Title: Cascadia
Author: H.W. “Buzz” Bernard
Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Realistic Fiction
First published: July 11th 2016
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Finished reading: July 5th 2016
Pages: 234
“There are events that occur in our lives we absolutely can’t explain, that don’t make sense, at least to us. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t happen or that we made them up, or that we’re tripping off into Far-Fetched Land.”
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
When I was first approached with the question if I wanted to read and review Cascadia, I was immediately intrigued by the blurb. Global warming and climate change will be affecting our future more and more as the years go by and this fictional scenario of the aftereffects of a massive earthquake and tsunami is one of the things that might just happen. H.W. “Buzz” Bernard spent a decade serving as a senior meteorologist for the Weather Channel before publishing his first novel and it shows: Cascadia is without doubt a very well-researched story with many references to both scientific details and Native American legends around the whole megaquake and tsunami disaster. This book is an action packed and engaging mix of realistic fiction and suspense and reads like a train. Cascadia has various different storylines that slowly start to merge together as the plot moves towards the dreaded disaster. Each important character is well developed and by the time things are starting to get ugly, you really feel a connection with them. This story is without doubt a very realistic eyeopener on how small we really are and that the true force of nature should never be underestimated.
Dr. Rob Elwood is a respected geologist and has studied the Cascadia Subduction Zone for years. Scientifics know the whole Pacific Northwest area was struck by a megaquake and tsunami threehunderd years ago, and the same thing will happen again even though they don’t know exactly when. The consequences of such a massive earthquake and tsunami would be disastrous, especially since there would be almost no time to run from the tsunami… So it’s easy to say Rob is more than a little worried when he is having repeated nightmares of a massive earthquake and tsunami striking the region. He now faces the choice: go public with his premonitions and warn everyone before it’s too late, risking his reputation and career if he is wrong, or keep quiet and possibly have the death of thousands on his conscience. Rob goes public, but the earthquake fails to occur. He fears he has lost everything, but it turns out his premonition was valid after all… And disaster strikes the Pacific Nortwest coast.
Cascadia without doubt a fast-paced and action packed read. Realistic fiction and suspense at its best! It shows that the plot is well researched and the author clearly knows what he is talking about. The characters are well developed and each storyline brings a little extra to the plot. If you are looking for a well written and realistic adventure/suspense story, definitely consider this book; it will be published this Monday July 11th.
