Force Majeure

> MAIN ENTRY: force ma-jeure
> FUNCTION: noun
1: superior or irresistible force
2: an event or effect that cannot be reasonably anticipated or controlled

TWENTY-YEAR-OLD GENIUS SHANE MONROE has his life laid out before him. As part of an accelerated program, he is working on a major research project for a brain trust studying weather patterns. Shane's job is to replicate a tornado through artificial means. When he manages to do just that, however, the course of his life is forever altered. His superiors want to know if he can do it "bigger—big enough to drop on an enemy village and call it an act of God."

Shane knows what he has to do. He shuts down his storm, switches majors, and leaves the lab behind.

He is midway through his next semester when he reads of a rash of natural disasters in South America. There is no doubt in his mind: This is his fault. His notes have been confiscated and his work replicated. Now Shane is on the run, from the government, friends, and even once-trusted mentors. What began as a reputable weather study has, with the force of a tornado, taken on an unstoppable life of its own....