"Scary terrific thriller"

US Geological Survey seismologist Doug Lam is positive that the Washington state barrier island Cascadia is on the verge of an earthquake. Still Chadwick and Noble company approved construction of Mick Walker's posh casino- hotel and convention center on the island. Feeling remorse and guilt, company engineer Diane Lacombe possesses proof that her company knew about the dangerous deadly potential of building on the fault line. However, before she can do anything with her evidence, Diane is forced to flee the Seattle area as someone wants the CD with its proof and her silenced..

The quakes begin with the first tremor centered on the ocean floor but close enough to the coast to feel it in Puget Sound. The first major quake hammers coastal Bellingham, but help is impeded due to a thick fog. Next Cascadia Island shakes with a ferry containing a hundred guests on the way to the new facility sinking and the new hotel collapsing. Cascadia Island seems destined to become a twenty-first century Krakatoa sinking beneath the ocean while a deadly tsunami is heading to destroy much of the state potentially killing millions.

The tragedy in Asia provides a stark reality to John J. Nance's action tale that with each concentric widening circle gets more and more pulse pumping. The story line is action-packed with heroes, victims, and culprits who only care to bury the truth in the rubble. Because of the recent Asiatic devastation, SAVING CASCADIA is more than just a disaster thriller as Mr. Nance makes the case that what happened in the Indian Ocean rim could occur here. This scary terrific thriller should raise alarms in that other Washington.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted March 13, 2005

Summary

A few hundred years ago, Cascadia Island didn't even exist. Like the Washington seacoast, it was rock submerged beneath the Pacific. A massive earthquake changed that, exploding the rock upward, making it land -- unstable land, according to seismologist Dr. Doug Lam. Lam has spent years researching the Cascadia Subduction Zone. He published a theory that the unrelieved tectonic strain beneath the idyllic landscape of Cascadia Island could be triggered with modern construction processes -- with catastrophic results. The paper was disregarded, even ridiculed, by his peers and by megawealthy developer Mick Walker, who stands to earn millions from the construction of a luxury resort on Cascadia. The elegant casino, hotel, and convention center will reap millions for him even if the tiny island only lasts for a short time... When a series of earthquakes begins to shake the Northwest Corridor, Doug's worst fears are confirmed. In an attempt to convince Walker to evacuate Cascadia immediately, Doug hurries to join guests arriving for the resort's grand opening. As the tremors wreak havoc across the Northwest coastal area, the military is left with too few resources to assist the people on Cascadia. Convinced that the island will be in ruins within hours, Doug reluctantly calls upon his girlfriend, Jennifer Lindstrom, president of Nightingale Aviation -- a major medical transport helicopter company -- for help. With snow falling, visibility dropping, and winds increasing, Doug embarks on an impossible mission with Jennifer and Nightingale's helicopters to evacuate over three hundred people, while smaller earthquakes continue to herald the approach of a catastrophic tsunami. John J. Nance hurtles readers along a nail-biting quest to rescue hundreds of stranded vacationers and resort staff. Meticulously researched, and with the signature authenticity only a veteran pilot could provide, Saving Cascadia is a hair-raising thriller of awesome magnitude.