Rainier Erupts!: 1 (Northwest Tales) Paperback – 8 April 2016

This book had me gripped and is a sobering reminder of the power of nature. If you are a fan of the disaster movie genre you will like it but get a deeper insight than a movie could give, including the geology behind it. I know Seattle well - my wife's from there - so that added to my enjoyment, though I'm glad it's just a fictional account and I hope it stays that way because if it were for real the tremendous loss of life would be truly awful. Some of the scenarios/cameos are a little cheeseball but generally the author does a good job.

Great book, really hits home to how powerless human kind is against natures wrath. One volcano can destroy in so many ways. Keeps going & going & I'm only 2/3 thru the book.

I don't think anyone is ever ready for a huge disaster, certainly not the people! Living in the area of Seattle. People become complacent when living in a disaster zone such as volcanoes, low lands susceptible to tsunamis, earthquake areas to the point where their attitudes are somewhat fatalistic and something bad would never happen. No matter how prepared they believe they are, they are never prepared totally. This story demonstrates how truly unpredictable life can be.

We lived on the other side of Washington State and experienced the eerie gray ash that blocked the sun, turning midday into night, when Mount Saint Helens erupted in 1980. When I heard about “Rainier Erupts!” I wanted to see what this book has to say about what might happen if Mt. Rainier blew its top.The author’s comprehensive research is evident. While the book tells a riveting “what-if” disaster story, it digs even deeper. Cleverly and effectively, woven into the story are clear explanations of the science of how a volcano is formed, what happens inside and outside during an eruption, and how the process is monitored. The narrative also touches on the history, culture and perspective of the local Nisqually Tribe that sees such events as part of nature’s way to cleanse and heal itself.At the beginning, the book foreshadows the inevitable when climbers, exploring an ice cave “descended for several hundred yards into a world of steamy mists and warm, humid air with a faintly sulfurous odor, like they were approaching Dante’s Inferno at the summit of a mountain.” Vivid descriptions throughout the book build suspense and create the effect of actually being there, from inside or on the mountain, to escaping certain death from a wall of mud, to reporting from a news helicopter, to flying a rescue helicopter, to making the political decision of when to order an evacuation and more.Through an account of a major catastrophe, the book shows how resilience, hope and renewal are at the core of human nature and Mother Nature.This book is informative as well as entertaining. It’s a fast read that would appeal to readers interested in natural disasters, geography, and human nature.

So I wanted to read something scary today and this definitely fit that, as I am scared of volcanoes... I think somehow knowing it was going to erupt (based on the cover image) made the tension even higher. Because then you are left wondering when is it going to erupt and who is going to be affected by it? Well I could sure feel the anxiety buzzing in me as I read the first chunk of this that lead up to the eruption. Scary indeed!!Reading this reminded me of this one science video I saw on YouTube some years ago that covered the historic eruption of Rainier long ago, so I already knew that the main threat in here would be from the awful mud slides called lahar and not from the actual lava. I did find the written details about how the huge chunks of ice melting and falling into that deep crevice - and the affect it had on the unstable volcano very fascinating. I also didn't realize that magma had water inside it or that it could have water in it...The second half of the book, which dealt with the flooding and the lahar, was good too but to me it was not as intense as the scary events leading to the actual eruption. But realize not long ago I had read Arkstorm which had dealt with immense flooding so I think this is why the flooding part didn't scare me too much.What this book points out though, and what I had highlighted, is the brief passage that is asking where all of those people would go during an evacuation... Then add in today's housing shortage. And countless people don't even own cars. I often think many car owning people think everyone drives and owns a car but that is simply not true at all. Many people who live near volcanoes don't ever think about this I guess - the possibility that it may go boom! I guess not thinking about it allows them to live in the shadow of the slumbering monsters because surely otherwise they would be nervous wrecks!There were many things in here that truly surprised me. And that includes who had survived. Now somehow I just knew Iggy would live (a very, very minor character by the way who is not even human so this is not really much of a spoiler in my opinion) and that made me happy. Because for whatever reasons he was the one I liked the best.I really didn't connect with any of the characters in here. And that is ok...as I read this to have a bit of a scare. Because sometimes reading a scary book can help you deal with other stress in your life.The maps at the front and back of the book is a great touch. The descriptions in here are fantastic too. Very scary stuff when that mountain is blowing up! Makes me glad there are none of those things anywhere near here! I really don't know why volcanoes scare me but they sure do.

This is one of the bestdisaster books I,ve read.Unlike many others,the characters in it are "normal..I hope we get more books from this author