Photograph by Michael Scott Myers
Former Saratogan Gregg Andrew Hurwitz has just released his second novel, an eco-thriller titled 'Minutes to Burn.'
Former Saratogan writes futuristic thriller
Parents still live in city
By Shari Kaplan
A group of intrepid souls are stranded on a small tropical island and must use all their wits and wile to survive. Adding to their misfortunes are insect-like creatures that are aberrations of nature, an ozone layer so depleted that sunburns occur in minutes, and unstable, unstoppable rumblings of the Earth's tectonic plates.
It may sound like a horrific cross of TV's Survivor with an entomological version of Jurassic Park and a post-Apocalyptic sci-fi flick, but it's actually a précis of Minutes to Burn, the second novel by Gregg Andrew Hurwitz, a 20-something Saratoga native now living in the Los Angeles area. As discomforting as the book's environmental disasters is the fact that it takes place in the not-so-distant future--2007.
Hurwitz says he considers the book a scientific- or eco-thriller; his first book, The Tower, was a psychological thriller. For those who know him, this is not surprising.
Even as a child growing up in Saratoga--where his parents Al and Marge still reside--Hurwitz says he loved creative writing and knew that he wanted to be an author. "That was always my plan for as far back as I can remember," he says.
He also enjoyed keeping readers in suspense, as evidenced by Willy, Julie and the Case of the Buried Treasure, a story he turned into a book for the Young Authors' Fair he entered as a fifth-grader at Argonaut Elementary School in Saratoga. The tale even earned him the Most Notable Mystery Award, he recalls with a chuckle.
Hurwitz, who names Michael Crichton as one of his favorite contemporary authors, honed his innate ability to tell a story with a bachelor's degree in English, but he didn't stop there. He actually pursued a double major, earning a bachelor's degree in psychology as well, from Harvard. He also holds a master's degree from Oxford in research methods. The field of psychology, he says, helps him greatly when he's trying to create believable characters and get into their minds.
"It makes for the most interesting fiction when every character has a voice and an opinion," Hurwitz says.
That's definitely a plus in Minutes to Burn, in which two scientists and a ragtag team of Navy SEALs engage in both teamwork and ethical clashes when they are unexpectedly marooned on a remote Galapagos island. Once on the island, they had hoped to install equipment to track the severe earthquakes rocking the globe for the past five years. Encountering giant mutant creatures--the result of a strange DNA-shuffling virus--doesn't help matters.
From swimming in the Galapagos waters and living in island homes filled with giant crab spiders, to interviewing geologists and virologists, to trying out Navy SEAL weaponry and hand-to-hand combat techniques, Hurwitz says he spared no detail when it came to familiarizing himself with his subject matter.
"It gives me all the resources that my characters have," says Hurwitz, who also likes to become familiar with the backgrounds of his characters.
"For me, one of the most interesting things was getting into this military-type culture. It was very foreign to me--I grew up in a liberal, non-military background," he explains. "We're so inundated with TV, film and media portrayals [of weaponry and military tactics] that after a while, you think you're already familiar with how those things work. But when you actually see it yourself, it's different."
Hurwitz will give a talk and book-signing on Aug. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble bookstore at 3600 Stevens Creek Blvd. in San Jose. The book is also available from www.Amazon.com.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
