Action/Thriller

168

I look forward to receiving comments and suggestions by Author's Den members that will enhance the final version of this novel.

The novel explores repercussions stemming from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons tests carried out by the Livermore National Laboratory and other government agencies during the 1960s and beyond. Many of these tests occurred in isolated regions of Alaska far removed from urban centers. They nevertheless brought serious health problems to construction workers, soldiers, and their families stationed in these military controlled areas. They also devastated segments of native-held lands. It was years before the Pentagon was forced to admit damage caused by these tests included human beings; an acknowledgment only made public because people with access to confidential information were willing to speak out. However, exposing governmental malevolence, as the novel makes clear, can carry a severe penalty.               

Excerpt
The Manuscript

“You must promise never to reveal the source of what I am about to tell you.”

“Of course,” I answered, still completely in the dark as to what the woman sitting across from me planned to say.

The promise was made during a luncheon meeting at Dartmouth College’s Hanover Inn where I was attending a conference on Global Warming in the Arctic. The luncheon had been arranged the previous evening at a cocktail party designed to raise funds for the Baker Library’s Vihjaimer Steffansson Collection, named after the famous arctic explorer and one-time Dartmouth resident. At the party I observed a man on the other side of the room point his finger in my direction as he spoke to a late middle-aged woman of medium height, lean frame, and sharply drawn face. A moment later, she walked toward me. The determination in her eyes and firmness of step quickly dispelled any thought of weakness in mind or body. After a quick glance at my nametag, she looked up and smiled.

“I hoped I might see you here. My name is Colleen Kingston, the reference librarian at the Baker Library. I’d like to speak with you sometime this weekend, privately if possible.”

“About what?” I asked, a little surprised by the secretive nature of her request.

“About a manuscript that I think will be of considerable interest to you.”