Love at Absolute Zero

For such a young man, Gunnar Gunderson has already accomplished a lot. The 32-year-old has his University of Wisconsin physics classes to teach, and his lab research has him solidly near the lead in a race against some of the best physicists in the world to be the first to create a new form of matter known as Bose-Einstein condensates. And now that the university has given him tenure, things are sure to get even better for Gunnar.


Well, not necessarily. Now all he can think about is finding the woman of his dreams, the soul mate who will plug that final hole in his life – and Gunnar is allowing himself three days to get the job done. After all, what good would the scientific method be if it could not be used to find a wife quickly and efficiently?

Love at Absolute Zero is about a brilliant man naïve to the ways of the world. He might be an inspired scientific researcher but, when it comes to women, Gunnar hasn’t a clue, so he begins with “Observe and Hypothesize,” confident that he will be in the arms of his true love in just 72 more hours. Along the way, Gunnar will have adventures, both large and small, that he never anticipated when he began his search, and he will learn the difference between scientific and creative thinking. For Gunnar, it is all about the destination; for the reader, it is about the hilarious journey that gets him there.

It is impossible not to like Gunnar Gunderson. As he progresses from one disaster or near miss to the next, one views him with a mixture of compassion and laughter, but he is such a good-hearted young man that it is impossible not to root for him (even while, on occasion, wanting to shake some sense into his head). Christopher Meeks has created a memorable character, a man with a uniquely interesting take on life, and he makes Gunnar real by allowing the reader to see him through the eyes of a wide cast of secondary characters: his students, his speed-dating partners, his mother and sister, his research partners, and a passel of very confused Danes, among them.

Love at Absolute Zero is likely to appeal to a variety of readers. The romance at its heart is leavened by references to what I can only assume is real science, and by humor ranging from near slapstick to the kind of inside jokes scientists tell each other at the water cooler.

As Gunnar puts it so well, “people were just elements looking to be a compound.”

Rated at: 5.0

(Review Copy provided by Author)


It might seem a little ironic after giving  Love at Absolute Zero such a positive review, but I do think that you will find this article of Chris's to be very interesting (especially considering its title);

How to Go Bankrupt Thanks to Really Great Reviews