Synopsis - Caldera

I said in a comment a couple of days ago that I was going to post the synopsis out here for god and everybody to read.

D'oh!

I forgot that eventually I'm going to want people to buy this book, and if I give it all away in the blog, I'm going to lose sales. So, I decided to give an abbreviated version here - with all plot spoilers removed to avoid the reader-hate. (Because I absolutely hate when people spoil the plot for me, and I don't want to perpetuate that.)

If you're one of the people who'd like to read the whole unadulterated thing, drop me an e-mail and I'll shoot it over. Otherwise, here's the snipped version:

-----------------
Every six-hundred, thousand years, the volcano under Yellowstone erupts. Right now, it’s way overdue.

When seismologist Dr. Myke Hughes confronts the government with proof the eruption is nearing, they choose to ignore her warnings. When Old Faithful explodes in a torrent of boiling water, they have no longer have a choice. Even though Myke knows no one can stop a volcano, she’s got the plans to control the eruption—to save the millions in its path, but at the cost of the nation’s most beloved national park. With nature at risk, eco-terrorist Fisher will use every nasty trick he can think of to stop Myke’s plan. Even if it means taking out a few pesky human lives along the way.

Driven by demons of her own, Mykaela Hughes poured everything she was into building Hughes Geologic Services. After years of monitoring the megavolcano under Yellowstone, she doesn’t need anyone telling her the data is correct. After devoting her life to finding a way to thwart nature, she doesn’t need a consensus to know her theories are sound. She just needs everyone to get out of her way so she can avert the disaster she knows is coming.

Decades as Yellowstone’s head ranger have given Gray Douglas comfort in the safety of his park. After all, volcanic activity has always been a part of its grandeur. He doesn’t see the danger growing under his feet. All he does see is a certain fiery scientist bent on using Yellowstone as her own private way to grab some glory, and he won’t let a woman like that hurt him or his park again.

Heir to a fortune he couldn’t earn, :spoiler snip: wallows in the achievements only the environmentalist movement could bring him. His wealth brings him the power he craves so he can finally rule the world he hates. Masquerading as the eco-terrorist known only as Fisher, :snip: believes men are only as valuable as his need for them, and he very rarely needs them. Fisher has money enough to do what he likes, but as the great-grandson of a land-raping miner, he hates his money almost as much as he hates mankind. Money only has one purpose for him now though—funding the fight against Myke Hughes.

After the geyser eruption, Gray realizes he’s spent years as a pawn for men like :snip: and his lackeys. His battle to stop Myke becomes a fight to help her save America from the threat growing beneath his beautiful park.

Finally Myke’s plans for a controlled eruption are moving forward. The drills she’s so carefully designed are on their way, and the government has stopped interfering with her plan to vent the lava into their national park. But sometimes when the road seems smoothest, it’s the most treacherous. Soon every path is blocked and at every turn they face another brick wall. It doesn’t take a scientist to know Fisher is behind it all. If only they knew who Fisher really was, and who was on the inside helping him.

Still, discovery of Fisher’s identity doesn’t make the work any easier. Even as he becomes a fugitive, his minions carry out his plans of sabotage and destruction. With every inch drilled closer to the lava, thousands of Fisher’s sacrificial lambs fill the park, hoping their bodies will guilt the government into stopping the project. Despite what Fisher and his minions think, though, a bigger portion of the populous is at stake. Thousands may die if Myke’s plan succeeds; hundreds of thousands will die if it doesn’t.

:The last three paragraphs are all about the ending, so I don't want to put those here. Sorry.:
-----------------------------

It ended up at about a page and a half - or 757 words. Still short of the three pages the publishers asks for, but I'm hoping less is more. This sucker is still pretty rough, but I think I'm closer than I've been in the past incarnations of the synopsis. Feel free to comment as you like. Let me know if anything is unclear, or if I've made any gross errors up there anywhere. Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.

(ETA: I accidentally left a plot spoiler in there. It is now snipped, but I apologize to anyone who read it. I shall now go immolate myself.)