Krakatit – Karel Čapek

A breathless tale, related at fever pitch from start to finish, Prokop jealously guarding the secret of his infernal substance just as others are jealously guarding him.
 
Although it’s less about the destructive power of unchecked science and more about Čapek’s romantic fantasizing. Nary an episode goes by without the unbecoming and typically delirious scientist having some young woman fall in love with him, not least the princess, whose extreme obsessive passion is more explosive than krakatit itself. I lost account of how many times she throws her arms around his neck. The book was published in 1922 Czechoslovakia, so they never go further than agonizing alone, then storming each other’s rooms to rage and accuse, before covering each other in kisses and swooning.
 
Expect no relief other than that of closing the book after the final page.