HEADLINE: Nuclear thriller based on terrorist attacks that didn’t
make the headlines
The Defect by Jeff Bailey, Deer Hawk Publications
By Laura Kostad
A terrorist group has infiltrated
the staff of Desert Canyons Nuclear Power Station (NPS) in Southern California,
with the intention of triggering a total, catastrophic meltdown. Little does
Operations Shift Supervisor, Brian Sing, know, but it will be up to him to
coordinate the entire plant in anti-terrorist efforts as warning lights signal
reactor failure.
Recurrent anomalies in the security
access reporting system have irked Lenell Spector as Desert Canyons prepares
for a routine refueling outage. The system’s reports have been logging
personnel without the proper clearance accessing certain doors, some of whom
aren’t even assigned to the Desert Canyons facility.
Her concerns are generally
dismissed, however, as the reader begins to glimpse the strategic terrorist
infiltration at work—their plan already in motion to destabilize the plant. The
only person who takes Lenell seriously is Brian, who is attracted to her.
Character histories unfold on the
page as Brian, Lenell, and other supporting characters go about their everyday
lives as NPS employees. A rare richness in character depth is employed in The
Defect that is not often encountered in other suspense thrillers of this
genre. Readers will be refreshed in having the opportunity to get to know
relatable, everyday characters that manage spectacular feats of heroism when
their know-how and ingenuity are put to the ultimate test in preventing certain
destruction.
A retired senior member of the
science and engineering staff at PNNL, with almost fifty years’ experience in
nuclear-related technologies, Murrieta, California author, Jeff Bailey, is
well-equipped to take readers deep into the belly of a nuclear power station
and a subversive plot to undermine it.
Bailey said that The Defect
is based on two real-life events: The Three Mile Island NPS nuclear accident,
and the little-known, 2013 Watts Bar NPS attack in Tennessee, which was
perpetrated by a lone gunman.
Technical detail isn’t taken for
granted in the midst of the plot’s riveting suspense. “My book had to undergo a
security clearance with the Department of Energy before publication,” Bailey
said. As the story builds momentum, and the Middle Eastern terrorist group
rehearses their intricate plot, readers receive an intimate, inside look at the
everyday inner workings and operations of the plant, and how one small defect
can either be exploited by villains, or alternatively save the day.
Readers will also appreciate
Bailey’s treatment of the Middle Eastern terrorist group that’s organizing the
attack. All too often, genre fiction writers and screenwriters show the public
faceless, single-minded terrorist characters that perpetuate harmful
stereotypes of Middle Eastern culture. Bailey departed from this norm and
really took the time to flesh out the individual members of the terrorist
group, going so far as to paint a detailed picture of their personal background
and what led them to their roles in the events of The Defect.
Readers certainly won’t sympathize
or empathize with how these characters have chosen to deal with their past, but
we can respect them as individuals who have suffered—as fellow people like ourselves—and
not just a stigmatized enemy, as contemporary, reductionist political rhetoric
often suggests.
The Defect is available in paperback through local bookstores, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. The Kindle E-book is available at through Amazon online.
Mr. Bailey's second book Not On My Watch is also available in paperback through Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. The Kindle E-book is also available through Amazon online. Bailey already has 12 more stories planned for future installments in his nuclear thriller series.
