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Flood
Flood is a devastating and compulsive thriller that reads like fact. The country has suffered floods on an unprecedented scale in recent years, but have we seen the worst, an inundation that threatens millions of lives? Doyle’s vision is incontestable, backed up by over twenty-five years of research. Flood is the disaster novel of today.
A storm rages over the north of Britain, a troop carrier founders in the Irish Sea, flood indicators go off the scale, the seas are mountainous and a spring tide is about to strike the East Coast. Air sea rescue and military personnel struggle to save lives all down the coast. The worse is yet to come. When the storm reaches the south the two forces of wind and tide will combine and send a huge one-in-a-thousand tidal surge up the Thames.
But surely London is safe: the Thames Barrier will save the capital from disaster as it was intended to do? The river is a titanic presence by now, higher than anyone has known it, and the surge thunders towards the Barrier. Scientists begin to talk of the possibility of overtopping. Can fifty feet high gates be overwhelmed by a wave? Then there is an explosion the size of a small Hiroshima: a supertanker is ablaze in the estuary and most of the Essex petrochemical works are going up with it. The Thames catches fire and the wall of fire and water thunders towards Britain’s capital. This is the story of what happens next, and the desperate attempts to save the capital from destruction.
A storm rages over the north of Britain, a troop carrier founders in the Irish Sea, flood indicators go off the scale, the seas are mountainous and a spring tide is about to strike the East Coast. Air sea rescue and military personnel struggle to save lives all down the coast. The worse is yet to come. When the storm reaches the south the two forces of wind and tide will combine and send a huge one-in-a-thousand tidal surge up the Thames.
But surely London is safe: the Thames Barrier will save the capital from disaster as it was intended to do? The river is a titanic presence by now, higher than anyone has known it, and the surge thunders towards the Barrier. Scientists begin to talk of the possibility of overtopping. Can fifty feet high gates be overwhelmed by a wave? Then there is an explosion the size of a small Hiroshima: a supertanker is ablaze in the estuary and most of the Essex petrochemical works are going up with it. The Thames catches fire and the wall of fire and water thunders towards Britain’s capital. This is the story of what happens next, and the desperate attempts to save the capital from destruction.
640 pages, Paperback
First published April 22, 2002
About the author
Richard Doyle
9 books9 followersI'm a fiction writer trying to break away from typecasting. For a while I was focusing on disasters, books like Flood and Volcano - London threatened by a storm surge, an eruption-caused tsunami devastating the coast of Maine.
I could have gone on with the theme - publishers always want more of the same and Flood had made it into a movie - bit I couldn't face it. So I'm back to straight thrillers with MUTE, out now on amazon kindle. It's about a little guy taking on the big ones. Nothing earth shattering, just a simple story of a fellow who doesn't give up when threatened.
A bit about me. I'm a Brit who's spent most of his life elsewhere. I was raised in North Africa and Kuwait and I've lived in lots of countries since - USA, France, Ireland, West Indies and the UK. Hard to say which was the most fun. I married a girl who likes travelling and she's usually planning where to go next. Any suggestions welcome. We love sailing and our son is a yachtsman so a bit of water would be good.
If any of you decide to stray on to my amazon kindle entry, you'll see I've put Imperial 109 out there too. It's a novel I wrote in 1978 about a flying boat service between South Africa and America. It sold a million copies.
I could have gone on with the theme - publishers always want more of the same and Flood had made it into a movie - bit I couldn't face it. So I'm back to straight thrillers with MUTE, out now on amazon kindle. It's about a little guy taking on the big ones. Nothing earth shattering, just a simple story of a fellow who doesn't give up when threatened.
A bit about me. I'm a Brit who's spent most of his life elsewhere. I was raised in North Africa and Kuwait and I've lived in lots of countries since - USA, France, Ireland, West Indies and the UK. Hard to say which was the most fun. I married a girl who likes travelling and she's usually planning where to go next. Any suggestions welcome. We love sailing and our son is a yachtsman so a bit of water would be good.
If any of you decide to stray on to my amazon kindle entry, you'll see I've put Imperial 109 out there too. It's a novel I wrote in 1978 about a flying boat service between South Africa and America. It sold a million copies.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 17, 2018
Fictional account of a cataclysmic winter storm surge/high tide flood which overwhelms London’s defences and which causes a massive conflagration – with the two disasters then reinforcing each other as well as dividing the rescue services.
Eventually the flood becomes secondary to the fire which starts in chemical and oil works near Dartford and both flood and fire end up destroying areas such as Bluewater and Canary Wharf before the fire is stopped by heavy rainfall just after Westminster which tips the balance in the increasingly organised attempts to halt the fire.
The book is written in the present tense, and is clearly excellently researched which leads to extreme levels of detail on all aspects of London geography /Government/Flood defences/Thames Barrier operation/Emergency Services etc (giving the book the air of a televised what-if/disaster scenario planning exercise) interspersed with details of individuals caught up in the flood (like a typical disaster movie or episode of “Casualty”).
