The many exotic locations in which State of Fear unfolds are a central component of the novel, underscoring the global nature of the threat. Much of the dialogue takes place in Southern California, and on George Morton's Gulfstream, as the characters rush from one trouble spot to the next. Exotic locations include a Pacific atoll, Antarctica, Solomon Islands, Tokyo, San Francisco and the Marin Headlands, Paris, London, the Indian Ocean, Arizona, and Hawaii. Significant objects include an array of cutting-edge, high-tech products, such as cavitation machines, precision explosives, a small submarine, and chemicals to seed a hurricane.