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Cascadia Island was formed off the coast of the state of Washington through earthquakes on the Pacific Ocean floor pushing rock upward. Mick Walker, luxury resort builder, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars transforming the sparsely inhabited island into a high roller destination. Prior to the construction, he hired an engineering group to do studies to ensure that the resort would be safe. However, despite their clearance, US Geological Survey seismologist Doug Lam is convinced that there is a major fault line beneath the island that is being aggravated by the stresses of construction and that Cascadia is in imminent danger of being destroyed by earthquakes which will lower the island by several feet, leaving all on the island victim to the resulting tsunamis which will wash away the entire land area. As the time draws closer for the grand opening ceremony of Cascadia, Lam and his fellow scientists see signs that there is seismic activity in the area. In fact, several earthquakes are starting to occur along the whole northwestern part of the United States. Nobody is willing to believe Lam's doomsday warnings and that he believes that in addition to Cascadia, thousands of people in the Pacific Northwest are at risk. Lam's significant other, Jennifer Lindstrom, is the owner of a helicopter service founded by her domineering father. Nightingale Aviation is scheduled to fly many of the guests to the opening rites, and Jennifer is planning to attend as well. Desperate to be heard, Lam also goes to the island, where he is finally able to get Walker to listen to him. But it may be too late. SAVING CASCADIA was an exciting read, but I felt that Nance went into too much depth on the scientific aspects of how the earthquake would begin and progress. In addition, the final revelation about a character who double-crossed Mick Walker bordered on the ridiculous. However, the book was saved by the solid detailing of the disaster and the reactions of the various characters to the terrifying events. Nance is an expert at writing seat-of-the-pants thrillers, and SAVING CASCADIA is no exception. In addition to following the disaster scenario, he also weaves in several sub-plots having to do with people and relationships that enhance the narrative.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, March 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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