Although the detail on flood and fire disasters gets repetitive, the book is excellent at capturing how governments and environment agencies fail until too late to appreciate the full extent of the impending disaster and are reluctant to give a precautionary warning due to the chaos and cost it would cause.
Eventually the flood becomes secondary to the fire which starts in chemical and oil works near Dartford and both flood and fire end up destroying areas such as Bluewater and Canary Wharf before the fire is stopped by heavy rainfall just after Westminster which tips the balance in the increasingly organised attempts to halt the fire.
The book is written in the present tense, and is clearly excellently researched which leads to extreme levels of detail on all aspects of London geography /Government/Flood defences/Thames Barrier operation/Emergency Services etc (giving the book the air of a televised what-if/disaster scenario planning exercise) interspersed with details of individuals caught up in the flood (like a typical disaster movie or episode of “Casualty”).
Although the detail on flood and fire disasters gets repetitive, the book is excellent at capturing how governments and environment agencies fail until too late to appreciate the full extent of the impending disaster and are reluctant to give a precautionary warning due to the chaos and cost it would cause.
October 30, 2013
One of those stories that you read with fascination as it sounds so possible. Makes you look at where you live with rather different eyes. Always had my doubts about London even in heavy rain!!
March 24, 2019
What a tour de force. With no characterisation and a simple, single storyline this is 600 pages of pure drama. There's little suspense either as the author gives the outcome away in the prologue. And the ending is a huge disappointment. But for pure, sustained action it is terrific. The mind boggles how much research and modelling must have been carried out to achieve the level of realism attained here. Indeed the list of credits gives a clue. Little subtlety, just in-your-face escapism - if it wasn't all so close to home and worrisome.
September 28, 2009
A great London flood tale one of those what if it happens what are we gonna do are we prepared kind of tales, great movie too, i've got the dvd as well....
June 17, 2018
I found this book when looking for a copy of the author's earlier novel, Deluge, which I read many years ago and have been looking to reread recently. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and it's a good disaster novel in itself, but if memory is anything to go by, the earlier book has a modest edge over this one, if you can only read the one.
June 7, 2018
Reads almost like a report of actual events, it's very clinical in it's approach but I loved it. Fascinating insight into how London works behind the scenes. Has resulted in me driving across the Dartford crossing much less.
January 18, 2020
Love this book! This is the second time I've read it, I love disaster movies and books. There is a movie based on the book, but as usual the book has so much more in it. As a life long Londoner I know and have been to most of the places mentioned so I can really see the story play out.
August 9, 2013
Overall, I was disappointed with Flood. It may as well have been called Fire, as the original premise of the novel appears to be a means to an end, a device for the 'conflagration' (an overused word in the book) to spread throughout the Thames Estuary and beyond. I'm not sure why there was a dual storyline - flooding London in the ways described could easily fill a novel, along with an extension of what happened after - plenty more potential carnage to be had.
In all, a well plotted book, but overlong that disintegrated into 'how many different ways to kill human beings' .
Just don't bother with the film - I ignored the warnings and wasted two hours. Too awful even to be funny.
In all, a well plotted book, but overlong that disintegrated into 'how many different ways to kill human beings' .
Just don't bother with the film - I ignored the warnings and wasted two hours. Too awful even to be funny.
July 18, 2011
Very clever. A spring tide is heading down from the North Sea to the English Channel. The Met Office
for British weather tries to predict where the storm surge is heading. The PM is away, so Deputy tries to figure out what to do. Finally it strikes London. Can the Thames Barrier hold it of in time?
In 1953 at night time a storm surge struck England and killed hundreds of people. This is a "what if"
story about a flood hitting London and how we will cope with it.
for British weather tries to predict where the storm surge is heading. The PM is away, so Deputy tries to figure out what to do. Finally it strikes London. Can the Thames Barrier hold it of in time?
In 1953 at night time a storm surge struck England and killed hundreds of people. This is a "what if"
story about a flood hitting London and how we will cope with it.
October 11, 2008
It is a good book about would London be prepared for a flood.
It comes the USA and travels to the North Sea down the English Channel and finally the English Capital. Will the Thames Barrier save us or will it fail? London did have a flood in 1953 and in the 1980's. The premise is, could it survive a major flood? In reality terms I'm not so sure, not with the sea levels rising.
It comes the USA and travels to the North Sea down the English Channel and finally the English Capital. Will the Thames Barrier save us or will it fail? London did have a flood in 1953 and in the 1980's. The premise is, could it survive a major flood? In reality terms I'm not so sure, not with the sea levels rising.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2013
Had me totally gripped. Should be compulsory reading for all London Councilors. The premise of a storm surge coinciding with a spring tide is totally feasible. Some other events are a bit coincidental but make for a good story. Warning if you are of a nervous disposition you'll think twice before going on the London Underground!
December 17, 2008
Flood is a novel a fictional event that place over several days and the devestation on the places it weaks chaos. Soon it reaches London, will the Thames Barrier cope with major disaster?
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews