''Goodbye California'' is a novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean, first published in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, 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 (no ...

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 numbers of either neutrons or protons, giving it excess nuclear energy, and making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ...

from a

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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 by ...

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 bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear expl ...

s along California's fault lines, 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 earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

while in California on 9 February 1971. Maclean said in a 1975 interview he was working on a book where half of 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 Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor. He gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous Cinema of the United States, Hollywood films including biblical epics, science-fiction f ...

, 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.com

Book 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