Cataclysm

by Tim Washburn

"Washburn brings a new kind of terror. "--Marc CameronFIRST THE GROUND SHAKES . . . At Yellowstone National Park, earthquake tremors are common. But today, park scientist Tucker Mayfield detects something a disturbing new increase in activity--and intensity . . .THEN THE LAVA RISES . . . Lurking beneath the park's natural wonders, earth's largest supervolcano begins to awaken after 640,000 years. If--or when--it blows, two-thirds of the North American  continent will be destroyed . . .NOW THE WHOLE WORLD TREMBLES . . . IN FEAR Racing against time, Tucker Mayfield mobilizes a team to evacuate all visitors from the park--including his family at the Old Faithful Inn. But when the earthquakes intensify, and the death toll rises, a shockwave of panic spreads across the nation. Troops are deployed, emergency plans activated. But nothing can stop a natural disaster of this magnitude. When the volcano erupts, doomsday begins--and no one gets out alive . . .   "Apocalypse has come...unsettling...Washburn shows formidable storytelling skills....You find youself wishing it were longer."--Mystery Scene on Powerless"Leaves you breathless."--Marc Cameron, bestselling author of National Security and Day Zero   "Like a nuclear reactor, this story heats up fast!"--Anderson Harp, author of Retribution and Born of War (on Powerless)

Genres: Thriller, Science Fiction, Suspense, Survival, Horror, Dystopia, Fiction

379 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 25, 2016

About the author

After graduating with a Journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma, Tim Washburn spent several years working in the television business. He's worked as a photographer, producer, special projects director, and programming director both in Oklahoma City and Little Rock, Arkansas.

Shortly After the birth of their first child, he and his wife made the decision that Tim would be a stay-at-home dad, while doing some freelance journalism jobs on the side. Tim's been president of the PTA, a soccer coach, a volleyball coach, and a life coach.

Tim knew from a young age that I wanted to write, but it wasn't until several years ago that he turned his focus to writing and founds his passion.

Tim hopes his novel entertains you and that some of that characters may linger long after the book is finished .

Reviews

[Lorraine Southern · Rating 4 out of 5]

A literary classic this is not, but I loved this book! Thoroughly enjoyed it, read it every chance I could and was gutted it wasn't the first in a series :D
It's an 'end of the world as we know it' disaster novel that lends itself super well to the prospect of a conversion into a great disaster movie! It's extremely fast paced , a la Matthew Reilly, full of action, suspense and looming doom on a global scale. It grabs you by the throat before you even get to the end of the first chapter and doesn't let go again til the end.
If you want a book that is mucho fun, then ignore the literary-snobs reviews and grab yourself a copy of this :)

[Lori L (She Treads Softly) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cataclysm by Tim Washburn is a recommended disaster novel that would make a great action movie.

There is an earthquake swarm happening at Yellowstone National Park. While small tremors and earthquakes are a common occurrence, these aren't so small and are increasing in magnitude. All the data coming in indicates that the super volcano underneath the park may be heading toward an eruption. The normal geothermal features in the park are growing in intensity. The magma chamber underneath Yellowstone seems to be pushing the park's landmass up at an alarmingly increasing pace. Since the magma chamber is 18 miles wide and almost 55 miles long, an eruption would not only be devastating for the USA, it would negatively impact the entire planet.

Washburn does have several recurring main characters in his book that we follow and a whole cast of doomed extras. To be honest, and my reviews always are, I'm not reading a book called Cataclysm for the well-developed characters or the poetic language (no offense to Washburn). And, admittedly, there were parts of Cataclysm I skimmed through quickly, especially all the White House scenes. I'm reading it for the action, the suspense, the looming disaster, the scrambling scientists and buff park rangers, the panic, the doomed tourists, and the challenge of escaping alive. Cataclysm provided me with a terrific impending disaster of huge proportions and gave me some characters to follow through it.

There were also some flaws in Cataclysm. (I kept switching my rating between 3 and 4 stars because of the flaws.) Without detailing a list of them, most notable was the effort to be as incredibly P.C. as possible. For example, while I can appreciate a diverse cast of characters, in this case I didn't really need a detailed physical description, including the skin tone, of every character in a disaster book. I can usually provide plenty of diversity in my mind's eye... while picturing the mad scramble for survival when death is an expected outcome. It is also possible to have your diversity without making a huge point of describing people. Other characters can always do the job for you. There are also several other examples (anti-fracking) where the effort to be P.C. got in the way of what should be the real focus: THE YELLOWSTONE VOLCANO IS GOING TO ERUPT!

