Final Theory

A Novel

By: Mark Alpert

Narrated by: Adam Grupper

Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Columbia University professor David Swift is called to the hospital to comfort his mentor, a physicist who's been brutally attacked. With his last words, the dying man gives his former pupil a seemingly random string of numbers that could hold the key to Einstein's last and greatest secret: Einheitliche Feldtheorie, The Theory of Everything.

Einstein's proposed Unified Theory - a set of equations that could explain all the forces of nature - would have revolutionized our understanding of the universe. But Einstein never discovered it. Or did he?

Within hours, David is arrested by the FBI and taken to a secret interrogation center. But the FBI isn't the only faction pursuing Einstein's long-hidden theory. A Russian mercenary wants to force David to talk - and he will do whatever it takes. On the run for his life, David teams up with an old girlfriend, a brilliant Princeton scientist, and frantically tries to piece together Einstein's final theory to reveal its staggering consequences.

We used E=mc2 to build the atom bomb....What could we do with the key to creation?

Seamlessly weaving real science, history, and politics with an intriguing love story, Final Theory expertly combines fact and fiction with nonstop heart-pounding action in a plot that will have you riveted until its explosive end.

©2008 Mark Alpert (P)2008 Simon and Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Wow! Einstein would have loved this book. It's a great thriller, it has a sure feel for politics, and the science is both fun and solid." (Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein)

Science thriller

From the violent opening scene, I was not sure I was going to like this book. But my perseverance was well rewarded. A terrific thriller with a little science mixed in with pseudo-science. I recently listened to 3 sciencey thrillers, including Stephenson's "Reamde", this one was the best.

Da Vinci Code "Formula"

This story follows the Da Vinci Code formula quite closely. If this does not bother you, this is a very good story with very plausable science and solid history of Einstein's life. If you like science, you should love this book.

I had hoped for more, but the author has hope

I had hoped for a good story, with interesting characters where the author also provides a painless education on physics. The story and character were acceptable but not memorable. I did not mind giving it the time to finish the book. The information on physics, quantum or classical was not giving the attention I would have thought a story that is based on a supposed secret unified theory by Einstine should have been given. An average book.

Gripping and Meandering at Times

Would you listen to Final Theory again? Why?

Overall a good story that develops interesting characters. The premise is fun, and the ramifications of the Final Theory are really intriguing. Any story about some lost nugget of wisdom from Einstein has to be captivating. Add in government and private interests competing, and you have a story that will make you want to endure the few parts where the plot wanders. Give it a listen.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Honestly one of the anti-heroes-Gupta

What does Adam Grupper bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He reads the characters great!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Almost there.

Along the lines of Angels and Demons or the Da Vinci Code, this one seeks to find the truth to end all truths. I enjoyed the narrations immensely and I'll look for other books narrated by this one. As for the story, it was well-researched and the story was well-written, well-edited, but a bit formulaic and, for me anyway, a bit too predictable. I think this book will make a great movie and I'll be there to watch it. Interesting plot, well developed characters, and I learned something in the process. What more could I ask for.

hard to put down

Wow! This is his debut novel? He crafts this tale like a seasoned author.
The premise is base on what would happen if someone worked out the theory of everything.
Would we use that power to create a weapon as we did with the theory of relativity?
David Swift stumbled upon the key to the theory and several factions want it and will stop at nothing to get it. This book is fast paced and action packed. Hard to put down. If you liked The Da Vinci Code; you will like The Final Theory.

A remarkable book.

I read some of the negative comments. The reviewers seemed to think this was supposed to be true. Either that or they didn't like the comments on Bush43. I found them amusing. Alpert kept me interested throughout the book. He's becoming one of my favorite authors.

A great read!!

Can hardly wait to get Omega Theory to see where the story goes from here.

Has A Political Agenda

The story could have been ok however, the author must still be pissed about the the Gore Bush Election. All the villians come from the Bush Administration. The The Military are a bunch of incompetent thugs. The Hero's are from higer ed hookers and a autisic kid. The Political agenda made it hard finish. Even Rush Limbaugh got a little verbal jab. I regret wasting a credit.

Such a mixed bag...

The idea of a lost Theory of Everything is a nice premise. The writing is
more than adequate from a style perspective. He also did an admirable job of
working in twists that are so important to a story like this. The pacing was
good, and the science was nicely handled. Then there are the problems...

A character engages the safety on their revolver. (Revolvers don't have
safeties.) A character "smashes" a computer on the floor and, voila, we have
parts everywhere. Among these parts, he is able to spot the hard drive
because it looks like "a turntable with glass platters." He proceeds to
smash the platters into tiny shards. Good grief. Every time an author does
something like this, it yanks you out of the story and it takes time to
reestablish the immersion. I find this way too often with authors who
obviously have zero understanding of things of the real world, whether the
topic is cars, guns, computers, etc.

The more troubling issue with the book is the ultra-poor character
development, both on the micro and macro levels. On the micro level, there's
just little there to make one bond with the individual characters. They're
stereotypical and wooden. On the macro level, the evil government is after
the poor innocent little people while an evil Master Killer stalks them, as
well. Yawn.

Finally, although it contributed absolutely nothing to the story, the author
had to take time to inject his liberal politics. The evil vice-president
with a crooked smile has to run the country for the "boob" from Texas.
Again, yawn. Maybe the author found this cathartic, but it's an incredibly
stupid thing to do in a book that has nothing to do with politics. By
including elements like this, he added nothing to the story, but did manage
to insult any conservative who happened to have bought and read his book.
Not smart to alienate half your market for no reason other than your own
need to "vent."