What do you think?
Rate this book
Seismic Shift
When a massive earthquake strikes, divorcing couple Callie and Peter Carson's one thought is to reach their 4-year-old son. As they move through the rubble of their small town, sights and sounds trigger visions of a previous trauma for Callie. Can they put aside their differences long enough to reach their boy? Can Callie struggle through the tide of memory that threatens to swamp her sanity? Will the earthquake force both of them to see through the rage and disappointment of their marriage to what is truly important?
63 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 2, 2013
10 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 17, 2013
Baymont, a small town in California. People know each other. Callie and Peter Carson are preparing their divorse at a laywer`s office when an earthquake rocks the town. Buildings and cars are smashed, people dead or wounded. Callie and Peter decide to put aside all hatred, going to find their little son who`s in a day care. More than once they are facing the choice helping injured and trapped inhabitants or continuing the search for Denny.It`s a traumatic situation, triggering memories, Callie had not realized for a long time. Maybe she`s still in love with Peter and maybe you have to hate someone first before you can really love him.
Like in "The Trunk key" the author illuminates only e few hours in people`s live, an extraordinary situation with a high density of incidents. So again it`s kind of a short story.
There are three central thoughts within the story climbs to it`s end: Maybe you have to love someone first before you can hate them, do you have to hate yourself in order to hate someone else?, Maybe you have to hate someone before you can love him.
Again the reader is confronted with a traumatic experience in her childhood, the protagonist Callie is still suffering from.
Well, I had to re-read the story `cause I could`nt make up my mind, whether it might be possible that someone who feels guilty for a death of a person would never be able to accept his partner`s love, declining to destroy instead of building up a relationship. So, I am left a bit perplexed in the end. Maybe, it`s not unlikely to happen.
I really liked the description of the town, it`s Victorian style, it`s decline `cause people gave up shopping locally. And it`s worth mentioning that the style of description lets you stand among the people, amidst the action, able to feel, smell, hear. This is brilliantly performed.
Like in "The Trunk key" the author illuminates only e few hours in people`s live, an extraordinary situation with a high density of incidents. So again it`s kind of a short story.
There are three central thoughts within the story climbs to it`s end: Maybe you have to love someone first before you can hate them, do you have to hate yourself in order to hate someone else?, Maybe you have to hate someone before you can love him.
Again the reader is confronted with a traumatic experience in her childhood, the protagonist Callie is still suffering from.
Well, I had to re-read the story `cause I could`nt make up my mind, whether it might be possible that someone who feels guilty for a death of a person would never be able to accept his partner`s love, declining to destroy instead of building up a relationship. So, I am left a bit perplexed in the end. Maybe, it`s not unlikely to happen.
I really liked the description of the town, it`s Victorian style, it`s decline `cause people gave up shopping locally. And it`s worth mentioning that the style of description lets you stand among the people, amidst the action, able to feel, smell, hear. This is brilliantly performed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 20, 2017
This was a good short read. The characters were surprisingly real for such a short piece. The author does a good job of injecting emotion into the piece. My feelings ranged from annoyance to relief. I did actually well up at some points.
The style was very descriptive and fast paced, the world easily came alive in my mind.
My only issue was I felt Callie sometimes came across as whiny. I know the reason why, and it was needed, but it might have been overdone just a touch with a couple too many examples. I found myself thinking, 'yes, she is a control freak, we know that already' a couple if times. I was supposed to get annoyed with the character, not the author. Other than that, I thought it was excellent.
The style was very descriptive and fast paced, the world easily came alive in my mind.
My only issue was I felt Callie sometimes came across as whiny. I know the reason why, and it was needed, but it might have been overdone just a touch with a couple too many examples. I found myself thinking, 'yes, she is a control freak, we know that already' a couple if times. I was supposed to get annoyed with the character, not the author. Other than that, I thought it was excellent.
July 26, 2017
Awesome! This book will not disappoint! Looking forward to reading more from this author.
Great story. Fast and easy pace. Never a dull moment!
If you are a fan of disaster fiction, this is the one for you!
Great story. Fast and easy pace. Never a dull moment!
If you are a fan of disaster fiction, this is the one for you!
October 10, 2020
Wow! I just went through an earthquake. The descriptions in this book are vivid and the emotional conflicts real as Callie and her estranged husband, Peter, work desperately to reach their four year old son who is across town at child care. Kudos to Carolyn Nash on another powerful read.
June 24, 2017
Love love love this story.
This was one of the best stories I have read in a long long time. Highly recommend! Love it and would read again
This was one of the best stories I have read in a long long time. Highly recommend! Love it and would read again
September 28, 2021
Very well written short story
This is a quick exciting read . grabs the reader from page one and holds on to the last word. You feel you are in the action.
