Aqualine: A Renewable Energy Thriller

P. K. Brown
iUniverse (2008)
ISBN 9780595470112
Reviewed by Richard Blake for Reader Views (4/09)

P. K. Brown has combined the elements of science fiction, suspense, and fast-paced intrigue in this novel of renewable energy, “Aqualine.” The story takes place in the year 2016. Worldwide diminishing oil reserves coupled with limited strategic petroleum, and restricted ethanol availability have created international economic mayhem.

In a climate of industrial cutbacks mineralogist Adam Harlow is faced with unemployment. Harlow responds to NASA’s search for scientists to re-discover the working formula for Aqualine, a remarkable a water-based fuel. The formula has been stolen by an irresponsible group. Adam soon finds himself on a path toward the uncovering of a resourceful clean-burning fuel, and a tangled web of dangerous encounters that put his life in imminent danger.
 
From an underground lab in a condemned building in Seattle, Harlow comes upon an important breakthrough. While working with his assistant Moi Song, from China, he is deceived into believing he is not the first to recover the formula. American oil magnate Rodney Panach lures him into a lucrative offer at Admiral Petroleum and flies him to a company location in a secluded desert.

In exchange for saving Moi Song’s life Harlow is blackmailed into putting the finishing touches on the prototype plant that will corner the Aqualine market for Admiral Petroleum. While Harlow attempts an escape he goes into hiding in a vault containing an illegal shipment that has created a military build-up in the U. S. military in preparation for an altercation with China.

Dr. Heinrich Mann and his intern aboard the International Space Station come across a distress signal from the moon. By hacking into classified files they learn that Col. William Striker is moonlighting for Panach. Brown builds suspense and delivers an explosive, page-turning. Action-packed surprise ending as he brings together all the elements of an ambitious, complex and intricate plot with twists that detail danger and intrigue.

P. K. Brown has captured the latest possibilities of technological wizardry in writing his novel “Aqualine.” Fiction, fantasy and an active inquiring mind enable Brown to open doors of science, technology and math to his readers. Brown uses his spare time to develop hydrogen injection systems for vintage cars. His ongoing study of mechanics, and his fascination and experimentation with automotive innovations since childhood have produced a vivid imagination and add credibility to his writing.

“Aqualine” is a remarkable novel incorporating science fiction, suspense, and fast paced political intrigue while introducing an exciting glimpse into the race for discovering new technologies in renewable energy. Highly readable!

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