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher/author.

[Greg at 2 Book Lovers Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you really think about it, it’s a wonder we are still here. We all live on this tiny rock that is hurtling through space at over 66 000 miles per hour without anyone at the helm; this space that happens to be filled with thousands of other rocks. Add this to the fact that this rock is not solid, it is covered with these plates that are in constant motion, banging into one another, pulling apart; and just under these plates – molten rock that is hot enough to incinerate the balls off a nanny goat. I think that this is the appeal of any good disaster book, these factors that are completely out of our control, but that we can potentially overcome.

Tim Washburn has given us a great disaster book. It is fast paced and exciting, always having another kick in the crotch from Mother Nature right around the corner. I have to be honest, I didn’t even know that there was a super volcano right under Yellowstone Park. His disaster realistically shows how we take things for granted; the age old “It won’t happen to me” concept.

Cataclysm has a good mix of characters, from scientists that work at the park, vacationers, politicians and park rangers. Some of these characters were better developed, while others were simply cannon…I mean, volcano fodder.

In the end, Cataclysm was a fun book to read. It really did come alive in my mind. I could picture Cataclysm making a great action movie.

* I received a copy of the book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

[Randal White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! It's been quite a while since I have found a book that I just couldn't put down. This was the case with Cataclysm. Washburn has created an incredible adventure ride in this one. Basically, to not give too much away, the book deals with the events leading up to and of a major eruption of the Yellowstone caldera. The author will have you on the edge of your seat as you are put in the shoes of varying people, from people in the immediate area, rangers on the ground at the Park, geologists/scientists at Yellowstone and other locations, and in the White House. And with the survivors in camps after the fact. The characters are interesting (although the physical descriptions of each one does tend to bog down the story). The science seems plausible enough to a layman like me. The flow is non-stop. Maybe it's because I am living in the Pacific Northwest, and love to visit the Yellowstone area for fly fishing, but this book managed to scare the c**p out of me! I think that my next visit will be one with me looking over my shoulder for signs of an eruption. Highly recommend this book to anyone who can dedicate a day to reading it, because you won't be able to put it down!

[Terry and dog · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with those that say this reads like a movie. A movie I would love to watch.

[Valerie Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me to me, every time I re-read this book, reawakening the never dormant volcano that is my fear of Yellowstone:

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Page turner. Very entertaining. Would make a good action movie with cool special effects. :) I had heard that Yellowstone could be a problem some day, but never realized just how much of one.

[Georgann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good and I enjoyed it. Along the lines of the SyFy apocalyptic movies I love to watch, even tho you now how everything will turn out. A solid 3 I liked it stars.

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

FIRST THE GROUND SHAKES . . .
At Yellowstone National Park, earthquake tremors are common. But today, park scientist Tucker Mayfield detects something different: a disturbing new increase in activity—and intensity . . .

THEN THE LAVA RISES . . .
Lurking beneath the park’s natural wonders, earth’s largest supervolcano begins to awaken after 640,000 years. If—or when—it blows, two-thirds of the North American continent will be destroyed . . .

NOW THE WHOLE WORLD TREMBLES . . . IN FEAR
Racing against time, Tucker Mayfield mobilizes a team to evacuate all visitors from the park—including his family at the Old Faithful Inn. But when the earthquakes intensify, and the death toll rises, a shockwave of panic spreads across the nation. Troops are deployed, emergency plans activated. But nothing can stop a natural disaster of this magnitude. When the volcano erupts, doomsday begins—and no one gets out alive . . .


What did I think of it:
1 stI had to DNF it 100% because I couldn't read it, all the way though it there was worlds that look liked this J essica and so on ,every page there was words like that, and it just took away from what might have been a really good story, so I'm just going to wait and buy it when I can and then see what I think. With that said I would like to say thinks to NetGalley for giving me a chance to read what might have been a great book ,

[Cindy McBride · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good grief. Could this book be any more politically correct?? We have a female president (who graduated first in her class at Yale Law, no less, and who sounds physically a lot like Hillary to boot) -- box checked; a chairman of the Joint Chiefs who's a 4th generation Hispanic from Mexico -- box checked; another female who's Secretary of Defense -- box checked; a thinly-veiled anti-fracking sentiment throughout (suggesting it's the reason for the volcanic eruption) -- box checked; and -- wait for it... -- yes, a presidential Chief of Staff who's gay (though all reliable polls cite the gay population at 2.3%, meaning you'd need at least 50 main characters in a book for there to be 1 gay person) -- box checked! If all of these oh-so-PC elements added ANYTHING of consequence to the storyline, I could overlook them. I'm not a hater of any of the above. I do, however, strongly resent their inclusion for no discernible reason other than to make clear the author's obvious political sentiments that have no place in a fictional novel, at least not one about the catastrophic eruption of Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone. And, as a final post script, all of the above were introduced into the story by the 25% mark... which is where I stopped reading. If this is Mr. Washburn's idea of the elements that make for a spell-binding novel, it'll be the last of his books I'll read.

