The action-packed debut novel from Sydney-based Kiwi author Lachlan Fyne is thriller, quest, eco-horror and adventure all wrapped into one genre-defying tome. If you crave a good adventurous quest with plenty of twists, nods to apocalypticism, an evolving love triangle and a new breed of nasties, Nowhere Atoll is better than a slap in the face with a Kraken tentacle. Fyne has been shaping the content for almost a decade and has been astonished by how much of the fictional action has come true in that time - from frequent earthquakes in New Zealand and finding underwater super volcanoes in the Pacific through to the historic capture of a colossal squid and the discovery of more strange deep sea creatures in the Kermadec Trench where the story takes place. "I'm not advocating a giant Tsunami take out the Australian eastern seaboard as happens in the book - honestly - but when a whale sinks a boat or a colossal squid attacks a WaveRunner I'll look like a modern-day Nostradamus," Fyne said. The 47-year-old, who describes the book as a hashtag-in-waiting read by very smart and good looking people, says Nowhere Atoll developed from an email hoax that went viral following the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004. Photos of some strange deep sea critters fished out of the Kermadec Trench during a scientific expedition were passed off as creatures that had been washed ashore by the tsunami. It was Mother Nature meets Twilight Zone - a combo Fyne thought would make a great piece of fiction. He believes most earthlings will enjoy the journey of a strong female expedition leader confronting freaky life and death situations which could easily be more fact than fiction. As Coral Bier says: "Only about five per cent of the creatures below a depth of two kilometres are known to man. A shock awaits us every metre we descend." The questions raised in Nowhere Atoll affect all mankind given oceans cover more than two-thirds of the planet and global warming has the potential to raise water levels so much higher, threatening the billions of people who live in or near our coastal cities and ports. The burning question is: how do you escape from Nowhere Atoll?
