Aftershock by Philip Donlay
We are delighted to welcome back author Philip Donlay to Omnimystery News.
Earlier this week we spoke with Philip about his new thriller Aftershock (Oceanview Publishing; March 2015 hardcover and ebook formats), the fifth to feature globe-trotting pilot Donovan Nash, and today we're pleased to introduce you to the book with an excerpt, the prologue.
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THE MIST SWIRLED IN THE TREETOPS and the steep trail rose into the opaque sky, then vanished altogether. Stephanie VanGelder felt both wary and excited. Towering above her, unseen in the fog were three volcanoes; one of them, named Atitlán, was showing signs of life after lying dormant for nearly one hundred sixty years. The sounds of the forest were muted and soft in the damp air. In the gray overcast Guatemalan morning, each unidentifiable noise made her hesitate and wonder, at least on some primal level, if the sound was coming from the volcano. She was thrilled to once again be heading to a photo shoot, and a little apprehensive that the assignment was an active volcano.
Stephanie felt the burn in her lungs and her legs. She was breathing hard in the thin air and tried to convince herself that she wasn't out of shape, that it was only a combination of the steep path and the ever-present camera equipment she carried. They'd been climbing for nearly two hours. She continued to put one foot in front of the other as she trudged up the moisture-dampened trail, determined to keep pace with Rick Mathews, who was a dozen paces in front of her.
Rick was a volcanologist with the United States Geological Survey. He was tall and muscular, with seemingly endless energy. His intelligent eyes dominated his angular face — and he seemed on the verge of a perpetual smile. His head was topped with a mass of curly black hair badly in need of a trim. In fact, he needed both a shave and a haircut. His attitude was casual and carefree, reminding her of an overgrown puppy. She joined up with this group because the USGS was keenly interested in the recent signs of life from Atitlán, one of the three peaks that made up the southern shore of the lake, and one of five active volcanoes in Guatemala. The job this morning was to hike up the mountain and place a seismometer in a predetermined spot to better follow the volcano. Stephanie registered satisfaction at the sight of sweat beginning to soak the collar of Rick's shirt. He was in his mid-thirties, a good ten years younger than she.
Behind her was Oliver Pelletier, an aspiring volcanologist who had eagerly volunteered to accompany Rick on this journey. In his mid-twenties, Oliver was short and very fair-skinned. His rounded face was smooth and his cheeks flushed easily. From what little Stephanie had gathered, he'd recently joined the USGS as an intern. Stephanie didn't know much beyond the fact that he was from Canada, and that he was working on his PhD in geophysics. Oliver seemed quiet and reserved, but he whistled softly as they climbed — she wondered if it was because he was musically inclined, or just nervous.
A young armed guard brought up the rear of their small group. Quiet, with a quick smile, he dressed in civilian clothes and toted a rifle, but, as they climbed higher into the foothills and left the town of Santiago Atitlán behind, she decided she didn't mind the idea of protection. The State Department reports of the general lawlessness in the country had been disturbing. This part of Guatemala was fairly remote and the USGS staff in Guatemala City had assured her that their small group would be safe.
"We're almost there," Rick called over his shoulder. He held up the small GPS unit in his hand to confirm. "It's just beyond the next rise."
Stephanie felt a little deflated — she hoped they would climb above the cloud layer or that the cloud deck would show some signs of burning off. She wanted a mix of sunshine and clouds to shoot. Rick warned her it was the rainy season, and that the sun was somewhat elusive this time of year. Still, even with the subdued light, observing these two scientists installing a seismic monitor in the rugged terrain would go a long way in her photo essay documenting the efforts of volcano researchers.
Atitlán had been considered dormant until a week ago. There had been a series of earthquake swarms detected by the USGS lab in Guatemala City, followed by a cloud of steam and ash released from a vent at the summit of the mountain. The nearest seismic arrays were focused on Mt. Fuego and Mt. Pacaya, the active volcanoes located just outside Guatemala City. In a race to get a more accurate pulse of the mountain, to try to discover what may or may not be happening deep underground, Rick and Oliver were "wiring the mountain," as they called it, and Stephanie had been granted the opportunity to photograph the process.
Stephanie had been a professional photographer for twenty-five of her forty-eight years, and she frowned as she studied the light coming through the swirling mist at the tops of the trees. As happened so often in her line of work, the site and Mother Nature would dictate how she approached the subjects.
"This is the place!" Rick stopped and spread his arms as if he were giving the clearing his own personal blessing. "Perfect."
Stephanie joined Rick at the edge of what amounted to a small cornfield carved out of the surrounding vegetation. She turned and looked north, towards the lake. Through the trees she could just make out the water far below, and she felt a slight twinge of vertigo as she saw how far they'd climbed. Above her she caught sight of a sliver of blue sky through the drifting clouds. They might have sunshine yet.
"Oliver," Rick said, as the two scientists stood together on the narrow path and surveyed the immediate terrain, "I think if we set up the equipment over there, at the edge of this field next to those trees, it'll be fairly unobtrusive."
"I agree," Oliver replied.
"Which way is it — the volcano?" Stephanie asked.
Rick pulled himself up to his full six-foot-three height, spun his baseball cap smartly until the bill was pointed backwards, and pivoted on one heel to his left. He put out his arm and raised his thumb as if making a precision measurement. "Up above us we have the tallest of the three volcanoes, Atitlán, the object of our immediate concern. It rises to nearly eleven-thousand six-hundred feet above sea level. Slightly to the north we have Tolimán, its cone is a shade over ten-thousand three-hundred feet in height, and behind us, across the bay from Santiago, is San Pedro, another ten-thousand foot volcano. These three volcanoes form the southern edge of Lake Atitlán, which is actually a huge volcanic crater that filled up with water. The noted author Aldous Huxley once called this place the most beautiful on earth."