*** This book was provided to me at no charge by the author and/or publisher, via NetGalley, as an ARC in return for my honest review. ***

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

**I received a copy of this book from Kensington Books via NetGalley in exchange for a fair, honest review**


The supervolcano lurking beneath Yellowstone National Park is the largest caldera in the world. The caldera, measuring 25 x 37 miles, last erupted about 640,000 years ago, scientists estimate. In recent years, the ground surrounding the caldera has been surging, or rising up, sometimes as much as 2.8 inches. Is that a sign that the supervolcano is headed for another eruption?

If so, it could be a climate-changing, world-shattering......cataclysm.

Tim Washburn spins an awesome disaster story! Cataclysm tells the tale of what might happen before, during and after an eruption of the largest supervolcano on the planet.

The story is well-paced and the suspense starts building almost from the very beginning. The characters are well-developed and believable. I'm not sure about the science as I'm not an expert on volcanoes, but it seemed believable to me. Not so sure fracking could set off a supervolcano, but it seemed plausible enough to me.

All in all, an enjoyable read. For readers who are fascinated by volcanoes, or who enjoy disaster stories, this would be a perfect read! Cataclysm releases October 25th from Kensington Press.

Tim Washburn has written one other disaster novel, Powerless. Find out more about the author and his books on his website: www.timwashburnbooks.com

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moves along nicely with a slightly different plot from the usual volcano-doom, but it suffers a little from appearing more like a novelization of a TV movie than an original novel. It's written in the present tense, which strengthens this impression, as do the later interviews interspersed like TV clips, but a few inconsistencies (people who don't know what happened when they just watched it, for instance, or forget what they just bought) distracted me from the whole "they're all going to die" part. And yes, there was that really annoying character everyone just wants to die, and people just getting it on, and some typical political rhetoric.

In short, I think this would be a great Asylum movie. It just didn't work for me in book form. (I'll hope to watch it later though!)

Disclaimer: I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Olivia "So many books--so little time."" · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating novel about what would happen if the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts. It would throw enough ash into the air to cause global temperatures to go down by 10 degrees Farenheit. I learned a lot from this book.

[Mrs H Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disaster story heaven

Loved this book. It left my pulse racing from start to finish. Fans of disaster fiction, this is a must read.

[Paul Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cataclysm by Tim Washburn (Pinnacle Books, November 2016) is the real deal. You know all hell is about to break loose in Yellowstone National Park when underground magma begins to shift in the caldera, causing earthquakes. Yellowstone is home to one of the world’s largest underground volcanoes. As the caldera rises, hydrothermal vents erupt as a precursor to a cataclysmic volcanic eruption that could threaten all life on earth.
What would you do if your own family were staying at the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone? Is there any way you can get them, and the tens of thousands of others in or near the park, out of harm’s way before the volcano erupts? Doctor Tucker Mayfield is the staff geologist monitoring on-site activity at Yellowstone. His entire family — brother Matt, sister-in-law Jessica, and a young niece and nephew — are vacationing in Yellowstone when the caldera threatens to erupt. The park is filled with families, and Tucker realizes evacuating them all before the volcano blows will be impossible.
First come the earthquakes, minor tremors that escalate into full-scale quakes. Then the geysers erratically spew boiling water high into the air, scalding hundreds of people and inundating acres of land. Volcanic ash from newly-opened fissures clogs automobile engines and brings down aircraft. If the volcano blows its lid, the entire Midwest and west coast of America could be buried beneath millions of tons of hot ash that will make the soil sterile for generations to come.
Without food, water, electricity, or transportation, how will the country survive?
President Drummond, the first female POTUS, declares a national emergency too late to save millions of lives. None of her learned advisers knew when or even if the volcano would erupt after being dormant for 640,000 years.
Author Washburn adds sexual tension to the mix as Rachel and April vie for Tucker’s attention. I wanted to shake or strangle several of the characters for being so selfish or dense that they put loved ones at risk. When pyroclastic flows containing boiling lava and hot acidic ash incinerate thousands of people, I wanted to shout “I told you so” to those who got their comeuppance.
But most of the dead are ordinary people who simply happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The true horror is that this could actually happen to you or me tomorrow, and there’s nothing we can do to prevent it. The only thing we can do is be aware it could possibly happen and be prepared to run for our lives if it does.
Great story, competently told, with believable characters. Highly recommended.

