Faultline
by
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4:31 AM: THE EARTH CRACKED. Tina bolted straight up under the covers. Eyes wide open to the dark, she screamed as the building began to shake. 'Brandon! Earthquake!' 'Tina!' He shouted, voice drowned out by the sudden deafening explosive sound of the heaving earth beneath them, shattering the silence of the night. He reached out and grabbed her arm in the dark, pulling a horrified Tina into his arms as the quake intensified. The earth quaked violently up and down, knocking the dresser drawers, the mirror and television to the floor. The sound of the crashing impact blended with the thunderous roar of the earth, as it shattered homes, buildings, and flattened freeways; a thirty second onslaught of terror that mercilessly shook awake the people of Southern California. 'Let's get outa here!' yelled Tina. She jumped out of bed. Her feet hit the floor of the heaving building. The violent quake threw her back onto the bed across Brandon. He held her quivering body, her eyes wide with terror. She cursed. 'Oh shit!' 'Stay in bed!' The noise and upward thrusting and shaking intensified with a second massive jolt. The floor and walls heaved, the building and shook with a deafening noise as the two sat in the middle of the bed, holding each other tight in the dark. Horrified screams echoed through the building, as people were caught in nature's wrath. Tina screamed in terror, 'Brandon! Oh Brandon! Get me outa here!' 'Just ride it out Tina! We'll make it!' White chunks of ceiling plaster fell over them and dust filled the air with the continuous frightening noise of the quake. The faultline ground as it heaved the hotel with violent, powerful thrusts, bouncing their bed into the center of the room.
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About the Book
In the darkness of early morning, as the city slept, an act of heart-stopping violence swept across the San Fernando Valley and southern California. It moved into every corner of every home, building, and into every life.
The 7.0 magnitude earthquake, more destructive than any other in the modern history of the city, struck at 4:31 a.m., January 17, 1994. It lasted 15 seconds, a lifetime for the millions terrorized by its terrible strength as it crumpled the earth and trampled dreams. It killed and injured without caprice, destroyed highways, turned buildings and homes to rubble, and brought on financial ruin.
Caught up in the terror at the epicenter of the quake, Private Investigators Brandon Harrison and Tina Wolffe track an elusive murderer through the rubble and debris at the very heart of the Northridge Earthquake. But, unlike the killer 7.0 quake, the murderer kills selectively.
Aftershocks rumble and shake the fragile psyches and ruins of a devastated city as Harrison and Wolffe close in on their elusive prey: a murderer who is determined to snuff out the life of their client. And like the quake, this murderer will kill anyone who gets in the way.
About the Author
Born on September 19, 1944, Robert Ziegler was raised in southern California. He graduated from James Monroe High School in 1963, as a musician, with little or no interest in writing. It was not until 1969, when he attended the University of Alaska, after a wonderful and adventurous summer in Fairbanks, that he became seriously interested in writing and literature. Inspired by a Journalism major, Mr. Ziegler plunged into writing in a journalistic endeavor on the University newspaper. Returning to California in 1971, he attended Humbolt State University, located in the northern California town of Arcata, where he achieved a Bachelors Degree in Psychology in 1974. He continued his education, earning his Masters Degree in Psychology, and published his book as a thesis requirement The Relationship Between Egocentrism And The Development Of Preschool Aged Children [1976]. After Graduation, Mr. Ziegler became a teacher of young children. He founded a child care center/preschool, The Early Education Center, Inc., known as the Creative Kids. The school flourished for 10 years. During this period in Eureka, California, he tried his hand at writing and illustrating four children's picture books. The children loved stories, but when he attempted to get the books published, he received only rejects. At that point, Mr. Ziegler sat down and wrote his first serious attempt at a novel A science fiction epic series of three novel length manuscripts was the result of this first endeavor. He obtained a literary agent who loved his stories, but before he could sign a publisher, he died. Mr. Ziegler has rewritten these manuscripts, and hopes to publish them one day. Robert had begun writing the first book in his Harrison/Wolffe Investigations series. He obtained the services of another literary agent, who signed a publishing contract for The Dark Hill Murders [1996]. The novel was released into many chain bookstores, and Robert was thrilled with its success at the many book signings that he has attended. Currently, his second Harrison/Wolffe mystery novel titled Resolution, a novel of international intrigue, is in release at local bookstores. Faultline is a murder mystery that takes place during the catastrophic 1994 Northridge Earthquake, and sure to chill you to your bones with heart stopping action and suspense. Currently, Mr. Ziegler is living in southern California, unmarried, and working as a commercial insurance underwriter for a major insurance company. He is working on the next mystery novel [a Harrison/Wolffe Investigations mystery, of course], and I'd like to write them all for all the readers around the world to enjoy.