Supertide

In this terrifying, science-driven thriller from Freeman (The Extraction), a tsunami off Nova Scotia appears to validate the maverick theories of MIT’s Dr. Case, whose study of a 2017 earthquake in southern Mexico has led him to believe that hot spots in the Earth’s mantle can occur in the middle of tectonic plates and cause mid-plate quakes. After a second tsunami devastates Assateague Island, off the Maryland and Virginia coasts, Case and Macy Isaacs, his brilliant PhD candidate assistant, fear that the two mid-plate earthquakes have weakened the Atlantic tectonic plate, threatening unprecedented catastrophic flooding and loss of life. Advancing that position falls to Macy after her mentor dies during a flight to a conference in Washington, D.C. Macy persuades the FEMA director to take her predictions seriously, setting off a desperate effort to take effective measures to minimize the death toll. Freeman humanizes the plot through scenes giving the perspective of ordinary people caught up in the cataclysm. Fans of 1970s disaster films such as The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure will enjoy the vicarious thrills. (Self-published)