Taming the Wind: A Novel

by Joe R. Eagleman

What if the power to command the storm was no longer natures alone?
Dr. Jack Engle, a brilliant scientist, respected professor, and bestselling textbook author, has done the he has engineered the first artificial tornado. Designed to revolutionize clean energy, his creation could change the world—or destroy it.
But Engle isn’t just a scientist. He’s also a family man who finds balance in Sunday jam sessions with his children and grandchildren, performing in the family band that keeps him grounded. His world of music, teaching, and family dinners is suddenly shattered when his discovery ignites a corporate firestorm.
Universal Studios, tech giants, and global investors all want to control his invention. Billion-dollar lawsuits erupt, espionage follows him from classrooms to courtrooms, and the corporations circling his work will stop at nothing to seize it. As the legal battle escalates into a high-stakes war, Jack must fight not only for the future of his technology, but for the safety of the family he cherishes.
Blending legal intrigue, scientific imagination, and heartfelt family drama, Taming the Wind delivers the tension of John Grisham with the visionary scope of Michael Crichton. It’s a gripping novel about ambition, greed, and loyalty—where the greatest storm of all may be the battle for one man’s legacy.
Thrilling, inventive, and utterly original, Taming the Wind is a high-velocity adventure where science collides with ambition—and one man is at the center of it all.

389 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 5, 2025

About the author

Joe R. Eagleman was born on a farm near West Plains Missouri. He received the PhD from the University of Missouri in 1963 and was a professor at the University of Kansas for 39 years. He taught thousands of students through his courses there and many thousands more through four different textbooks used by over a hundred universities over a span of several decades. He directed a successful experiment, funded by NASA, on Skylab and invented a tornado in his laboratory that was used by Universal Studios for the 50 ft. tornado attraction in the Twister Building in Orlando Florida for several decades. Another display of the tornado he created is a featured attraction at the Exploratorium in San Francisco from the 1980's to present. His technical book, THUNDERSTORMS, TORNADOES AND BUILDING DAMAGE, includes his tornado safety research which resulted in changes that have been adopted nationally.
He has recorded three albums of original music. The latest, BREATH OF FRESH AIR, was released in 2018 and contains 11 songs composed by him and sung by him and his grandson, Trevor.
His autobiography, NAME YOUR PRICE, tells of his early life on a farm where he was the 11th of 12 children. He describes discipline and learning experiences in the one room rural grade school and dealing with a bully on the playground. It includes his experiences as a scientist as well as a number of unusual hobbies including activities as an artist, musician, luthier, marksman, taxidermist, world traveler and other endeavors. His book of poetry, POETRY OF LOVE AND LIFE, was published in 2019. His book, MONUMENTAL MOMENTS, tells of all the significant moments that changed the course of his life and was also published in 2019.

Reviews

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended
What a captivating novel! “Taming the wind” shows the importance of love, courage and resilience. Joe Eagleman has come up with a story that blends nature, romance and adventure. It invites readers to travel into the reality of a scientist who tends to defy nature but then he realises that it isn’t possible to do it. Still, in the journey he learns a lot from that experience.
I was glued to the pages from the beginning because the author's writing style let me get into the story and enjoy the turns and twists of it.
It’s an entertaining novel that leaves a message to those readers who are brave enough to confront their problems, storms and keep on moving. It marked me a lot, that's why I recommend it.

[Almiria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taming The Wind by Joe R. Eagleman is a novel that explores both the powerful forces of nature and the tumultuous emotions and lives of the main characters. The story follows a scientist who has created an artificial tornado while running from the “tornadoes” of his own past. I appreciate the stories focus on character development and internal motivation. Unfortunately, my reading experience was impacted by the editing, which needs some more work. I would like to see this book re-released with tighter editing and a careful look at the spelling and grammar to avoid pulling readers like me out of the story with language errors. I am giving this book four out of five stars.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting mix of science, suspense and a very heartfelt story. Personally, what caught my attention was that the story balances tense moments with very slow quiet family day to day. It is captivating to follow Sr. Engle and all the courtroom drama and the connection he has with the other characters.

The author managed really well the description of the character and this ambition, loyalty and power that are the things between all the action happening.

Overall, I think it was a very entertaining read, I felt all the tension and also the courage of Engle to protect what is his. Great read for those into suspense and drama.

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would like to start by saying that I sincerely loved “Taming the Wind” and not only because of the detailed narrative, the rich vocabulary, the well-developed characters or the intelligent dialogue. I also enjoyed that it made me reflect and think about the extent to which greed can cause us to lose sight of important aspects of our lives.
Probably, there might be readers, who found the novel a bit long or even slow at first. In my opinion, it's such an interesting story that people will finish reading it without even realizing it. I have read many books throughout my life; this title ranks among the BEST without any hesitation.

[Rachel Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. The topic was interesting and meaningful but the editing was horrible. it was so hard to get through... paragraphs, pages, repeated themselves... the time line jumped all around and it was hard to follow what was going on. I'm sad about this.

[Courtney Pityer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this in a giveaway. Unfortunately it wouldn't download properly so I couldn't exactly read it.

[Missy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished reading this captivating story. It was a page turner that i highly recommend.