"I might agree with him — this is amazing." Stephanie shrugged herself free of her backpack and lowered it gently to the ground. "You do what you need to do, and I'll maneuver around and see where I can get the best shot."
"No problem," Rick replied. "We'll be over here where it's fairly level, just before the path starts back up the mountain."
Stephanie guessed that the clearing was a little less than an acre. It gave her enough room to maneuver and capture a variety of angles. While Rick and Oliver began to shed their gear, she slung two cameras over her shoulder and moved up the incline to shoot down the hill towards the lake. The air was perfectly still, and as she moved away from the two scientists and their conversation, she could hear the sounds of birds high in the trees. It took her several minutes to find exactly where she wanted to start, carefully eyeing the light and her subjects. Satisfied, she checked her beloved Nikon digital camera, removed the lens cover, and began to frame her shot. Slightly below her, Rick was leaning over, hands on his knees as he discussed something with Oliver. Beyond, small shafts of light were penetrating the clouds, creating small irregular shapes of sunlight on the distant water. It was a beautiful sight.
Stephanie began shooting; first she zoomed in on the men, and then adjusted the lens to take in more of the surrounding area. Without taking her eye from the camera, she moved more to her right, then forward, seeing the results through the lens and firing off several exposures. Stephanie focused in for a tight shot of Rick, who was holding up a GPS receiver, a serious expression on his boyish face. She was still adjusting her framing when she saw him jerk his head downhill towards the path, a look of confusion in his eyes. Out of habit, she swung the camera to her left in one fluid motion and found a young girl running up the path. It took Stephanie a moment to understand the girl wasn't running for fun; her youthful features radiated stark fear — she looked like she was fleeing for her life. Stephanie zoomed in on her face, could see the terror in her large brown eyes. The girl was barefoot, wearing a bright red dress and loose-fitting white top. Her long brown hair flew back from her dirty face. Stephanie guessed she was no more than ten years old. Instinctively, her actions honed by years of covering war-torn locations around the world, Stephanie fired off a string of exposures.
Through her lens, Stephanie watched as the girl flung herself at Rick, who had moved to intercept her. She heard shouts, but the voices came outside her framed shot and she was forced to swing her camera back along the trail where the girl had appeared. She found three men charging up the path; they wore civilian clothes and makeshift masks. Each of the men moved quickly, rifles at the ready. Stephanie squeezed off three more shots, then swung back smoothly to Rick and the girl as the shouts grew louder.
As if she were completely separate from events, but only thirty yards away, Stephanie crouched to make herself smaller and continued to shoot. She focused on their security guard who had now raised his weapon. He was yelling in Spanish when a bright plume of red erupted from his chest. Stephanie caught the image as the single shot echoed through the clearing. In her viewfinder, Rick was pushing the girl behind him as the gunmen moved closer. Two more gunshots reached her ears, and she saw Rick's knees buckle, two crimson stains spread out from the center of his USGS sweatshirt. The force of the bullets staggered him backwards and he fell to the ground.
Oliver moved sideways, reaching for the girl, when a small round hole appeared on his forehead followed by a plume of red mist from the back of his head. Wordlessly, he crumpled to the ground, landing face first in the dirt. Fighting her horror, Stephanie tried to make herself invisible behind the vegetation. Afraid to move, she watched as one of the gunmen grabbed the young girl around the waist and held her there as she flailed helplessly in midair.
Stephanie knew she hadn't been seen. Carefully, she began to inch backwards towards the trees. If she could make it to the heavier foliage, she could disappear into the forest. If she panicked, she knew she'd be killed along with the others. She tried to visualize how far she would have to circle around to make her way back down the mountain for help. She stayed low, backpedaling in the soft dirt towards the trees. She never took her eyes off the armed men as she inched her way toward safety. Stephanie hesitated as she sensed something behind her, more of a feeling than a sound, then she felt cold steel pressing into the tender skin just behind her left ear. She wanted to scream, but no sound came from her throat — it was as if in her final moments she'd been robbed of the ability to speak. She silently pleaded with the gods to let her live — but all she heard was the dry metallic click of a gun being cocked.
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Photo provided courtesy of
Philip Donlay
Philip Donlay learned to fly at age seventeen and was first published at eighteen. In the aviation world, success came quickly and he's been flying jets since he was twenty years old. Whether flying a Saudi sheik, nighttime freight, or executives of a Fortune 500 company, Donlay has logged over six million miles while spanning the globe. He is an avid fly fisherman and divides his time between Montana and the Pacific Northwest.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at PhilipDonlay.com and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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Aftershock
Philip Donlay
A Donovan Nash Thriller
The flames of Donovan Nash's worst nightmare are fanned to life when Stephanie VanGelder, one of those closest to him, is kidnapped in the volcanic powder keg of a lawless Guatemala. With help from his inner circle that includes his estranged wife, Dr. Lauren McKenna, Donovan races headlong into the world of corruption and deception. Battling the kidnappers, as well as the deadly gas and lava from the impending eruption of a volcano, Donovan only has one chance to save Stephanie.
Amid earthquakes, volcanic ash, and lava from the eruption, the rescue goes horribly wrong, and Donovan is forced to find a way for everyone, including a mysterious woman who holds the secrets to his past, to escape one of the most powerful forces on earth. In the face of impending death, Donovan must garner the courage to endure a shocking revelation he's sought for decades — a truth that will change him forever.
