Thursday, December 20, 2012

Fighting nature is a losing game


Genre: Action - Adventure
Title: Cataclysm '79: The day the river stopped
Author: Robert Egby

While this is a work of fiction, set in British Columbia's spectacular Fraser Canyon, it might not be as far fetched as some might think because as recently as June of 2012, people were evacuated from the flood plain of the Fraser River.
This is a big book (464 pages) with a large cast of characters whose fates collide when a large portion of a mountain along the river breaks off and dams the river, setting the stage for a natural disaster of epic proportions. Hundreds of thousands could die if the rising waters behind the rock slide dam break free to rush downstream to Vancouver.
Events begin to unfold on Canada Day weekend, July 1, 1979, when a large section of Vicar’s Peak crashes and blocks the Fraser River.
Main character, Paul Rowan, who was an international news correspondent but is in the valley at the Wagonmaser Resort to write a travel story, soon finds himself caught covering a story filled with stupidity, bigotry and greed run amok.
The story is topical and timely in the sense of human unwillingness to take into consideration the natural environment and the forces of nature in their pursuit of money. I couldn’t help but think of Hurricane Sandy and the need to plan for disasters.
This is also a love story rekindled when Rowan meets his long lost love, Natalie D'Andrea, who secretly aborted his child while he was away covering war stories.
Much in the way of background is given to the many characters, some of whom you will love and some of whom you will hate. This slows down the action some but not by much and you might find yourself thinking as I did that this would make a great disaster movie.
Who will live and who will die when the dam breaks is what will propel you to read to the surprising and in some ways magical end.
Author: Robert Egby is an accredited British war correspondent, award winning news photographer and broadcaster, public relations director, hypnoanalyst, dowser, sound healer, medium, ordained minister and has published three novels including his latest, "Cataclysm '79: The Day the River Stopped."
He lives with his partner, Betty Lou and two chihuahuas, Satchmo and Bubba, on Chaumont Bay, Lake Ontario where they conduct workshops on self-publishing and higher consciousness.
Reviewer: Peter Klein, Allbooks Reviews.
Available at: Amazon.com and other online retailers.

Title: Cataclysm '79: The day the river stopped
Author: Robert Egby
Publisher: Three Mile Point Publishing
ISBN-10: 0984866434
ISBN-13: 978-0984866434
Pages:464
Price: $17.99
Kindle: $2.99
Date: September 19, 2012

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