Renowned geologist Rob Elwood has a recurring nightmare in which his Washington state beach town is leveled by a devastating earthquake, then drowned by a towering tsunami. The dream has been a part of his life since he lost friends and colleagues in the 2004 Indonesian quake and tsunami, but in the last few weeks it’s become a nightly terror. The dreamscape indicates the disaster will happen during a festive national holiday, just as the July Fourth weekend nears. And precisely who is Cassie, the mysterious woman who shows up as Rob grapples with his choices and introduces herself as a strategic communications specialist from Troy?

A thoughtful man who includes the retired Episcopalian priest Lewis Warren among his friends, Rob consults Lewis about his unshakable belief that the life-threatening event will arrive soon. Lewis suggests he go public, and between a town meeting and a local TV interview, the entire world is soon familiar with Rob’s warnings of doom. Local government officials are infuriated, fellow geologists denounce him, and his usually supportive wife heads home to Oregon to escape the embarrassment. And as Independence Day, Saturday, fades into darkness, even Rob doubts his prediction, fearing he’s tossed away his career and reputation on the basis of a night terror.

Then Sunday morning dawns.

Buzz’s novel features a cast of characters in need of luck, forgiveness, love, and redemption, and the earthquake and oncoming tsunami grants those flawed souls the opportunity to repay their debts. A retired Air Force playboy prepares to die in the wreckage of a house with the girlfriend he abandoned twenty years earlier, while a homeless Vietnam vet who just located the mythic Spanish treasure he’s been seeking for years reluctantly abandons it to save an elderly couple and his beloved dog. While those in charge flee in terror, these men rise to meet the challenges placed before them, finding the strength within themselves to make necessary sacrifices.

As Rob finds himself suddenly reversed from pariah to prophet, he encounters Cassie as the tsunami approaches and realizes how she acquired her strategic communication expertise. In those moments, he finally understands that even those carrying bad news have a calling to fulfill, and he has faithfully executed his duties. ( )

At the time I scheduled this review I had not thought about what I would be teaching in my classroom around the time this review was due. It just worked out that we are reading stories on disasters. My students have been reading about Tsunamis and the earthquakes that cause them, specifically the 2004 tsunami. An interesting point in the article they read dealt with geomythology. Scientist are using stories told by Native Americans to back up stories of earthquakes and tsunamis that occurred in the past. Those were things I thought about as I read this wonderful thriller by “Buzz” Bernard.

One of the reasons I really like his work is you can tell how much research he does. I’m not sure how difficult that is for him with his background. I felt like I was reading a real life event. His main character has to face one of the biggest challenges of his life. Dr. Elwood is a geologist who keeps having nightmares about a quake that devastates the northwest coast. The more he has the dreams the more he believes the quake will actually happen. The challenge he faces is whether he should risk his career to go public with what he ‘believes’ will happen or if he should keep quiet to protect his career. If he is wrong it would be career over. If he doesn’t tell anyone and his dreams come true then he lost the opportunity to save lives. I wondered if meteorologists and geologists every actually go through this. I found it interesting that the “Thunderbird and Whale” reference was also mentioned in the articles my students read. This is such a well-written book I could see it as a movie. I want a book like this that will keep me reading from cover to cover. I enjoy books that are so realistic I wonder how much truth there is to them. I definitely recommend you read this book and any of his other books. You won’t be sorry you checked out this author.
I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own. ( )

Everytime I read one of Mr. Bernards books, I am amazed at how knowledgeable he is and how he can write a story that could very well and most likely will happen.

"The Cascadia subduction zone, a 680-mile fault that runs 50 miles off the coast of the Pacific Northwest -- from Cape Mendocino in California to Vancouver Island in southern British Columbia -- has experienced a cluster of four massive earthquakes during the past 1,600 years."

Cascadia starts out in the Clatsop Indian Village, January 1700, which is along the Oregon Coase near present day Seaside. Legend has it that Thunderbird and Whale is a story about a massive earthquake, Thunderbird and the huge tsunami, Whale that follows. This is a story that has been handed down amongst the tribe for over 300 years and it is predicted that another quake and tsunami is due again.

