June 2, 2008
Alpert's extensive scientific knowledge, combined with his love of literature, make his latest novel a truly thrilling and engaging experience. In what can be described as a The Da Vinci Code for Einstein enthusiasts, Alpert twists fact and fiction and takes his readers on a sprawling epic adventure. Sadly, Adam Grupper overplays his narrator role, reading with an almost synthetic urgency in which his voice takes on an annoying, high pitched urgency as if every word were crucial to the plot. His Eastern European dialect is about as realistic as Boris and Natasha from "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show." Grupper seems desperate to capture the reader's attention immediately and put them on the edge of their seats until the very end, but unfortunately it fails. A Touchstone hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 24).
March 24, 2008
Alpert’s exciting debut takes the premise that Albert Einstein succeeded in discovering a unified field theory, but hid the result, fearing it could lead to weapons far more powerful than the atom bomb. In the present day, several contenders—the U.S. government, a savage mercenary bent on revenge, various scientists—all scramble to uncover the theory. Theoretical physicist Hans Kleinman, once one of Einstein’s assistants, is tortured by an intruder who demands he divulge the theory. Columbia University professor David Swift is at Kleinman’s bedside when the old man makes a few cryptic statements, imparts a string of numbers and then dies. Soon David is off and running for his life, as all the theory seekers give chase. David stays one step ahead with the help of the beautiful Monique Reynolds, another physicist. Alpert, a Scientific American
columnist, sticks to proper thriller structure while imparting interesting and accessible science. The relentless action, including one giant twist and plenty of smaller ones, builds to a pulse-pounding conclusion.