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CHINA LAKE by Meg Gardiner Hodder & Stoughton, March 2003 480 pages 6.99 GBP ISBN: 034082249X Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Despite her first name, Evan Delaney is female. She is also a lawyer and a science fiction writer, whose new novel, Lithium Sunset,  has apocalyptic overtones.  It is nowhere near as apocalyptic, however, as the obsessions of a small cult, The Remnant, led by the Reverend Peter Wyoming, whose germ phobia causes him to picket the funerals of AIDS patients.  Evan is horrified to learn that her ex-sister-in-law, Tabitha, is a member of this group and is anxious to regain custody of her son from Evan's brother, a Navy fighter pilot.

 The Remnant is not only worried about contagion, however; it also believes that the American government is in league with Satan to rule the world via chemical warfare and the United Nations and that this is the End Time, just before Armageddon, an event they fervently hope to bring about as soon as possible.  Their plans include, in some undefined way, Evan's nephew, Hallowe'en, and perhaps some rabid bats.

There is a lot going on in this debut thriller set in the high desert of California, perhaps too much. The author is not fully in control of either her tone (are The Remnant members frightening or merely ridiculous?) or her points of view.  Still, Evan is an engaging heroine, combative, short-tempered, and gutsy, and the book has a strong narrative drive.  

The author, an American now living in Surrey, England, has a fine appreciation of a certain strain of looniness on the American scene, though world events since the novel was written make it feel ever so faintly past its sell-by date. Gardiner's second novel, also featuring Evan Delaney, has been announced for July, and I look forward to seeing if she can capitalize on her strengths.

This review is based on the UK paperback edition of CHINA LAKE, available in the UK and Canada.  It would appear that no US edition is planned at the moment.

Reviewed by Yvonne Klein, March 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)

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