The first is the missing seismic vibrator stolen from the oil-drilling rig, and the second is a telephone message from one of Priest’s followers to John Truth. They have two small but significant clues to work from. Judy and Marcus set about trying to track down the Hammer of Eden. However, Judy meets with seismologist Michael Quercus who informs her that the threat is real, and the terrorists are capable of generating a much larger earthquake.
Having a grudge against her, Judy’s boss seeks to punish her by giving her an assignment that is considered a waste of time. After that, Judy Maddox, a talented FBI agent, is assigned to the case. Though the quake does not cause much damage, it is deemed too convenient to be a coincidence. Few people take the threat seriously at first until a small earthquake strikes a remote area. Renaming themselves the Hammer of Eden, the group steals a seismic vibrator from an oil truck and uses talk radio host John Truth to broadcast their intentions.
Priest uses the information to threaten the government of California with a series of devastating earthquakes if their demands are not met. Priest’s lover, Melanie, comes up with a way to set off an earthquake at will by using a seismic vibrator, a machine that sends pulses into the earth. However, Priest and his followers’ idyllic existence is interrupted when they receive word that the government of California plans to build a new power plant, damming the nearby river in the process and flooding the vineyard. As a former member of organized crime, he has been on the run from the law since the early 1970s. The residents of the vineyard live in harmony with nature, while Priest uses the isolated location as a place to hide.
The novel begins in a vineyard in California owned and operated for twenty-five years by a hippie commune led by the charismatic Priest. Published in 1998, it is one of around two-dozen novels written by Follett since the 1970s. The Hammer of Eden is a technological thriller by Ken Follett.
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