NUDET A novel of nuclear terrorism NUDET is a military thriller, a novel of nuclear terrorism and the worst disaster in American history. Joseph George, a combat medic and Nez Perce Indian, is captured by a Taliban terrorist cell in Pakistan. Joseph befriends the terrorist leader, Rasheed Hakam, and is invited to join his cell to attack America with nuclear weapons. After helping to smuggle Hakam's nukes into New Orleans, Joseph steals them and takes them to Washington state to blow up Grand Coulee Dam as retribution for the mistreatment his People have endured for two centuries. He wants to destroy all the dams on the Columbia to recreate the river's natural flow, restore its historic salmon runs, and reinstate the life and culture of his People before the dams were built. Jake McAllister, a Homeland Security threat analyst, is on his way to Grand Coulee Dam to ask Fiona Douglass, the dam's power manager, to marry him, when Joseph sets off one of the bombs, and unleashes the dam's 80,000-acre reservoir. The resulting flood topples downstream dams and scrapes deathly radioactive wastes into the river from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. While Jake patrols the river by helicopter to coordinate rescue efforts, Hakam pursues Joseph to recover the unexploded nukes. Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Wilfred Oliver launches a palace coup to dump a weak President John Thornton as the country's leaders choose sides. NUDET is the story of power-hungry opportunists. It is about corrupt leaders and a critical rush to recover a doomsday weapon. It also is also about the consequences of over-harnessing the once-abundant Columbia for everything from irrigation to marine transportation, hydroelectricity to recreation, and atomic power to nuclear weapons. The story unfolds in 24 hours.
About the Author: Before he became a writer, Bob was a musician, firefighter, hobo, and Coast Guard radarman. He penned his first novel in the balloon shack of the Coast Guard Cutter Wachusett off the coast of Vietnam and was the principle writer of a coffee-table documentary of the ship's year in Southeast Asia. Editor of his college newspaper, he received a degree in journalism from Western Washington University and married a wonderful Japanese girl, Yumi. His first job after graduation was with The Seattle Times. When a summer position opened at The Associated Press, he moved across the street. That fall he and his bride headed east for The AP broadcast desk in Detroit. Back in the Pacific Northwest, he was a daily newspaper reporter for several years before spending the next 23 years as a writer for The Boeing Company. He worked on proposals for government contracts, technical documents, and company publications. He was lead editor on Boeing's winning proposal to modify two 747s into Air Force One, and he wrote much of Boeing's report to the FAA on the TWA 800 disaster. Bob spent his free time as a scuba instructor and led dive trips to warm-water destinations in both oceans. Most of his diving, however, was in the chilly waters of the Pacific Northwest. He retired in 2008 and began this novel in 2012. Yumi and Bob have two children and three grandkids.