Super Supercell review!

Super Supercell review!

Supercell
H.W. "Buzz" Bernard
Bell Bridge Books
c/o BelleBooks
P.O. Box 300921 Memphis, TN 38130
Ebook ISBN: 9781611943542, $9.56 Kindle edition
Printed ISBN: 9781611943399, $14.95 paperback Amazon.com

Elizabeth Winks
Reviewer

Hurry! An EF-5 tornado is barreling down on you! Do you know what to do to remain safe? Luckily for you, all you have to do is turn the page: you're out on the Great Plains with Chuck Rittenburg and his motley storm chasing crew attempting to film one of nature's most beautiful - and dangerous - phenomena.

Jerry Metcalf, of Global-American Cinema, drops by Chuck Rittenburg's grubby apartment in Norman, Oklahoma, in the hopes of dragging Chuck out of his self-imposed retirement. Once a nationally acclaimed stormchaser, Chuck stopped chasing - recreationally and professionally - when a couple was tragically killed on one of his Thunder Road Tours storm treks. So when Metcalf offers him $500,000 to help track down a supercell storm, one that must include an EF-5 tornado, Chuck immediately turns him down. Yet, Chuck, though rundown, is still intelligent. He contacts Metcalf, in the hopes that maybe this opportunity, but more importantly, the money, could help get his life back on track, redeem himself in the eyes of his estranged son, Ty. Chuck states that he will chase for one million dollars, and with reluctance, Metcalf agrees. There's still a catch, though: Chuck only has two weeks to find this perfect storm...or he doesn't get any of the money.

H.W. "Buzz" Bernard, talented author of Supercell and two other novels, thickens the plot by introducing two brothers who, under the guise of paramedics, chase storms to steal from the wreckage. In order to stop these bandits, an FBI agent, Gabriela Medeiros, tags along on Chuck's filming expedition pretending to be a journalist. Not only is Chuck now attempting to find the film crew the perfect storm, but he's also trying to meet up with the wanted criminals, too. Bernard gave his main character as difficult a situation as possible, which was enjoyable for me as the reader because it kept me wondering if Chuck was going to be able to handle everything tossed his way. It added to the suspense.

Speaking of suspense, upon reading the novel, I often times found Bernard's writing style to be formulaic. What I mean by this is that there was a clear pattern to how the plot would rise and fall as it built up to the climax. Chuck and the crew would go through a series of advancements and setbacks in a sort of obvious way. At times, I found myself thinking, "Okay, here's another setback, but the next reversal will be one forward." Yet, Bernard was able to make the ending of the novel unclear through the use of a complex plot line that finally comes together at the climax in an unsuspected way.

Once the plot pattern was established, though, I decided to Google Bernard. I had a feeling he might have been a scientist and, sure enough, he had been a meteorologist who had minored in creative writing. His ability to explain meteorological terms succinctly and clearly made for smooth reading and added realism to the piece. For example, Chuck explains CAPE and CIN to Gabi and his son, Ty: "'It's CAPE and CIN,' Chuck said, and spelled out the acronyms. 'CAPE stands for Convective Available Potential Energy. It's a measure of how much energy - fuel - there is in the atmosphere for thunderstorm development. The more energy there is, the bigger and nastier the storms are likely to be.'" Bernard peppers the novel with explanations such as these and through these simple definitions of more complex theories, the reader can understand what is going on without being bogged down by the science aspect. He even includes a glossary at the end of the book that contains all the terminology used in the book. I really appreciated that about Bernard's style.

Overall, I thought that Bernard was able to craft quite the thriller novel through the blend of science and creative writing. Personally, this book was exceptionally thrilling because Bernard and I are sort of opposites: whereas he was a professional scientist who did writing on the side, I am a writer who's minoring in meteorology. Anyone who finds tornadoes and massive storms fascinating will surely enjoy this book, as I have. It's like talking a walk on the wild side - but a heck of a lot safer.