Dr. Rob Elwood, a respected geologist has studied Cascadia extensively and is having nightmares about a huge earthquake. It is not a nightmare that happens once but happens frequently so it is actually a premonition. He wants to go public with his premonition but who will believe him? He struggles with this information but eventually does go public with it. People, of course, do not believe this will happen. Rob has predicted that this phenomenon will happen on the July 4th holiday. The holiday comes and goes and nothing happens until the next day.

Rob and his son are caught in the hugest earthquake to take place but narrowly escape in an airplane. The devastation is horrible, the worst that anyone can imagine in the US. Rob ends up in a rescue mission that could not only kill him but the woman that he has rescued.

With a cast of characters that you will like, a retired fighter pilot and the woman he jilted twenty-five years ago, to a black man who is looking for buried pirate treasure, you will get swept up, literally, into another nail-biting, edge of your seat story about nature's fury. Not only will you get involved in the story but you may even learn a bit of the force of nature that are earthquakes and tsunamis.

Like I said before, once I get into one of Buzz Bernard's books, they are hard to put down. Well researched and edge of your seat unputdownable! If you like a story that is exciting, you absolutely have to read Cascadia. I loved it! ( )

Dr. Rob Elwood, a respected geologist, has studied the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a dangerous fault off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, for years. Now he’s having repeated nightmares of a massive earthquake and tsunami striking the region. Knowing he’s placing his reputation and career at risk, he goes public with his premonitions.

The quake fails to occur and Rob fears he’s lost everything. But the disaster does strike, just not when expected, and Rob finds himself not only vindicated, but hurled abruptly into a life-and-death rescue mission with his private aircraft.

Rob’s story intersects with several others, including that of a retired fighter pilot attempting to make amends to a woman he jilted twenty-five years earlier, and another of an elderly black man searching for legendary buried treasure along the rugged Oregon coast. ( )

Buzz Bernard holds a special spot in my book-loving heart. His first book was one of the first books I read for the purpose of giving a review. I was interested in it because the setting was St. Simons Island, GA. I have family there and it is where my husband and I spent our honeymoon. At the time, I took a chance on a new author and he took a chance on me as a new reviewer. Then two years later, I interviewed him to promote his second book, PLAGUE. He is a delightful person and I enjoyed that opportunity. Now, here I am reviewing his fifth book five years after it all began.

"Buzz" Bernard is a former senior meteorologist for The Weather Channel and prior to that, he was a weather officer with the Air Force. His weather experience is lengthy and makes it only natural for him to write about weather catastrophes. In his newest book, CASCADIA, his setting is the beautiful Oregon Coastline. Bernard introduces us to Rob, a geologist, who has "visions" of a megaquake followed by a tsunami that hits his beloved Manzanita area. The quake appears in his dreams as bigger than the one researchers have studied that hit the same coastal area in the 1700's. Johnny is one of those men who has been studying the area, looking for the buried treasure left behind by the Native Americans after the quake hit in the 1700's. We also meet a retired Air Force veteran who comes to Manzanita to make amends with his past. These characters and others converge on Manzanita over 4th of July weekend and their lives will collide in a way none of them expected.

CASCADIA is fast-paced and doesn't bog you down with the technical side of earthquakes. It gives you enough information to understand the devastating effects of a megaquake on the entire coastline. In the Prologue, we are given a folktale that has been passed down through generations of Native Americans foretelling the power of a megaquake and forthcoming tsunami. The "Thunderbird and Whale" narrative gives the reader a perspective of understanding the weather long before we had seismology and meteorologists.

CASCADIA is predictable in the way that murder mysteries are predictable. You know that a murder is going to happen you just don't know who is going to die and who committed the murder. I know enough about Bernard's books that I know the earthquake is coming or there wouldn't be a story to tell. You just don't know how all the characters are going to connect and what will happen to each of them once the quake hits.

Bernard packs a powerful story into a quick read that can easily be consumed over a weekend. You just may not want to read it if you are traveling to the Northwest Coastal Region. Save it for when you get home. ( )