''Goodbye California'' is a
novel by Scottish author
Alistair MacLean
Alistair Stuart MacLean ( gd, Alasdair MacGill-Eain; 21 April 1922 – 2 February 1987) was a 20th-century Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers and adventure stories. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, most notably '' The ...
, first published in
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...
.
Plot introduction
Set in the United States, an
Islamic terrorist kidnaps nuclear scientists and steals
radioactive material
A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transfe ...
from a
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...
plant. When Detective Sergeant Ryder's wife is kidnapped along with nuclear scientists from the California power station where they all work, he sets out to find her. Facing resistance from within his own police department, he leaves his job and begins taking the law into his own hands. His son Jeff, a
highway patrolman, and a few other trusted friends attempt to stop the terrorists from detonating home-built
atomic bombs along California's
fault lines
In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...
, which would unleash massive earthquakes killing millions of people and destroying California's major cities.
Background
The inspiration for the plot appears to be acknowledged by Maclean himself in his preface to the 1977 edition of the book where he describes his first experience of an
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...
while in California on 9 February 1971.
Maclean said in a 1975 interview he was working on a book where half California fell into the ocean. "
It's called for 1982 when all the planets are in alignment," he said. "There are people who believe it. The more I get into it the more I believe it myself."
Reception
The book became a best seller in 1978.
[Best Sellers: FICTION NONFICTION FOOTNOTES
New York Times 7 May 1978: BR12.]
Proposed Film Version
Director Don Sharp and producer Peter Snell, who had collaborated on the film ''Bear Island'', based on another MacLean novel, tried to make a film version of ''Goodbye California'', starring
Charlton Heston, for Time Life. Just before filming was to begin however Time Life sold its film division and the film did not go ahead.
References
External links
Book review at AlistairMacLean.comBook review at goodreads
1977 British novels
Novels about terrorism
Novels by Alistair MacLean
Novels set in California
William Collins, Sons books
Works about earthquakes
{{1970s-thriller-novel-stub