Michele and I found ourselves watching The Towering Inferno on the RETRO Channel a month or three ago. It was produced by Irwin Allen and the Action Scene were Directed by him. That explains why the firemen are fighting fire in the hallways without masks and the smoke hugs the ground whilst the rest the rest of the movie is pretty damn good. So, during a commercial break, I mention the movie is based on two books. I pointed out, by way of example, that that's why the building is having the GRAND OPENING and yet people are already living in the building. Continuity not always Irwin Allen's strong suit...

That hadn't occured to Michele before, so she wanted to know which book had which storylines and characters in them.

So we bought the books and took turns reading them...
~ If you found it, it's yours! If you like the idea of Bookcrossing, you're welcome to join us in our great big game of hide and seek. It's free to join, spam free, and you can be anonymous. Please feel free to use me, GREYFLANK, as a refering member if you decide to join.

I read it first, but here's my wife review from GOOD READS... there may be spoilers for the movie...

After watching The Towering Inferno, I read this book (one of the 2 the movie is based on) to see how it compared. Overall, I wasn't impressed with the book. The POV was strange--it felt like an odd combination of 2nd & 3rd person--the dialogue was sometimes stilted, and, with one notable exception, the female characters were maddeningly 2-dimensional and horribly cliched. However, it was interesting to watch the drama unfold. Unlike the movie and The Glass Inferno (the other book it was adapted from), there was not a series of disasters. There was the raging fire, of course, and some light explanation of how fire reacts in tall structures; the chain reaction of contractors cutting corners and the results; the different teams trying to fight the fire and rescue as many people as possible; and the actions of the 100+ people trapped on the building's top floor as the fire slowly climbs to meet them.

The setup is there for high drama and suspense but the tone is too aloof to really pull you in. The only character I felt anything for was the governor trying to keep everyone calm in the Tower Room. The rest were all so much cardboard cutouts or just too one-note to really sympathize with. However, I will say that the ending, even though expected, was done rather well. Too bad it took 250 pages of so much monotone to get there

My wife had read THE GLASS INFERNO first, I'm currently reading myself so I'll withhold comment... the thing is that I liked The Tower, I liked the Nat Wilson character... he was the large part of Doug Roberts, Paul Newman's character in the movie. Although, Doug's name is from the Glass Inferno.

Richard Chamberlain's character is also in it and it slightly improved by oilier. In the movie, he didn't fake any change orders (that we know of, at least) that were a big part of Nat running around in this book.

There was also a bomber in this book, apparently unrelated to any of the other subplots... luckily, he didn't make it into the movie...

I'm looking to finding A good article about how the two works were melded together and how decisions were made. Let me know if you find one.

On a bookring trip... http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/20/471932/7490972

looking forward to reading it

had to stop due to allergies. Sending on to hyphen8

This book arrived today with two companions (The Glass Inferno and a Booklover's Journal), all in separate packages. Life is a bit hectic right now, but I'll get to this as soon as I can.

Thanks for passing it on: I've attached a scan of the actual dust jacket to this journal entry. I believe that's a helicopter in the cover pic...but I had to look closely to be sure. I have a copy of 102 Minutes in the house at the moment, so the image originally brought something else to mind. :(

I did read this one back in 2006 (and I thought then that I had probably read it before), but I don't remember much, so I wouldn't mind reading it again. One good thing about Bookcrossing is that it makes it easier for me to see whether or not I've already read a book, not to mention when and maybe even what I thought of it. :)

Here's the copy I read in 2006 - the cover of that one specifically says the film is "based in part on this novel" (italics added).

I'm the first to admit that I'm a fairly uncritical reader, but I liked the Nat Wilson character and the governor. Yes, the ending was somewhat predictable, but I don't mind that if the story grabs me along the way, and this one did.

I found some interesting info about the making of the movie here and a video too.

Headed to Minnesota as a contribution to another bookcrosser's OBCZ; this will be counted as a release for GoryDetails's 2012 Chills and Spills Read and Release Challenge.

Free your books - help spread the words!

What a surprise when this showed up in my mailbox! Thank you Hyphen8, I must admit I am intrigued and will look at them before I pass them on.

This was a fun read. It brought me back to the 1970s when NYC was awash with disaster books. The putting up of the World Trade Towers had stirred up all sorts of comments on how technology was overshooting our ability to deal with the new problems posed by that same technology. I now remember there were even many pieces in the paper about how high fire hoses could reach, and debates over whether fireman should have to demonstrate better fitness so they could run up more stairs, etc, etc, etc.

So I did enjoy this, It is very 1970s: stock characters, predictable clashes between young and old, women's libbers and 'real' women, hippy chicks (always taking off their shirt at innapropriate times, thereby demonstrating they were 'bra burners'), snotty boarding school grads who then went on to the Ivy League, salt of the earth Blue Collar, the Irish cop and the Black cop with the masters degree... I could go on, but if you lived through it, you already know it. Still, a kinder, and gentler time, where Towers could burn forever and never collapse, true love can strike at first glance, and the bad and corrupt always get their come-uppance. Thanks for sending it.

Sent off in
Already Book Crossed bookbox round 3
Hope the next reader enjoys this well traveled book!

P.S. If the book is too good to read and release, that's okay, you can keep it, just let me know that it's found a good home!

Arrived in BookLady331's "Already Been Crossed Bookbox."
(Link) Being popped back in to continue its journey!

Arrived home in my ABC book box. I am making the box virtual and I already have 30 in the VBB. I will reserve this book for either a future release, bookbox, or RABCK.

Enjoy! KTM Wishlist book to T02S03B11D20

Arrived yesterday, along with the Glass Inferno. I see this was written a year later, so it will be the second of the two when I read them.

In bin