Review: Shock Wave by Florian Louisoder

When the world begins to crumble like deadly dominoes, rewriting the past will be the only way to save the future in Shock Wave by Florian Louisoder. In a race to stop the complete destruction of life on Earth, two heroes with secrets of their own are sucked into the heart of a legendary kingdom that is suddenly all too real.

Scott DeSantis and Linda, his ex-wife, have a decidedly unique relationship, but they must put their personal strife behind them when a nuclear detonation off the coast of Cuba plunges the world into chaos, followed by rifts in the space-time continuum disrupting life and costing lives around the globe. Linda chooses to reveal her mysterious past once she realizes the larger catastrophe to come, as well as the harbinger responsible for such destruction.

Flinging themselves five millennia into the past, these two deeply developed characters must navigate the unwelcoming world of Atlantis, and face down the same enemy who is orchestrating havoc in their future. As a nuclear physicist and a deep sea diver, the pair are uniquely suited for the quest at hand. Their dynamic is fluid and intriguing, but there is limited room for romance as this fast-paced plot unfurls.

The world-building of Atlantis is impressive, as are the many historical references and asides tossed into the prose, which add authenticity and help readers fully immerse in the story. The details of the vortex, subtle as they are, work as a believable explanation for the mechanics of the plot. The narrative self-reflection throughout the book also comes across as sincere, with brief and frequent musings about everything from family and grief to time travel, the weight of history, and moral flexibility tied to deep love. The premise of this story may initially seem fanciful, but there are serious themes and ideas addressed by these characters as they fight to find their way back to the future.

With all the novel has going for it, the quality of the writing has a fair number of issues. There is a good deal of repetition in the narration, an overuse of similar words and descriptions, and redundant statements told in a variety of ways. By trimming this excess prose, the story would be more impactful, the characters would be more clearly defined, and the pace wouldn’t move in such fits and starts. Additionally, there are grammatical errors throughout, with missing commas, misspelled words, awkward phrasing, and simplistic transitions that are undeniably distracting. The book’s more intense scenes, including action-heavy sequences, are often described in flat language, which doesn’t match the energy of what is happening.

Despite these technical flaws, the story itself is riveting and wide-ranging, with all the classic elements one could hope to find: advanced technology, sinister schemes, time-travel adventures, romance, global conspiracies, and a ticking clock that inherently provides suspense, even if the writing lacks urgency. There is a huge amount of potential with the expansive foundation that Louisoder has created in this first book of the series.