Eruption takes readers on a thrilling journey through Hawaii’s biggest island, which, unbeknown to its residents, hides dangerous military secrets dating back decades.

There has been no formal screen auction yet - but Sherri Crichton, who discovered her late husband’s unfinished manuscript over a decade ago and controls his estate, told BBC News she was now in talks with Steven Spielberg about a possible big-screen adaptation.

Sherri knew Patterson, the world’s biggest thriller writer, who has read all of Crichton’s novels, was the one she wanted. And after being sent the unfinished manuscript the 77-year-old signed up to complete it.

They had to go through reams of “meticulously organised” scientific research, some so dense Patterson had to hire a researcher, in Alaska, to help.

And in under a year, this “unprecedented literary collaboration” was completed.