Eruption (2024) is an action thriller by Michael Crichton and James Patterson about an eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii that threatens to release a toxic chemical that could destroy the entire natural world. Michael Crichton, who is known for his works that combine science and page-turning action, such as Jurassic Park (1990) and The Andromeda Strain (1969), wrote the original manuscript. At the time of Crichton’s death, the work was unfinished, and best-selling mystery thriller author James Patterson, best known for his Alex Cross series, completed it. Eruption follows heroic scientist, John “Mac” MacGregor, and chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Mark Rivers as they work with their teams to redirect a lava flow from the eruption away from a secret cache of a dangerous chemical weapon called Agent Black. Along the way, they struggle against the competing egos of other scientists and reckless billionaire J. P. Brett. As the eruption of Mauna Loa approaches, they must get the people of the island and their teams to work together to prevent the end of the world.

This guide uses the 2024 Penguin hardcover edition of Eruption.

Content Warning: The source material features graphic depictions of death and offensive portrayals of Indigenous Hawaiian people.

Plot Summary

In March 2016, biologist Rachel Sherrill is working at the Hilo Botanical Gardens on Hawai‘i, the Big Island of Hawaii, when a visitor points out that some of the bayan trees have turned black. She calls in her ex-boyfriend, who works at the nearby Military Reserve base. Soon after, the Gardens are evacuated and soldiers arrive in hazmat suits carrying extinguishers. They rush toward the blackened trees.

Almost a decade later, in 2025, volcanologist John “Mac” MacGregor is giving a surfing lesson to some local boys from Hilo when he gets a call from his lab director, Jenny Kimura. She is calling to let him know that there is volcanic activity underneath the largest volcano on the island, Mauna Loa. Soon after, Mac gives a press conference where he informs the public that an eruption of Mauna Loa is imminent, but he does not think it will imperil the town of Hilo. After the press conference, Mac meets with some of his laboratory scientists who suggest they can use bombs to vent the volcano, prevent a dangerous eruption, and direct the lava flow away from populated areas. Mac is skeptical, but he agrees to consider it. That night, after reviewing a government report that suggests “venting” the volcano is impossible, Mac gets a call. There is a retired general at a Veterans Administration (VA) hospital in Honolulu who wants to speak with him. Mac is flown out to meet with the general, who gives Mac a cryptic message about an Ice Tube. An Army colonel, Briggs, meets Mac at the VA and takes him to the Army base on Hawai‘i, the Military Reserve. He shows Mac the Ice Tube where fragile glass containers store hundreds of canisters of nuclear waste mixed with a dangerous defoliant, Agent Black. His scientists tell Mac that if the lava from the eruption hits the canisters and releases toxins into the atmosphere, all plant life on Earth will die.

Mac and his scientists develop a plan to place explosives in the volcano to create places for the lava to erupt far from the Ice Tube. Briggs recommends they bring in Cruz Demolition to help place the explosive charges. The demolition team, led by Rebecca Cruz, arrive and get to work. Meanwhile, the head of the Civil Defense Agency in Hawai‘i, Henry “Tako” Takayama, calls celebrity volcanologists, Oliver and Leah Cutler. He wants their help getting a foothold in the response effort against the eruption. The Cutlers arrive soon after. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Mark Rivers, summons them all to a meeting. Rivers tells them they will all contribute to preparations to protect against the impending eruption.

At a press conference to reassure the public about the eruption and the planned response, the Cutlers’s billionaire benefactor, J. P. Brett, arrives. After the official press conference ends, Oliver Cutler tells the media that Mauna Loa’s impending eruption is going to be “the Big One” (211), sparking a panic. Soon after, Agent Black leaks into the Ice Tube. Although it is quickly cleaned up, one soldier is infected and dies. Other soldiers leave the area before properly decontaminating, causing the Agent Black infection to spread on the island and lead to multiple deaths. In response, Rivers declares martial law on the island. The army and other personnel continue to work to dig trenches and ponds to prevent the flow of lava toward the Military Reserve.

The public is upset about Rivers declaring martial law. While Mac and Rivers attend a town meeting to attempt to calm their concerns and get their help responding to the crisis, J. P. Brett, the Cutlers, and a videographer go up in a helicopter to get footage of the volcanic activity. The videographer falls out of the helicopter and dies in the lava flow. Shortly afterward, Mac sends two of his scientists, Jenny and Rick, to the Galápagos to learn about the use of munitions to vent a volcano there. They die in a volcanic tremor.

The next day, the volcano erupts. Brett and the Cutlers go up in a plane to film it, but they get too close, their plane crashes, and they all die. Mac and Rebecca go to a presumably safe location where they can overlook the eruption’s progress and properly time the explosions. However, the volcano erupts near their location, forcing them to flee. A reconnaissance plane General Rivers sent to find them crashes into an Observatory, killing everyone inside. Eventually, Mac and Rebecca make their way back to the Military Reserve base. They learn that the lava is quickly approaching the Ice Tube that holds the toxic Agent Black.

Mac goes up in a bomber plane with an experienced pilot. They plan to drop air ordnance on the lava flow to redirect it away from the Ice Tube. However, the bombs do not deploy. They are about to crash the plane and sacrifice themselves to cause an explosion when the lava flow suddenly changes course after hitting a wall of cooled lava from a previous eruption, saving the world.

Following the eruption, the Army transports the hazardous material off the island. Mac decides to move to Houston with Rebecca Cruz to teach. The Ice Tube is covered up so well that it seems like it was never even there.