Evans Bill - Category 7: [the biggest storm in history]

Praise for Category 7

Take a healthy dose of the paranoid scenarios from 24 and governmental intrigues from The West Wing, then spike them liberally with the atmospheric minutiae that armchair meteorologists know and love. Fast-paced storytelling Satisfying.

Kirkus Reviews

Kate Sherman, a plucky meteorologist, and Jake Baxter, a CIA weatherman, are the last line of defense between New York City and a Category 7 hurricane, which was created by a top-secret weather-control weapon. A fast-paced action-adventure that promises a rousing finale and delivers it.

Booklist

What would happen if a massive superstorm hit New York City? And what if the storms ferocity were enhanced by human activity? In the authors apocalyptic scenario, much of New York would be destroyed. Buildings would topple, tunnels would flood, and the death toll would be enormous.

Library Journal

A hurricane is not only possible in New York City, its happened before. But because no one alive today has been through that experience, people are not aware of the devastating potential. But Bill Evans knows New York, New York weather, and New York weather history.

Bryan Norcross, CBS News hurricane analyst

A well-researched thriller whose building devastation will keep the reader churning through the pages.

Steve Alten, New York Times bestselling author

A most creative piece of fiction. Author Bill Evans certainly knows what he is talking about. Category 7 will have you thinking the next time you hear the pounding rains and the whipping of the wind. You might be more in awe of nature after reading this book.

Shelf Life

Kate Sherman is a brilliant young meteorologist who cant understand how she recently missed predicting three major stormsstorms that cut into the profits of her employer, Coriolis Industries. Afraid of being fired, Kate throws herself into an analysis of the strange stormsand headlong into the path of a secret plot that may cost her her life!

Hurricane Simone is a Category 7the biggest, strongest storm in recorded historyand shes clawing her way up the East Coast. When she hits New York City, skyscrapers will fall. Subways and tunnels will flood. Lower Manhattan and much of Queens and Brooklyn will disappear under more than thirty feet of water. Thousands, if not millions, will die.

Created by secret, cutting-edge weather science, Simone is not just an unnatural disastershes a weapon. Kate and CIA weatherman Jake Baxter must figure out how to stop the storm before she flattens New York City and identify Simones master before he has them both killed.

CATEGORY 7

BILL EVANSAND
MARIANNA JAMESON

A TOM DOHERTY ASSOCIATES BOOK
NEW YORK

The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied so that you can enjoy reading it on your personal devices. This e-book is for your personal use only. You may not print or post this e-book, or make this e-book publicly available in any way. You may not copy, reproduce or upload this e-book, other than to read it on one of your personal devices.

NOTE: If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher, and neither the authors nor the publisher have received any payment for this stripped book.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously.

CATEGORY 7

Copyright 2007 by William H. Evans and Marianna Jameson

All rights reserved.

A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010

www.tor-forge.com

Tor is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7653-5671-0
ISBN-10: 0-7653-5671-6

First Edition: July 2007
First Mass Market Edition: September 2008

Printed in the United States of America

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This book is dedicated with gratitude to the honorable,
courageous members of Americas intelligence services,
law-enforcement agencies, fire and rescue departments, and
armed forces, who daily put themselves in harms way
to safeguard the rest of us.

And to my husband, for reasons that extend far beyond words.

Marianna Jameson

For my children, Maggie, William, Julia, and Sarah,
I love you with all my heart.

Dad

I always felt that I had a great story to tell because those from whom I sought advice told me so! Not one person told me to give it up. But would you believe that a meteorologist like me, who tells the story of how the weather is going to be every day, had no clue as to how to go about getting this story told? It has taken me ten years to get this project completed, and I never could have done that without some great advice from some really wonderful people like Bob Miller at Hyperion, Rich Malloch and Rene Simkowitz at Hearst, and William Pecover (Sir William), the British publishing magnate. They were so kind and generous with their time, especially Sir William (over multiple bottles of red wine), and each was willing to introduce me to others who might further my project. I am so grateful to each of them for their support in sending me down this path despite my never having published a single word.

I also want to thank all the people with whom I have spent so many years talking about this book for their great adviceBryan Norcross, Dr. Max Mayfield, Dr. Bob Sheets, and Dr. Nicolas Koch. Thanks to the office of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New York City Office of Emergency Management, especially Press Secretary Jarrod Bernstein and Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Troisi. Their input was immeasurable, especially when it came to figuring out how much flooding would occur in the event of a hurricane in New York City, who would need to be evacuated, and where they might go. It was reassuring to learn how well prepared these offices are for the hell on earth that the city might become in the event of a major hurricane. Thanks also to Ellen Schubert and the energy staff of UBS for giving us the run of that massive trading floor in Stamford, Connecticut, so we could learn how commodities are traded.

I really want to thank Tom Doherty Associates for having the chutzpah to take on a first-time wanna-be novel writer. Melissa Ann Singer has been fabulous, and the staff and sales department have been very encouraging, which is wonderful for someone in my position.

I offer great heartfelt thanks to my coauthor, Marianna Jameson. If not for her, this work would never have been set down on paper. When I first met with her, we talked about weather for days and days. We shared the same excitement for meteorology and the same sense of humor as well. When I saw what we talked about turned into words, I could not believe what I was reading. When you are a meteorologist like me, you look at weather data day and night and dream of putting those beautiful phenomena into compelling words. Marianna captured my vision, complete with raging hurricanes, devastating tornadoes, torrential rain, massive thunderstorms, whipping wind, blazing sun, and clear blue skies. She has written such powerful lines that I can feel the wind-whipped rain on my face. It is the weather in wordsshe does all that and tells a fantastic tale as well.