Ark Storm by Linda Davies
Crime Thriller published August 19, 2014
Forge Books
Author's website | Goodreads | Buy the Book on Amazon
Synopsis from Goodreads
The Ark Storm is coming—a catastrophic weather event that will unleash massive floods and wreak more damage on California than the feared “Big One.” One man wants to profit from it. Another wants to harness it to wage jihad on American soil. One woman stands in their way: Dr. Gwen Boudain, a brave and brilliant meteorologist.
When Boudain notices that her climate readings are off the charts, she turns to Gabriel Messenger for research funding. Messenger’s company is working on a program that ionizes water molecules to bring rain on command. Meanwhile, Wall Street suits notice that someone is placing six-month bets on the prospect of an utter apocalypse and begin to investigate. Standing in the shadows is journalist Dan Jacobsen, a former Navy SEAL. War hardened, cynical, and handsome, Jacobsen is a man with his own hidden agenda.
Linda Davies's Ark Storm brings together the worlds of finance, scientific innovation, and terrorism in a fast-paced thrill ride that will leave readers gasping.
My Thoughts...
This was a great page turner type book for me. It's a fairly long book, but it's written in a lot of shorter chapters which is always a great way to move the reader through the story quickly. The chapters, in most cases, are from different perspectives as well. At first it was a little confusing because there are so many characters to keep track of, but once you figure out who is who you are completely hooked.
Dr. Gwen "Boudy" Boudain is a pro surfer turned meteorologist. She lives right on the water and still surfs whenever she can, but her passion is Oracle. She is working in California, but she has a counterpart in Peru whom she works closely with. Gwen grew up in Peru with parents who were also in the weather business. Gwen and Joaquin are noticing strange weather patterns and are trying to predict the next Nino weather event. They need more funding so she goes to Gabriel Messenger who is more than happy to get involved. He's already in the game, working on a program that uses drones to, in a nutshell, create rain from the ionized water molecules already in the air. What they don't know is that someone is planning to hijack what Messenger's company has created to commit an act of terrorism. They also have Gwen's fore knowledge of the impending ARk Storm to use as the catalyst.
Dan Jacobsen is a seemingly harmless journalist looking to find out what Gwen knows about ARk Storm. There's more to Dan than what she sees though. He's smart and cunning and as they grow closer she comes to depend on him more and more. Will he be there for her when she really needs him though?
This story was very well crafted and I enjoyed every minute of it. I got so wrapped up in it that I was able to read it really quickly. There is a little romance, a lot of science, a lot of intrigue, murder, and venture capitalists trying to cash in on a disaster, throw in an act of terrorism and you have a well rounded story! If you like a good thriller then this is definitely a book to check out.
XOXO, Shelly
*Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher in exchange for my honest review.*
