The Portent by Marilyn Harris
The three couples had moved to the remote community of Tomis to "get away from it all." They were the first to find out the terror that was in store for all humankind. At first they couldn't believe it. And then no one would listen.
Who could believe in summer blizzards, children disappearing, men swallowed alive by the ground?
Who could believe that the Earth itself was angry after centuries of pollution and waste? That a holocaust of horror was rising from the depths? That Mother Nature was devouring her children and there was no place left to hide?
I don’t remember coming across any other book that dealt with this particular issue, not in the early 80’s, anyway. And having read and enjoyed some of her other books, I looked forward to this one. It didn’t disappoint. Not then, and not now.
Harris gives us a hint of what is to come, and then slowly builds the tension. The three main protagonists have their weaknesses; if they had been stronger, the outcome may have been different. But somehow it fits. Because the three couples are running away from the lives that weren’t working out all that well. Could a different place really change who they were?
There are some unanswered questions, mostly dealing with the fate of some of the townspeople, but it’s a minor quibble on my part. I guess its highest praise is that I’m keeping the book.
Mount TBR 2024 Book Links
Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.
1. Bone Walker (Anasazi Mysteries #3) by Kathleen O'Neal Gear, W. Michael Gear
2. Holly by Stephen King
3. Inferno (Inferno#1) by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
4. Fallout (Lois Lane #1) by Gwenda Bond
5. The Secret People by John Wyndham
6. Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
7. Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
8. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
9. Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara
10. Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts by Shanna H. Swan, Stacey Colino
11. Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
12. Night Songs by Charles L. Grant
13. President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier by C.W. Goodyear
14. The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin
15. Mine by Robert R. McCammon
16. Time Travelers Never Die by Jack McDevitt
17. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
18. The Plots Against the President: FDR, A Nation in Crisis, and the Rise of the American Right by Sally Denton
19. The North Woods by Douglass Hoover
20. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
21. Upon Dark Waters by Robert Radcliffe
22. Dread: 22 Tales of Terror by Kevin Bachar
23. Escape from Hell (Inferno #2) by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Jennifer Hanover (Illustrator)
24. Vicksburg: Grant's Campaign That Broke the Confederacy by Donald L. Miller
25. The Portent by Marilyn Harris
Nature gone wild (when plants or animals attack)
1. The Portent by Marilyn Harris