Boyd Morrison: The Tsunami Countdown

After the disaster, Kai felt the pull to teach. There was nothing left for him in Hawaii, and he enjoyed working with students. He had applied for a position in the University of Washington’s geology department, and they gladly welcomed him. The job didn’t allow him to forget about the past, but it did let him focus on the future.

“Kai,” he heard from the doorway, “we’re going to be late for the movie. Shut that down and let’s go.”

“Yeah, come on, Dad.”

He turned to see Teresa in the doorway, flanked by Lani and Mia. Teresa had finished her residency and continued on at the University of Washington as an attending physician. Kai and Teresa were good friends, and they saw each other often, especially because of the girls.

The emotions of that day were still too raw for him to date anyone. Someday, maybe, when the time was right, when his grief for Rachel wasn’t so sharp, he’d be able to love someone again. But that time still seemed a long way off.

Kai often had doubts about what was right, that what he was doing with his life was worthwhile. He struggled with it every day.

The night before the tsunami, Rachel and Kai had listened to Teresa’s stories about her experiences as a doctor with rapt attention. Teresa dealt with death on a daily basis, which had affected her profoundly. Kai would never forget one thing she said about it during that discussion, when she was telling them about a daughter who made it to her elderly mother’s bedside in time to say her last goodbyes.

“She said she was happy that she was able to talk to her mother one last time,” Teresa said. “She said she was happy to see her mother pass away peacefully.”

“You sound like you don’t believe her,” Rachel said.

“Oh, she smiled, and she seemed relieved to be there, but happy? No.”

“Why not?”

“Life never has a happy ending,” Teresa said. “It always ends in death. Death can be dignified or wretched, agonizing or painless, horrifying or serene, untimely or welcome. But it’s always sad. Happiness comes from what you do with the time between the beginning and the end.”

Now that Rachel was gone, Kai often wondered what she would want him to do with the rest of his life. As he closed his laptop, he looked at Lani smiling at him, and he thought he knew.

Rachel would want him to be happy.

Asteroids are a very real threat to our planet. The story told in Rogue Wave is a dramatization of what would happen if one of them struck Earth, but it is not science fiction. When I visited the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for my research, I spent three hours with the director, Chip McCreery, who graciously gave me a tour of the facility. The tour took place more than eighteen months before the Asian tsunami devastated Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia in December 2004. When I told him the plot to my story, he agreed that the scenario was indeed plausible.

The reason is that asteroids are very difficult to detect. As I mentioned in the novel, asteroid 2002 MN wasn’t discovered until it had already passed by Earth. If that asteroid had hit the middle of the ocean, we may not have known about it until the first waves hit populated shores.

In the future, one of those asteroids won’t miss. It may not be in my lifetime, but someday it will happen unless we do something to deflect the asteroid.

Spaceguard is a real entity scanning the skies for dangerous near-earth objects. They’ve identified Apophis, a near-Earth asteroid almost identical in size to the one in Rogue Wave . There is a 1-in-250,000 chance that it will hit Earth in 2036.

The computer models that I referenced in the novel are very real and are an example of extensive research into tsunamis caused by asteroid impact. Those models may not match up exactly with the size and frequency of waves I sent toward Honolulu in my book, but until we actually experience an asteroid impact, we have no real data. The computer models may be wrong.

None of that will stop me from vacationing in Hawaii, but when I’m lying on the beach, I’ll keep my eye on the ocean.

I’d like to thank Dr Chip McCreery and Dr Stuart Weinstein at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for listening to my wild stories and showing me around the facility. Thanks also to Delores Clark of NOAA for assisting in setting up the tour.

Much appreciation to Dr David Kriebel, professor of ocean engineering at the Naval Academy, for information about the effects of tsunamis on structures.

Thanks to Ray Lovell at Hawaii State Civil Defense for talking to me about HSCD response procedures in emergencies.

Thanks to pilot Doug Skeem for his advice on helicopters.

Thanks to my good friend Dr Erik Van Eaton for his medical expertise.

It’s great to have a brother who was an Air Force pilot, and I’d like to thank him – retired Lt Col Martin Wester field – for his help with all things military and airborne.

Susan Tunis and Frank Moretti provided invaluable input on this book at an early stage, and Machelle Allman and TJ Zecca were readers who gave the book an early boost when I needed it.

This book wouldn’t be in your hands if it weren’t for the tireless efforts of my agent, Irene Goodman, and my editor, Abby Zidle. I’m grateful for everything they’ve done.

Finally, thanks to my wife, Randi, for going on this journey with me.

Any errors in science, organizations, or geography, whether intentional or not, are mine alone. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

The Noah’s Ark Quest

The Midas Code

The Roswell Conspiracy

Do the remains of Noah’s Ark really exist?

Before he dies, the father of ambitious young architect Dilara Kenner leaves her tantalising clues about the location of the legendary historical artefact—Noah’s Ark.

The most fabled relic of all time, the search for Noah’s Ark has obsessed many over the years. And when Dilara starts her quest – aided by former army engineer Tyler Locke – she rapidly becomes transfixed by the thought of discovering it. But there are sinister forces gathering who have deadly reasons for wanting to be the first ones to get to the relic.

From a helicopter crash in the Atlantic, to a sinister sect in Arizona’s Mojave desert, to the remote slopes of Mount Ararat, this thrilling page-turner blends nonstop action with fascinating historical fact.

‘Lightning-paced, chillingly real, here is a novel that will have you holding your breath until the last page is turned.’

978-0-7515-4415-2

Top army engineer Tyler Locke is given a mysterious ancient manuscript. Written in Greek, it initially seems indecipherable. But with the help of classics scholar Stacy Benedict, Locke comes to understand that this manuscript could provide the clues to the greatest riches known to mankind - the legendary treasure of King Midas.

However, there are others who are also hot on the trail—and it rapidly becomes a race against time to crack a code that is both fiendishly difficult and potentially deadly…

A sweeping, gripping read, The Midas Code blends fascinating incidents from myth and legend with a modern plot that will have you guessing to the very last page.

‘When it comes to thrillers, Boyd Morrison has the Midas touch.’

978-0-7515-4430-5