This was an unusual pick for me, but a library user whose judgement I respect told me this was an excellent quartet of books by Bobby Akart. So I have just completed Yellowstone Hellfire, and I hope I can complete the other three books, Yellowstone Inferno, Fallout and Survival, sometime this year.

As an apocalyptic, action-packed adventure, it delivers. Akart manages to share his scientific research through the trio of Dr. Ashby Donovan and her grad students Dusty and Rita (Akart convinces the reader that he has done his homework.). The writing is serviceable; no great literature here. The clash of political control over public hysteria, ego-driven bureaucrats, and the scientists striving to understand the forces of nature and share the truth with the public, all collide in this novel. Ashby and crew, aided by survivalist ranger Jake Wheeler (Ashby's soon-to-be love interest), gather data to support her intuition that the Yellowstone caldera is due for a supervolcanic explosion very soon. Ambitious bureaucrat Rick Younger, director of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, has no pure motives of scientific truth or public safety. He is pushing his Project Hydro, a means of extracting geothermal energy with the supposed side benefit of cooling Yellowstone's magma chamber, to gain fame and healthy payouts from oil and gas companies. Ashby learns that his project will have the reverse effect, weakening the cap of the magma chamber, and creating an imbalance of forces that will precipitate earthquakes bound to stimulate a volcanic explosion, possibly to the magnitude of a near-extinction event.

Akart, not only a novelist but also a prepper expert (people who share knowledge of preparing for survival of catastrophes of all sorts), leaves a trail of prepper breadcrumbs in this story. During a high level video conference between Younger, Ashby, heads of FEMA and USGS and the President of the United States, we see the agenda is keeping public panic contained through information control (or denial), while trying to assure the safety of the greatest number of people, all while protecting the President's image of strong leadership and timely action. Ashby's drive for scientific truth to dictate sensible action, and freedom of information so people can make their own choices, makes her Akart's messenger. NPS ranger Jake is a knowledgeable survivalist, expert at all manner of hunting, fishing, outdoors skills, even a former successful competitor on the reality television show Survivor. He will be Ashby's practical foil, taking her academic knowledge and finding real-world applicability, helping the team survive the physical consequences of their object of study. For academic knowledge without practical survival skills won't save your life--that is part of Akart's agenda.

As a fun, informed adventure tale of survival in the face of a realistic disaster, Akart does a great job. Will it motivate you to prep? See how much he scares you!