Action/Adventure/Thriller
Date Published: 02-06-2024
Publisher: Sunbury Press, Inc.
REAP THE WIND is THE PERFECT STORM meets THE FIRM.
The novel is an action/adventure thriller in which three lawyers flee
Houston heading to Cincinnati in a rented Lincoln Town Car. They must drive
across Texas and the Midwest in the midst of the worst climate
change-induced hurricane of the century so Josh Goldberg can be with his
girlfriend who is giving birth to their baby. They have to survive a
hurricane, tornado, hailstorm, driving rain, and each other to get
there.
Josh’s travel companions are his best friend—an alcoholic,
drug-addicted lawyer—and his boss who connives to derail his plans so
she can get to Philadelphia for a business meeting with a Norwegian
billionaire. The odyssey is dangerous on many levels and may be a suicide
trip.
EXCERPT
From Chapter 18
Looming straight ahead, the tornado was barreling down US 59. It looked huge, probably
a quarter mile across. It reached thousands of feet up into the clouds and carried with it trees, all
kinds of garbage, and I’m pretty sure I saw a cow. A whole damned cow. Leaves and branches
whipped at the car as Geoff slowed to a stop.
“Everyone!” I shouted. “Open your windows a crack. If we don’t, the air pressure from
the tornado will blow them out.”
As soon as we all cracked our windows, we were nearly deafened by the roar. People say
it’s like a freight train and that’s actually what it sounded like. Except that the freight train is
coming straight at you and you’re standing in the middle of the tracks.
Frozen.
Mesmerized.
About to be pulverized.
I figured we had maybe ten seconds to do something. I had no idea what.
Geoff gripped the wheel like he was holding on for his life. “What should we do?” We all
looked around. There were woods on our left and a farm field to the right. No roads or driveways
anywhere.
“Google said to drive at a right angle from its path,” I said. “We can’t get through those
trees, and if we try to go across the field, we could be stuck in the mud, completely exposed.”
I called over my shoulder, not trying to hide my sarcasm, “So what do you suggest now,
Diane?”
When she didn’t reply, I checked the mirror again. She’d disappeared. I pulled off my
seatbelt and got on my knees on the seat and turned around. Diane was lying on the floor in a
fetal position, holding her knees. Her body was shaking. I felt a moment of sympathy for her and
put my hand on her shoulder. It was quaking. You are such an asshole, Diane. I’m never
listening to you again, bitch. “Hang in there, Diane. We’ll be okay.”
We were down to maybe five seconds until the tornado hit us. The car was being pelted
with branches, rocks, and debris.
I turned to Geoff, “Can you turn this around? Maybe we can outrun it?”
“No time, but if we stay here, we’re sitting ducks. “Did you see that cow? That could be
us. What should we do?”
By now, the wind whipped hard against the car, all kinds of shit was pelting us from all
directions.
“I don’t know, I don’t know. But we’ve got to get out of here.”
Three seconds to go until we were hit by the wall of the tornado.
“Down there,” yelled Geoff over the rising noise as the tornado approached, now just
hundreds of feet away. He pointed to the side of the road. A ten-foot berm was built up just
ahead, between the field and the roadway. To carry the highway over a small dip in the terrain.
“It’s not much cover, but it’s better than nothing.”
I understood his idea but couldn’t see how we could get down the steep incline without
rolling over. “How are you going to get there?”
Geoff looked at me and grinned. He looked crazy-mad. “Hang on. We’re going full
Dukes of Hazzard.”
“Wait! What?” Was all I could say as I rushed to re-attach my seatbelt. Geoff hit the
accelerator and we rocketed into the teeth of the tornado.
About the Author
Joel Burcat is an award-winning author of three environmental legal
thrillers: Drink to Every Beast (about illegal dumping of toxic waste), Amid
Rage (about a coal mine permit battle), and Strange Fire (about a fracking
dispute). His most recent book, Reap the Wind, published by Sunbury Press,
Inc., is about three lawyers trying to drive from Houston to Cincinnati in a
climate change-induced hurricane.
He has received a number of awards, including the Gold Medal for
environmental fiction from Readers’ Favorite for Strange Fire, and as
a Finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards for Amid Rage. He
has written numerous short stories. Burcat imbues his novels with facts to
educate his readers about critical environmental issues while they are being
entertained by the story.
Burcat’s books are infused with realism developed over a forty plus
year career as an environmental lawyer. Burcat has worked in government as
an Assistant Attorney General and in a private law practice. He was selected
as the 2019 Lawyer of the Year in Environmental Litigation (for Central PA)
by Best Lawyers in America. Among his numerous professional writings, he has
edited two significant books on environmental and energy law. He has retired
from the practice of law and works full-time as a novelist.
He is an active member of the International Thriller Writers and
PennWriters.
Burcat lives in Harrisburg, Pa. with his wife, Gail.
Contact Links
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Twitter: @JoelBurcat
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