"The Vesuvius Prophecy"
by Greg Cox

The predictions of precognitive child Maia Skouris are never wrong. And that's why her latest vision, which comes to her during a school trip and sees Mount Rainier erupting at the hands of a 4400, is taken so seriously by NTAC. Agents Tom Baldwin and Diana Skouris are assigned to find the man from Maia's prediction, and prevent the terrible catastrophe, but that may involve solving a crime that's remained a mystery for decades, and defeating a man who can vanish into thin air.

The Vesuvius Prophecy, by Greg Cox, is the long-overdue debut novel to be based on The 4400. The book is set during the show's third season, and the experience of having a 4400 adventure in print is an exciting one. However, tying in with such a high-quality series, and kicking off a potentially long-running series of novels, there's a considerable amount of pressure on this book to perform - so just how good is it?

Well, "very" would begin to sum things up. This book realls feels like it's a proper part of The 4400's continuity, thanks in part to its structure and format resembling that of an episode. Like the TV series, it focuses on only a handful of the main cast (Tom, Diana, Maia) with others (Alana, Nina, Marco, Shawn) playing important roles as their paths intersect. An effort has also been made to weave the novel into the show's wider tapestry by adding to some of the major plot threads from the third season - we finally get to see Shawn apologise for hurting Maia after being attacked by the Nova Group, and we're given insight on Isabelle's initial motivations for getting involved with Ryland, for example. Tying in to such a heavily-serialised show, there was a risk that an extra standalone adventure could have felt superfluous or isolated, but Vesuvius Prophecy accurately reflects and feels a part of the TV series.

However, to an extent, that reflection of the TV series is also a problem with Vesuvius Prophecy. As the show progressed, it began to reference itself - cheerfully dropping in names like T.J. Kim and Orson Bailey as easter eggs for long-term fans. Whilst Cox does this too, he chooses to explain most of the references unnecessarily. I'd wager that the majority of the people reading the book already understand the references, and the others will be able to work them out without explanation. For example, "[Homeland Security might] attempt to recruit him, like they did with Gary Navarro" is a comprehensible line of dialogue, which tells us all we need to know about Navarro, without the subsequent paragraph Cox gives us to recap Voices Carry. Even clever bits of foreshadowing which start well, such as Diana musing over the prospect of one sibling stealing another's sweetheart, are reinforced and made overly specific, with all subtlety going out the window. Every time a throwaway reference was laboriously explained, or was advertised with metaphorical flashing lights, I was thrown out of the narrative.

Characterisation is, on the whole, excellent. Isabelle's innocent and cold-blooded ability to kill has never been more frightening than during her scenes in a sci-fi museum, where we see her naivety and menace blended perfectly. We've never empathised with Shawn Farrell as much as we do when Cox lets us see inside his head, torn by his feelings about Isabelle, and momentarily relieved when he believes her to be dead. And Seattle, too, becomes a character here - more vivid and well-defined than it ever was on screen. Rather than simply reproducing the people and places we're familiar with from the TV show, Cox gives them an extra polish, so that they almost work better in print.

The one-off characters who appear in this book are also excellent - pleasingly closer to Heather Tobey than Carl Morrisey in terms of being well-rounded and thoroughly-developed - with the main guest role, Cooper DeMeers, being a surprisingly sympathetic and likeable individual. And there are some particularly exciting action sequences, such as Diana and Garrity's underground confrontation with some 4400s, or Tom and Diana's chase through a busy market during an earthquake.

When books based on The 4400 were first announced, I was excited, but I never expected anything quite this good. Despite the minor niggles I mentioned, The Vesuvius Prophecy is an exciting, well-written story with an original and intelligent plot, and spot-on characterisations. Any genre fan should enjoy the book; viewers of The 4400 in particular will be delighted with how their beloved characters have been handled, and will find that the novel goes some way to making up for the cancellation of the TV series. Vesuvius Prophecy is absolutely stellar, and I can't wait for further novels in the series. Long may this range continue.