"Pompeii"

Pompeii: A Novel (Robert Harris)

Here's a interesting idea: A historicial fiction novel about Pompeii where the hero is a Roman aquaduct engineer, with the events leading up to the apocalyptic explosion explored as a series of phenominia that disrupt the water supply of towns around the bay.
That may sound boring - and for our non-nerd readers out there, it probably is - but I found this to be a very fresh and interesting approach. Combine the unconventional presmise with with the ever-present sense of doom hanging over the hero (he may not know what's going to happen, but you do, and the author starts each chapter with a snippet from a science tome about the fearsome power behind volcanos), and then pile on the fact that there's a mini-murder mystery (the hero is investigating the mysterious disappearence of his predecessor) and the fact that there's a corrupt plutocrat who is even more dangerous to our hero in the short term than the volcano.
If that sounds like a lot, it is, and it's packed into a slight book, but Harris has a very deft touch, and the result is the most suspensefull thrill-ride about Roman aquaducts you're likely to read.

Grade: A