrey Horton, the brilliant young physicist who developed the Trigger, hopes his discovery will be used. Yet, like the scientists who first believed nuclear weapons would be the ultimate deterrent to war, could Horton and his colleagues be wrong? Will this new technology bring peace, or chaos? Will it be used to protect people, or control them? Will it mean the end of war, or a whole new kind of war? Not even Horton could have foreseen the fierce power struggle emerging for control of the Trigger. Soon it becomes clear that no one can be trusted. Not even those closest to him. Someone has already betrayed the project. Others will do anything to stop it -- or co-opt it for their own ends. And the greatest enemy may be those with the best intentions.