Vortex - Book Review

Vortex by, Kimberly Packard is a thrilling tale of Promethean defiance, of man against nature. It is a combination of natural dangers, life-threatening disasters, a quest of love and the bane of human malice. Packard interweaves some charismatic characters, interesting plot lines, and a few horrific disaster scenes and you have a book that keeps you on the edge from start to finish.  The tension of chasing storms never abates as the author elegantly captures the unique character of the men and women who put themselves in the paths of deadly twisters. The visual details of thunderstorms and tornadoes are dramatically captured that allows you to actually envision being at the base of some of nature's most powerful events.

The protagonist Elaina Adams and her research partner, Heath Bryant, are doctoral candidates studying tornadogenesis, the process by which tornados form. The novel adds to the drama of chasing tornados a budding romance and a mystery from Elaina’s past that had started to bubble up in her consciousness. It was a faint questionable recollection, but enough to plant a seed that began to make her start questioning who she really was.

Seth Maddux who is a TV weatherman is introduced into the story; and he takes center stage in much of the novel. Another major player is a brown eye blond named Nimbus, a handsome Labrador Retriever, who has the ability to detect storms before his owner, Elaina.

He is Elaina’s best friend and canine storm chaser. Packard writes of Nimbus: 

His nose worked the air, sniffing shallow gulps, his parted mouth making the smallest movement, as if he could actually taste the salt from the Gulf.

“What do you think, Nimbus?” She stroked his cornsilk fur.

The Lab’s head whipped to the northwest, and she saw it. As if in fast-forward, thick cumulus clouds lifted high,  forming gray towers stretching towards the heavens.

Her descriptions make the ordinary come alive: 
“The heat of the fryer combined with the woman’s heavy-handed makeup application made her look like a Picasso painting.”

There is a lot of resiliency present in this novel, and I think that makes the characters strong and interesting. I really thought it was a fun read and the writing was wonderful. The facts felt credible and the story was laced with enough meteorological terms to make the descriptions of the storms and the equipment used in tracking them sound authentic. Tornados are real-life horrors. And it doesn’t hurt that Vortex is, without question, one of the best fictional tales about storm chasing.  Having lived in areas prone to tornados I was surprised at the accuracy of Packard’s description of the spectacular storms that are spawned. The chase scenes were immensely enjoyable, however, this book is more about conflicted people, relationships and dark secrets than it is about storms. 

Packard provides a riveting tale that is sure to please readers who love good fiction/thriller novels. Vortex is nicely crafted and highly recommended!