The Cassandra Event by Robert Paul Henry
If you thought Dracula was an imaginary, coffin-sleeping, blood-sucking monster, think again! It is actually a top secret reconnaissance aircraft flown by the brave Lieutenant Commander SAS, whose features resemble a female Sasquash (with the “SAS” nickname to match). And that’s not the only character larger than life in Robert Paul Henry’s humorous military thriller, The Cassandra Event.
Among them are: Mango, a parrot with a repertoire of obscenities; “Hardluck Hartzell” Selman, a foolish animal lover and logistics coordinator for maintenance team 3; Dan Anthony, the socially awkward inventor of a “spud gun” and valued asset to team 3; and of course, the novel’s namesake, the gifted and cursed Cassandra.
Dr. Cassandra Capelli is a world-famous rock star, iconic beauty and sister to Lieutenant Commander SAS. She has one flaw: she is a psychic, but no one believes her. Much like the Greek myth of the prophet Cassandra, not one person heeds her warning when she predicts an American doomsday of epic proportions. So when an enemy attack triggers “the wave” that alters the literal shape of the world, all hell breaks loose and few survive.
Under the influential leadership of SAS, Dracula’s crew and the team aboard a roused WWII battleship join forces to find the only person who can expose the truth: the “event” was more than a natural disaster, and was actually the result of a premeditated attack on freedom. It will take the efforts of a quirky cast of characters from the American Southwest to keep incoming threats at bay and set things right.
ACTION-PACKED AND KEPT ME GUESSING
Set in a United States invaded by foreign military, the thrilling scenarios and team of vengeance-seeking patriots depicted in The Cassandra Event are equal parts down-to-earth and supernatural. The ensemble is absurd, abhorrent and awesome as they strive to pick America up from ruin against the nation’s greatest enemies. Henry’s strength is his creativity in crafting an engaging political thriller that abounds with conflicts of war and apocalyptic obstacles in a tale populated by memorable characters.
The Cassandra Event will likely appeal to fans of War & Military Action Fiction and Cartoon Network. The story is grounded by the real-world terms and operations of the NADEP (Naval Aviation Depot) community, heightened by ridiculous, yet tragic, characters and situations. Hartzell and Dan repair every aviation vehicle and device within the navy’s C-130 hangars, including the very secret AAS P-8 Poseidon Aircraft, P-3, Ch-53s, H-47s, Harrier jump jets, and Vietnam-era F-4s. Readers will enjoy the mysterious, secretive nature of the missions and the way characters become interconnected through the unfolding of multiple stories. This motley crew is the heart of the story and it is their resolve to prove that they cannot be beaten down that sets The Cassandra Event in flight.
A THRILLING, COMICAL SENSATION BORN FROM REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCES
First-time author Robert Paul Henry cites his professional experiences within the aviation communities, combined with his “overactive imagination” as inspiration for the book. Henry has a lifetime of military aircraft knowledge, having received proper training, traveling extensively and working within the aviation world in a myriad of roles. He began his career as an aircraft aircrewman for the U.S. Coast Guard. After military college, he went back to school and completed his B.S. in aviation maintenance management. He then became a helicopter plane captain, during which he toured both the Arctic and Antarctic. Henry continued his work at home and abroad, employed as an aircraft mechanic, examiner and inspector of military aircraft for the Department of Defense.
While the premise of his debut novel is fictional, the intriguing and unusual professionals Henry has come across while working in the field, repairing and maintaining the airborne weapons platforms on a national and international scale, have heavily influenced his writing. Thriller readers who are fascinated by the inner workings of aviation crews and military personnel will enjoy the realistic manner in which the characters at Cherry Point communicate as well as the hyperbolic chain of events to thwart enemy invasions. All in all, The Cassandra Event is one entertaining read.
