Subduction Zone

The Pacific Northwest region of the North American continent is a prolific seismic area. The Cascadia Subduction Zone stretches from Vancouver Island down to Cape Mendocino, California, separating the Juan de Fuca and North American plates. It holds a great potential for spawning the ‘Big One’, a megathrust earthquake that could have devastating consequences for the region. Paul Brinkworth, a seismologist with the Geoscience Center in Victoria, a city of Vancouver Island and capital of British Columbia, has a dilemma. Due to recent seismic tremors, emanating from the neighboring subduction zone, he is convinced that a megathrust quake is about to take place. Does he go public with a theory and risk his career or does he remain silent, allowing nature to take its course? The beautiful Angeline Summers, the reporter for the Victoria Herald, is keen to exploit the rumor but that’s not all she is interested in. A drama of non-stop action unfolds as Paul pursues the illegal activities of a drug cartel who have established their laboratory too close to his seismic monitoring station in the rainforest near Tofino, a small tourist town on the west coast. Paul and his family become the cartel’s target when he discovers their illegal quest minutes before the largest earthquake ever recorded hits the Island. His life is suddenly turned upside-down by the seismic event with its devastating aftermath while he is forced to go to great lengths to protect the people he loves, not only in surviving the quake but in outwitting his adversaries. This gripping tale of suspenseful intrigue contains all the ingredients that will keep the reader turning the pages. Natural disaster, inconvenient love and survival against extreme odds are the elements that make this story a winner.