It’s a beautiful spring morning on Long Beach Island, one of New Jersey’s most famous and beloved summer destinations. Thousands are beginning their day oblivious to the horror that is about to rise from the sea.
High overhead, aboard a 747 bound for Washington DC, a terrorist’s plot has gone awry. The plane nosedives into the Atlantic, and a smuggled nuclear device detonates, creating a massive undersea landslide. Within minutes, a tsunami of unprecedented force is born, and the waves begin moving toward the Jersey Shore. By the time they make landfall, the largest will reach a height of nearly thirty feet and pack enough power to erase everything in its path. With only one bridge to the mainland and less than three hours to evacuate, what are the odds that all the people of LBI will survive this day?”
Wave was released in May of 2005 and became an instant summer hit—so much so that its publisher, Plexus, had to order a second printing within 90 days. Articles praising the book’s fast pace, well-drawn characters, and accurate scientific detail appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines. Wil made countless appearances at bookstores, libraries, and discussion groups, including an interview with the incomparable Joan Hamburg, on WOR 710 AM, in late August.
Reviews
“Wil Mara’s new book, Wave (Plexus Publishing), delivers its punch with such force that the tension will be palpable as you quickly turn each page of this thriller. This is a fast-paced, nail-biting treat for the reader, especially those of you who are familiar with the New Jersey vacation spot [where the story is set]. Mara uses real locales as backdrops for his action and sustains the suspense by following specific colorful characters who live in this summer haven. The panic generated by a total evacuation of the island highlights the inadequacies of our alleged “preparedness” for catastrophes of this sort. Wave is an exciting but frightening glimpse of an all-too-plausible scenario. Read it at your own risk.”
—Mara Zukowski, Home News Tribune
”Wave has emerged as a summer hit among the throngs of Jersey shore residents and beach-goers. As buzz continues to grow about this new thriller set on Long Beach Island (L.B.I.), New Jersey, the book is steadily climbing Amazon.com’s sales rankings. L.B.I. vacationers and inhabitants in particular are so enthralled with Wave that local booksellers have had difficulty keeping the book in stock. The surprisingly strong demand from booksellers required Plexus to go back on press months earlier than is typical for the small regional publisher.”
—Bloomberg Newswire
”Wave is a thriller that really is too compelling to put down before you finish reading it. The moral conflicts, unlikely heroics, and emergency responses of everyday people are played out against a tsunami disaster that is all too likely. It opens your eyes to disturbing possibilities. Best of all, besides the fact that it is extraordinarily well written, is that the science is believable. That counts a lot for this geology major!”
—Karenne Snow, Barnes and Noble
Winner of the 2005 New Jersey Notable Book Award
Wave was selected as one of twenty “New Jersey Notable Books” (and one of only two novels) by the New Jersey Center for the Book. To qualify, each nominated book had to be published between 1995 and 2005 and had to bear a New Jersey theme, flavoring, subject matter, and so on.
From Wil’s acceptance speech at the Governor’s Mansion, April 2006: “I am stunned by the receipt of this tremendous honor. As I have said many times, New Jersey is a fertile place for the imagination—there are hundreds of novels just waiting to be written here. I am so grateful to the people of the Center for their kindness and consideration in choosing Wave as one of twenty titles to represent the Garden State’s literary heritage. As a lifetime Jersey resident, I am very proud of, and equally humbled by, this venerable tribute.”
For more information about the New Jersey Center for the Book, and about the other nineteen titles that were selected for this award, click here.
The Stories Behind the Story
- The ‘Cult’ of BethAnn Mosley—and Her Original First Name
- Winning Awards—Are Authors Always the Last to Know?
Sample Chapters
Click here to read the first chapter of Wave. Note: This requires Adobe Acrobat 6.0 or later. Chances are your machine already has this program. If not, you can download it for free by clicking here.
Click here to read the “optional” Epilogue to Wave. Please be aware, however, that this contains certain ‘spoiler’ details. It is strongly recommended that you read the book first. Note: This requires Adobe Acrobat 6.0 or later. Chances are your machine already has this program. If not, you can download it for free by clicking here.
Ordering
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Click here to order Wave, in paperback, from AMAZON.COM.
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Click here to order Wave, in paperback, from BARNESANDNOBLE.COM.
Or click here to order one of the hardcovers from the original publisher.
Wave FAQs
The following is a list of questions that have been asked with notable frequency during the promotion of Wave.
- Did you write Wave before or after the Asian tsunami of December 2004?
Long before—the first draft of Wave was written from February to October of 2002 and delivered to the publisher before the end of that year. We were going to press when the Asian tsunami struck. We decided to hold off its release out of respect for the victims—we didn’t want to put it out in January for fear that it would appear as though we were trying to capitalize on the tragedy. So, we waited until the start of the summer season.
- Is the disaster scenario in Wave possible? Could it really happen?
Absolutely yes. The decision was made very early on that the book would not be written if the tsunami wasn’t credible. If the science wasn’t ‘within reach,’ then the book would’ve lost a lot of its dramatic impact. It was researched down to the tiniest detail, and to do this I had a lot of help—most notably from a great guy who works for NOAA over on the West Coast. Without him, the horrors of Wave would not be half as convincing.
But all that aside, it is foolish to think a tsunami couldn’t strike the eastern shores of the United States, or that someone—some ordinary person with the right equipment, the right knowledge, and the wrong kind of motivation—couldn’t ‘create’ one. To think that’s impossible is to be voluntarily ignorant.
- Is the character of BethAnn Mosley based on a real person?
No comment.
Articles on Wave
Podcasts
The following audio clips (podcasts) have been taken from various media interviews. Clicking on a title below should open the sound file in a new browser window, in which case the file will begin playing immediately. These are .mp3 files and will work on most modern media players, including iPods. To download a podcast, right-click on the title, select “Save Link Target As…,” then save the file to your hard drive.