The objective is to "open" time strings, or present day images, to reveal the fourth dimension and the images they contain from the past.  This would allow modern-day humans to view history in real time, as it happened, and the early experiments show great promise.  The first subject was a simple drinking glass that lay in pieces on the floor, but when the dream team discovered how to unlock this time string they saw something that changes the scientific world forever... the glass is not broken.  However, despite their excitement, it becomes apparent that when humans view the actual past it seems to have an unexpected effect on them.  Whether this effect is just a nuisance or potentially dangerous is unknown, but the scientific possibilities of their discovery quickly overshadow any rational thoughts of caution and they proceed.

They become immediately more ambitious and two team members — the paleontologist and the Christian historian — are eager to see the next two experiments, a visualization of the dinosaur era and of Jerusalem during Christ’s time.  Soon after, the unexpected transforms into the terrifying and their once-promising experiment backfires.

There aren’t many books which can spark fear and increase your heart rate with anxiety, but this one surely does.  Somoza has a writing style that leads the reader to one cliff after another but breaks the story just before that key moment that we know is coming.  It’s a well-utilized literary tool which keeps the pages turning and makes this one hard to put down despite the anxiety that builds.

The main character is a beautiful and talented student physicist named Elisa.  Some more critical readers will think of her as a bit of a cliché, and women may not appreciate Somoza’s "beauty and brains" contradiction which is repeatedly pointed out during the course of the novel.  In addition, Elisa has a tendency to remove her clothing for reasons unknown, something else that may not appeal to female readers.  These arguments are understandable but unfair.  We’re talking about harmless fictional entertainment, not a centerpiece of culture.

There is a lot of gore and it comes with intricate, sometimes unsettling, details.  This may be enough to generate mixed reviews, but I was able to look past it and see how Somoza used it to the novel’s benefit.  No doubt this requires writing talent, but some readers may not appreciate that as much.  It is this detail that adds to the suspense and certainly plays a key role in the central theme of the novel, which is that certain things should remain unmolested by human science.  Some may consider it over the top, but the book wouldn’t be the same without it.  In the end, Somoza drives home the point that scientists must always deal with one dilemma in their quest for more knowledge:  sometimes it’s not a matter of can we do it, but more a matter of should we do it.  This is the core issue of many sci-fi thrillers and Zig Zag is no different.  Zig Zag is a thriller that will have readers torn between begging for more while wondering if their heart can take it.