For adventurous fiction lovers, this debut novel tells the story of a young geologist working with ancient rocks who finds herself in present mortal danger when Mount St. Helens erupts with catastrophic power.

May 18, 1980. Mount St. Helens erupts with the force of 1,600 atomic bombs. Fifty-seven people die. The Pacific Northwest is changed forever.

Lauren Brown is six miles away.

It begins with a raft trip through the Grand Canyon. Lauren takes one look at ancient canyon walls with Earth’s story written in stone and knows exactly what she wants to do with her life. She wants to read that story. She wants to be a geologist.

She enters the male-dominated field of 1970s geology and thrives on the studies and adventures afforded her but struggles with a predatory professor. Chris, an honorable colleague, helps her fend off the professor and becomes her best friend.

When Mount St. Helens awakens, Lauren vows to witness a major volcanic eruption. She chooses an observation site three ridges and six miles from the rumbling mountain, outside the prohibited Red Zone. When Mount St. Helens erupts with epic power, she realizes the eruption is so far beyond what was anticipated that people are going to die. In mortal danger herself, she escapes down the mountain just ahead of the deadly ash cloud, but Chris is missing. She searches for him for four days before learning his fate.