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“We should read music in the same way that an educated adult will read a book: in silence, but imagining the sound.” – Zoltan Kodaly

Broken River by Sam Penny

After the Big Shake – 4 stars

Broken River cover image

Just about everyone has heard of the San Andreas Fault in California and the frequent earthquakes that occur along it, but lesser known is the New Madrid Fault that crosses the Mississippi River which has an even greater potential for causing destruction than the one in California. Two centuries ago, a series of powerful quakes did occur along this fault when the area was sparsely populated. Today with a population of around 55 million, a similar quake happening today would cause destruction and mayhem along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Those are the broken rivers to which the title refers.

The author has done considerable research into both the science of earthquakes and studies which have been done by various researchers done specifically about the New Madrid Fault and possible outcomes of a major earthquake occurring somewhere along it. He has used this information to weave a what-if scenario for an initial quake of 7.9 magnitude in a disaster style of storytelling by following several groups of people along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers as the quake hits and the aftermath.

The story is accompanied by several maps to show the specific areas along the rivers and probable flooding and destruction of landmarks, dams, and levees for this type of event. I found the maps very helpful to visualize the areas being described in the story, especially since I am not familiar with details of the geography or small towns of the states along the rivers. It was obvious that a great deal of thought, calculations, and research had been put into each of the maps. Good job and invaluable for understanding the scope of the damages.

As for the narrative of the story, I found it hard to follow at times because of the constantly changing focus of the story from one area of the rivers and group of people to another with no indication by extra lines or a marker between each shift in focus. One minute I would be reading a conversation between characters on a tugboat in the middle of the river and then the next paragraph would suddenly have a different location and character trying to outrun a crumbling levee. The problem could be easily fixed by inserting additional line breaks or a graphic marker of some sort to better warn the reader that there is a shift about to occur.

Some of the characters are better defined than others, with some of the briefly occurring characters being no more than a few lines of dialog to describe the scene. At times these characters came across as a bit too well informed of the scientific side of an earthquake than most non-scientists would be, but I could see why the author used this method of imparting technical information rather than just going with straight narrative. Most of the effort in building characters was done for the tugboat captain and those around him since that was the scene for a lot of the action in the last half of the book, and that part worked well.

The book is worth reading for the heads-up of what could conceivably happen. As a well researched warning, it’s first rate; as a disaster thriller, it’s average.

Moderately recommended for most with the exception of those living near the New Madrid Fault who should be required to read it.

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