[Yuzuru I. · Rating 3 out of 5]

My plan was to give a solid 3.5 for fun non pretensious poseidon earthquake day after tomorrow book with no chracters and lots of action. It was very fun not to have a "jaws mayor" scene, or that the assinine karen character either disappears or end up in flames.

But.... authors really have difficult keeping it up, doesn´t them?

After the midpoint things start to go south real quick... maybe it is just difficult because the timing was so quick, with things happening almost in media res, you can´t expect much more - it was fun because you didn´t follow your "average american family" - it is more like Godzillas old movies, where you follow the scientists and government.

Buuuuut after the midpoint the problems start to pile up and the interest to fade - most of what is going to happen already happened... and the characters that came and went are suddenly important and we are expected to care if they found their family. What?

Book, the deal was that we didn´t care and you wouldn´t spend our time trying to make us care... so in the second part of the game you pretend that we are invested in one of 30 protagonists family is very undeserved. And, as we are not following the common people in the park, is like you are watching the Rock abandoning his job to save his own family, real of course, but not exactly noble or professional if in every disaster everybody abandons their service.

[Drucilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is basically a disaster movie in book form so you get what you expect. The men are super capable, the women always have other things on their minds (like their phones or whether or not the guy they're with is into them) rather than the important things like survival, coincidences abound, and everything is written in a very cinematic way. Beware the third person omniscient sections...someone always dies. Everyone is always physically described when they're introduced, and all the good people are fit and all the bad ones are greasy and creepy. The romance between Tucker and Rachael is a joke, too. Also, gotta give the author props for all but spelling out that fracking was the cause of the eruption. That being said, I love disaster movies so I liked this book.

Side Note: This book really only covers the eruption itself and none of the aftermath, but if you're really into this book/have a hankering to read more about the Yellowstone supervolcano, I also recommend the Ashfall trilogy by Mike Mullin. Fantastic series that deals more with the apocalyptic aftermath than the eruption itself.

[Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel deals with the development of and finally the explosion of the super-volcano that makes up Yellowstone Nation Park and how the various characters react to it. There is also some post-eruption story in the last part of the story.

Overall I liked this book. The main problem I had with it is the lead up to the explosion (along with the deaths of a number of "red shirts") became far too long for me. It seemed to just go on and on. I ended up skipping about, oh, 20% of this because for me it was dragging down the story.

I picked up the story again several chapters before the actual explosion and enjoyed the rest the book. What I especially like it how, when the consequences to civilization worldwide began to happen, it was somewhat underplayed at first, becoming far, far more serious as the impact showed its long-term affects. It became very clear at the end that almost all of Humanity would not survive this.

The characters' relationships throughout seem believable and realistic and this did involve me more in the greater story.
. . .

[Byron Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know that Yellowstone park had a volcano underneath it. All of the science stuff around volcanoes is what made this book interesting to me. The way the disaster developed made it a book that was hard to put down. I enjoyed this book overall.

The part of this book that I didn't enjoy was the the character interactions. Whenever they moved away from dealing directly with the disaster I found the character interactions awkward and unrealistic. There was: a love story at the end that seemed totally unnecessary and poorly developed, a family with two small kids that refused to leave the park as it started to explode because their brother (who worked there) wasn't leaving, and finally a super rich character comes in at the end with no lead-in and is magically buddies with some of the characters.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another in the Yellowstone Erupts category of apocalyptic stories. In this case fracking is the ultimate cause of the eruption. Evacuation by traffic fails as it definitely would in reality. (Imagine rush hour traffic on a major highway then multiply this by several times.)

The book also covers what would happen to the missile silos in case of a full-on eruption of Yellowstone. This is something most other books ignore. Violence and looting take place (of course) and the ultra-rich are trying to isolate themselves.

A little later it's revealed that some 30 million are already dead and more are expected to die from starvation, disease and violence. Even Canada is getting rid of American refugees.


The author does a good job showing just how bad things will get and how quickily.

