Hard SF but a lot of fun

Vaz Gettner is a brilliant but socially clueless scientific researcher who is married with two surly teens. When he loses his job after not kissing his new boss’ keister, he stumbles upon a major scientific breakthrough that could literally save the world while ruining his life.

First off, Audible has a gem in Stephen R. Thorne: imagine Ron Howard narrating “Arrested Development” and you’re almost there as to why he’s so entertaining. Now when we first meet Vaz, he’s the shy geek in high school, and while clearly on some sort of spectrum, his need to be babied at work is definitely something you can see a promotion-obsessed new boss not jiving with: new bosses need to wave their proverbial genitals in the air to flex their supposed superiority…especially in a job where the subordinates are clearly more intelligent, talented, etc.

Vaz is also annoying as Hell, and his wife often bears the brunt of his awkwardness. But don’t dismiss him as a weak little geek: he handles his stress with strenuous exercise, so he’s a pretty jacked brainiac.

The science in this one is hard (it explains cold fusion in great detail), and Thorne gets us through it…but it’s very heavy on science. There was also an issue with the writer being obsessed with the word “mewlish” that inundates Chapter Four, which was maddening. In the grand scheme of things, this builds to a violent climax and a fun little ending. Worth a listen.

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