48 Hours

A solar storm known as a coronal mass ejection has struck Earth in this intelligent near-future thriller from bestseller Forstchen (The Final Day), his best book to date. Parts of the U.S. are without electricity, and some cities declare martial law to maintain control. But even as Americans struggle to deal with limited resources, a team of astronomers at the Helio Observation Center, headed by Dr. Richard Carrington, have detected an intense solar flare, nicknamed Sauron’s Eye, which has the potential of wiping out humanity. Carrington is summoned to the White House to report his findings directly to the president, who wrestles over how to respond without causing mass panic. Meanwhile, Darren Brooks, a former police chief who now heads security at a massive underground storage facility in Lake of the Ozarks, Mo., must resolve a moral dilemma after he learns that the site, which includes supplies that could enable thousands to survive the calamity, is to be taken over by the military. Fans of apocalyptic thrillers such as the movie Deep Impact will be engrossed. Agent: Eleanor Wood, Spectrum Literary. (Jan.)