[Pam Shelton-Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to live in Salt Lake City and have been to Yellowstone many times so found this very interesting. There have also been a numerous of TV shows on the possibilities of the super volcano erupting again and what the impact would be to the planet. This book portrays this well with a lot of the science involved in monitoring and assessing this event. I'm not too sure about the fracking side story since there is very little chance it could have affected the super volcano in any way. It just seemed to pander to that non-relevant (to this story) environmental issue. Several characters seemed to get distracted by emotional and romantic feelings when time was very critical and survival not a sure thing. Overall, I very much enjoyed this book.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because someone on here said it was like an movie with volcanoes.

Yup, it was. A very b rated volcano movie. Think dante's peak but not as good.
More like volcano with Tommy Lee Jones.

The book was awesome until about page 200 something and then it was like the author just got tired and wanted to end the story. It needs another 100 pages and some lava. I kept waiting for the lava or the explosion or something. I mean it's a SUPERVOLCANO. For the love of god, give me some action about its explosion..but nope no action or explosions. Why? Because they were all underground in a bunker and the explosion was just glossed over.

Very disappointed.

And now I will not be spending a long relaxing weekend anywhere near Yellowstone. Nope, this book did me in.

Review 1: Must get over anxiety about the end of the world via a supervolcano.

Review to come.

[robyn dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

well-written....

...easy to read and quite interesting. Good characters-- even if it was a little hard to keep all the group's, headquarters, offices, and labs straight sometimes.

Maps would have helped and some kind of...anecdotal description that would show how big the park actually is. You know, how long it would take to drive from A to B in normal conditions. (I've never been to Yellowstone).

I think there is another volume and I am curious where it's going to lead. America is well and truly screwed and I'm wondering how that could be the setting for a novel that I'd want to read, frankly. But I will...

Respectfully,

[Robert Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nonstop, thrilling book that reminded me of such movies like “Earthquake” or “Towering Inferno.” Situations that are bigger than life and too big to control. The book topic of an eruption at Yellowstone is a timely one as earthquakes continue to rock that area. I enjoyed his writing style finding it easy to read and always driving me to see what happens next. The events and outcome, while horrific to contemplate are factual and his knowledge on the subject is solid. If you are looking for a quick book to read, this one will certainly keep you reading all night long.

[Warren Thoms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just under 4 stars.
A very interesting story about the volcano under Yellowstone park that erupts. The book deals with the days leading up to the eruption and the eruption itself. I liked the characters and the writing but the one thing I did not like was the little interviews that are scattered throughout the book. To me they add nothing and take away from the story. I was a bit worried as his first book was a disaster book about the USA losing the power grid but this book had a lot of differences that made it its own.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This book was right up my alley! I love disaster books and disaster movies and this one definitely delivered. It’s about the Yellowstone caldera eruption and the scenarios are quite frightening! I’ve read a lot of disaster books and there are a lot, especially on kindle unlimited but this was actually a professionally written book that was coherent and the characters were well thought out and multidimensional. It was fast paced and like a movie, heck I’d love to see this book turned into a movie! Best read I’ve had this year!

[Teresa Cage · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Never Wanted it to End

Absolutely incredible! The story moved so quickly, and yet not fast enough especially if you found yourself invested in one storyline. Everything was so real, at times I felt as though I were there with them. And the science of the possibilities was spot on. Frightening in so many ways because this could happen at any moment. That’s the worst part of this book, you could feel your life changing with the survivors. Excellent read but make sure you have time because you won’t want to put it down.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cataclysm

Author Tim Washburn is new to me. A friend who does reports on volcanoes suggested this book. It is powerfully written! The characters are distinct with each having their own education, ways of doing things, and of course, opinions. This story will open your eyes to just how unprepared society is to deal with an event of this magnitude! From San Andres, to Cascadia, to Yellowstone to the New Madrid fault. It isn't a matter of if one or more will blow, it is a matter of when. Things are ramping up!

[Michael Annis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explosive Read

Thoroughly enjoyed this disaster read. Good characters well drawn, lots of action of nature doing what it can do and great to read a novel that won’t lead you to a whole series of a couple of characters struggling across devastated dangers to get to family. This was a relief though an extra volume would be good. One point, it was going well till the jump of a 100 days. Felt a bit cheated. Please wrist stories in the past tense. It’s a story.

[Stephanie Grohol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another disaster book that grips you from the start and does not let you go. This one is about the Yellowstone National Park having one of the largest volcanoes in the world and what if it was to blow and the ramifications. I hope it never happens, at least in my lifetime. Despite the plot, I enjoyed reading the book.