This is a quick exciting read . grabs the reader from page one and holds on to the last word. You feel you are in the action.
September 25, 2022
It was ok
The book overall was just ok, but had potential to be better. The ending was way too fast, I felt like I was missing something.
The book overall was just ok, but had potential to be better. The ending was way too fast, I felt like I was missing something.
January 3, 2017
This is a shorter work, there are themes to think about.
Something the author probably does not want to read: This story would make a good video game, with all the sights, sounds, and decisions to be made.
The story is told from the POV of Callie, a woman who is divorcing her husband. They're in a legal office, with their respective lawyers, when an earthquake hits. The couple band together to reach their son, who is in daycare, and deal with a lot of moral, emotional, and physical dilemmas along the way, and Callie has a major psychological breakthrough. You know, the usual.
Linda, Callie's lawyer, very early on, when the earthquake is minor, makes a comment about how a quake can put things in perspective and remind people what really matters. I hated this, actually. Way too heavy handed. If people don't get this as the message, they don't want to get it.
Anyhow, good story, went some places I didn't expect, made me care about a whole bunch of people. Contained perspectives on love and marriage (go together like...), grief, suppression, perspective -- thaaaaanks, Linda, hope you made it out okay -- loss, altruism, and sacrifice.
Early on, Callie makes clear she researched if they were in a major earthquake zone when she found out she was pregnant. This seeming throwaway character trait -- she's a planner/worrier -- turns out to be a result of guilt, the sense of being responsible in multiple senses of the word. I believe by the end, she has learned to share, or even sometimes, hand off the burden of responsibility.
Something the author probably does not want to read: This story would make a good video game, with all the sights, sounds, and decisions to be made.
The story is told from the POV of Callie, a woman who is divorcing her husband. They're in a legal office, with their respective lawyers, when an earthquake hits. The couple band together to reach their son, who is in daycare, and deal with a lot of moral, emotional, and physical dilemmas along the way, and Callie has a major psychological breakthrough. You know, the usual.
Linda, Callie's lawyer, very early on, when the earthquake is minor, makes a comment about how a quake can put things in perspective and remind people what really matters. I hated this, actually. Way too heavy handed. If people don't get this as the message, they don't want to get it.
Anyhow, good story, went some places I didn't expect, made me care about a whole bunch of people. Contained perspectives on love and marriage (go together like...), grief, suppression, perspective -- thaaaaanks, Linda, hope you made it out okay -- loss, altruism, and sacrifice.
Early on, Callie makes clear she researched if they were in a major earthquake zone when she found out she was pregnant. This seeming throwaway character trait -- she's a planner/worrier -- turns out to be a result of guilt, the sense of being responsible in multiple senses of the word. I believe by the end, she has learned to share, or even sometimes, hand off the burden of responsibility.
July 13, 2013
Having read "The Trunk Key" and two other stories by Carolyn Nash, I knew she could write taut, suspenseful prose that hooked the reader from page one. "Seismic Shift" certainly met my expectations. Peter and Callie Carson were negotiating the terms of their divorce in a rancorous meeting with their respective lawyers when a massive earthquake devastated their small town. Concern for their four-year-old son Denny forced a temporary truce between the two as they went searching for their son, who was miles away at his day care center.
The couple's difficult journey through rubble-strewn streets with buildings collapsing around them brought out the hostility between the two, but it also forced them to examine their marriage and how they got to the point of divorce. A nightmarish memory from Callie's childhood resurfaced and gave some insight into her feelings. But could the two cooperate for a common purpose amid the disaster and tragedy all around them and find their son?
I enjoyed "Seismic Shift" very much. The author wrote convincingly of the desperate live or death struggles of the townspeople after a major catastrophe, and the conflicting emotions of Peter and Callie as they had to choose between saving those around them or rushing to find their young son. It made for a gripping story.
The couple's difficult journey through rubble-strewn streets with buildings collapsing around them brought out the hostility between the two, but it also forced them to examine their marriage and how they got to the point of divorce. A nightmarish memory from Callie's childhood resurfaced and gave some insight into her feelings. But could the two cooperate for a common purpose amid the disaster and tragedy all around them and find their son?
I enjoyed "Seismic Shift" very much. The author wrote convincingly of the desperate live or death struggles of the townspeople after a major catastrophe, and the conflicting emotions of Peter and Callie as they had to choose between saving those around them or rushing to find their young son. It made for a gripping story.
August 10, 2013
A fast read and not a bad one
October 31, 2016
Good read
Short quick read. Good story and good ending. If you just have a little time and don't want to start a big book. This is it.
Short quick read. Good story and good ending. If you just have a little time and don't want to start a big book. This is it.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews