(Review 1 of 4)
Saving Cascadia
Reviewed by Kirkus Reviews

The prolific retired Air Force officer, a top aviation-thriller writer and often hugely entertaining (see Medusa's Child, 1997), charges up his latest white-knuckler with earthquakes and helicopters.

Guilt-ridden engineer and whistleblower Diane Lacombe, daughter of California State Senator Ralph Lacombe, has a CD that proves her company, Chadwick and Noble, is at fault in green-lighting Mick Walker's big, new $100-million casino, hotel, and convention center on Cascadia Island off the Washington coast. Hey, it's being built on a seismic fault absolutely certain to collapse under the weight of the new structures now about to open. Some time ago, Seattle seismologist Doug Lam of the US Geological Survey declared there was a massive potential earthquake deep within Cascadia Island's small, rocky mass. But someone's ransacked Diane's apartment and she's on the run with her incriminating CD.

Planning to fly guests to Cascadia is Seattle's Jennifer Lindsrom, president of Nightingale Aviation, a major helicopter company she inherited from her father-and she has a medivac company attached to Nightingale. Aside from her MBA, Jennifer's a graduate nurse, a helpful skill with a medivac service named after Florence Nightingale. The first 5.1 tremor begins 26 kilometers beneath the ocean floor 39 miles offshore, travels to Puget Sound and the Cascade Mountains, and causes a tiny shift in the ground in Seattle. The first big quake hits the port town of Bellingham during fog too soupy for rescue helicopters to land. Then the ferry to Cascadia starts sinking with a hundred inaugural guests aboard. Part of the hotel collapses, and so do other buildings as a series of cataclysmic quakes threatens to spread through the Northwest. Cascadia Island is about to sink, with a 70-foot tsunami coming that will wash everything away, back up the Columbia River for six months, kill thousands, and knock out several port cities and towns. Unless-and there's one distant chance to alter this course of events-unless Doug can . . . but you know enough already.

Nance does it again, thrill upon thrill.

Back to top of page or click here to return to previous page.

(Review 2 of 4)
Saving Cascadia
Publishers Weekly

In this spookily timely new thriller by Nance (Pandora's Clock; Skyhook), human fiddling with nature triggers a series of earthquakes that may result in a 100-foot tsunami aimed at the heart of Seattle. Wealthy developer Mick Walker has sunk a hundred million dollars into a world-class resort on tiny Cascadia Island. What Mick should have known and refuses to believe is that his island is situated directly over a massive fault line. Seismologist Dr. Doug Lam attempted to halt the building of the resort, predicting that the pile drivers and explosives used in the construction could trigger a major earthquake and the resulting tsunami. As Mick and hundreds of his friends and supporters pour onto the island to celebrate the grand opening, the earthquakes begin. Dr. Lam's girlfriend, Jennifer Lindstrom, chief pilot and president of a helicopter business, supplies the aviation angle that all of Nance's books are built upon. Her skill and courage prove pivotal as the earthquake disaster begins to unfold.

Nance, an expert in many areas, has written a previous nonfiction book on earthquake concerns (On Shaky Ground), and he builds suspense to a fever pitch in this all-too-credible nail-biter.

Back to top of page or click here to return to previous page.

(Review 3 of 4)
Saving Cascadia
Reviewed by Dan Hays

Some genres are so select that few authors even try to break into the field. Generally speaking, such genres have one outstanding writer and a few others who manage to keep up the pace.

In the field of flying thrillers, John J. Nance is that outstanding writer. His new novel, "Saving Cascadia," is his 12th (he also published five works of nonfiction). Two of those flight thrillers, "Pandora's Clock" and Medusa's Child," were turned into successful TV miniseries. His best-known best-seller is "Fire Flight.' That book may have to take second place to "Saving Cascadia." With this novel, the University Place, Wash., writer has added another element that delivers almost as many thrills as the flying scenes.

The book centers on a cataclysmic earthquake and its aftermath, but it was written before the earthquake/tsunami that devastated Asia. Nance tells us of Cascadia, an island off the coast of Washington that was created by an earthquake a few hundred years ago. Once a bird sanctuary, it has been developed into a resort area.

It isn't safe on Cascadia.

Geologist and ecologist Dr. Doug Lam is convinced the island is about to be destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami, and all life on the island will be wiped out. The only way to save people is to convince his girlfriend to risk her fleet of medical helicopters and fly into the huge storm that blankets the island on a rescue mission.

That's the plot - and it's an exciting one. But the atmosphere Nance creates is more exciting.

Nance is a master of dialogue. His people talk like real people do, with all the flaws and confusion of real speech. His descriptions of situations are spare and precise, in a deceptively simple way…Want thrills? You'll get them. From corporate attempts to silence those in the know to the most destructive blows the planet can deliver, "Saving Cascadia" delivers a thrill-a-minute read. From storms to hot pursuit to flying in weather that frightens birds, Nance takes us along on a bumpy ride.

Nance's books are somewhat personal. He flew combat sorties in the Vietnam War and Desert Storm. He knows what he is talking about when it comes to flying, and he keeps up with the field. The other elements of his books - in this case the long-feared major Pacific earthquake - are presented as close to fact as possible. Nance researches everything before he writes it. The results are on prominent display here. "Saving Cascadia" is a dazzling adventure.

Back to top of page or click here to return to previous page.

(Review 4 of 4)
Saving Cascadia
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner

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.

Back to top of page or click here to return to previous page.