Book excerpt: Extreme weather threatens the whole of continental Europe, turning the lives of its citizens inside out. The French government calls Professor Mortimer to help solve this enigma. Mortimer travels near Paris to visit his friend Professor Labrousse, the chief French meteorologist. But when the taxi driver Labrousse sent to meet Mortimer at the station disappears, our friend becomes the prime suspect. Mortimer gets in touch with his old friend Blake, also in France, to help him out of this tricky situation. However, Blake disappears as well, so Mortimer and Labrousse have two missing-person cases to investigate. They soon discover that the two disappearances are not only linked to each other, but also to the climatic catastrophes.