What is Utopia?

Utopia is the world's greatest theme park, located in the Nevada desert north of Las Vegas. It is set apart from all other theme parks in two special ways: its absolute commitment to authenticity, and its use of cutting-edge technology to increase that authenticity. At Utopia, immersion is everything. The park is divided into four worlds: the Camelot of King Arthur; Gaslight, a 19th-century London; Boardwalk, a slice of turn-of-the-century Americana; and Callisto, a futuristic spaceport set on one of Saturn's moons. Each of these worlds is recreated down to the smallest detail: you can see, smell, and taste the thick fog of Gaslight, for example. Robotics, holograms, and other technological wonders are used to increase the realism of the worlds and to make the rides and other attractions the most exciting and believable of any theme park in the world.

Have you based Utopia on any existing theme park?

No. There are a lot of great parks out there, but Utopia is completely fictional. People who have read the book, though, tell me they wish it was real, because they're dying to visit it!

What made you write this particular thriller?

It's been a book I've always wanted to write, frankly. I've always been fascinated by the great theme parks of the world , not just by their rides, but by the very careful illusion that they foster, the unique little worlds they try to recreate where everybody's always happy and things never go wrong. I wanted to take readers backstage, as it were, to show them what goes on behind the scenes, how that illusion is created and maintained. It's also an ideal setting for a thriller, I believe. When you go to a theme park, you check your flight-or-fight instincts at the front door. If you're on a runaway train ride, for example, you expect the train to lose control. Or if you're witnessing some gigantic scripted battle in a light show, you expect huge explosions and pieces of falling masonry. You just laugh all the harder. In my novel, that makes you a potential victim. What if some villainous person were to effectively hold the park's thousands of visitors for ransom, threatening great harm, exploiting that way we have of dropping our guard when we visit a theme park?

What kind of research did you do for the book?

I did a great deal of primary and secondary research, archival examination, talking to sources, and the like. As you can imagine, theme parks jealously guard their secrets. But of course there was more involved than learning how 3-D thrill rides and roller coasters work. There was the historical research involved in making sure that each Utopia's four worlds as completely immersive and believable for the reader as it would be for a visitor to the park.

You're best known for your seven best-selling books co-authored with Douglas Preston. What is it like to write a novel on your own?

Scary. Exciting. Incredibly rewarding. I've very much enjoyed my ongoing writing partnership with Douglas Preston, but I think every writer wants to make personal statements, to create something that is completely his or her own. (As much as any book can be considered the work of one person; in my experience it takes a great many people, offering many different kinds of assistance and input, to create a finished novel.) Doug Preston has written several solo works of fiction and non-fiction in past years, and he has always urged me to do the same. It has been both challenging and rewarding, and I hope to write many more solo thrillers in the years to come.

On that subject, would you care to comment on future solo efforts?

I'm glad you asked! I'm well along with my second novel for Doubleday. I don't want to reveal too much about it yet, except to say that it will be the kind of high-concept, sophisticated techno-thriller that Utopia is. Doubleday has been very supportive of my work, and they share my vision of the kind of books I write best.