The Tsunami Countdown (32 page)

A
steroids 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.

Boyd Morrison

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’
James
Rollins

978-0-7515-4415-2

Boyd Morrison

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’
Chris Kuzneski

978-0-7515-4430-5

Boyd Morrison

1947

Ten-year-old Fay Allen of Roswell, New Mexico, witnesses the fiery
crash of an extraordinary craft unlike anything she’s ever
seen …

2012

More than sixty years later, army engineer Tyler Locke rescues Fay
from a pair of assassins. She says they were after a piece
of wreckage
she obtained from the Roswell crash – and she claims to know secrets
about that incident that have never previously
been revealed.

Tyler is initially sceptical, but after he is kidnapped by a mysterious
band of mercenaries, he comes to believe that Roswell
holds the key
to his and his countrymen’s survival. And he realises that there is a
desperate race against time for him to
uncover its secrets …

Fast-paced and thrilling, The Roswell Conspiracy draws on
actual details from the Roswell Incident to create a
page-turning
and thought-provoking thriller.

‘Move over Dan Brown, and give Boyd Morrison a try’
Lisa Gardner

978-0-7515-4800-6