The Poseidon Project
by E. William Podojil
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GENRE: Suspense, Thriller, Mystery
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BOOK BLURB:
The Poseidon Project is an international suspense thriller and the first book in The Herb Society Mysteries series.
Molly Halloran and her friends have a secret past. Their bucolic retirement is suddenly upended when Molly’s husband is abducted and held for a steep ransom. Now she, her friends, her tech executive son, Lukas and his Air Force pilot boyfriend must race against the clock and travel halfway around the world to meet the kidnappers’ demands. But when they learn why her husband has been abducted, they realize how high the stakes truly are. Molly and her friends now must face their past in order to save the future. But not only their futures; the world’s.
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EXCERPT THREE:
“There’s just nothing like airplane sweaty body, Ma. I promise I won’t tell anyone you complained about your private jet.” Lukas joked.
“You know, Lukas, I know it’s your romantic life, and you don’t need your mother meddling in your affairs, but Taylor is quite a catch if you ask me. You two look so natural together, like you’ve known each other forever.”
“I hope you mean that in a good way, Ma.” Lukas blushed a bit. His mother could see right through him. “I’m waiting ’til he reveals he’s a psychotic serial killer. That’s usually how my relationships go, well, not the serial killer part, but definitely the psychotic part.”
“I think you should go for it, for what it’s worth. And why are you so negative about relationships?” his mother asked.
“Mom, I’ve known him for a week and during one of the most awful, chaotic weeks in my life. I’d like to see how we get along in a normal setting, like normal, boring life. Watching Netflix, making popcorn, folding clothes, you know? Simple life stuff. That’s when you know whether you’re with the right person or not.”
“You haven’t changed much, Lukas,” his mom pointed out. “You look at everything with logic, precision, follow the rules, and with as little variation as possible. You’ve been that way since you were little, and I love that about you, but you have to let yourself feel emotions. Allow yourself to be vulnerable and take a leap of faith. You’re not a Klingon, for God’s sake. a leap of faith. You’re not a Klingon, for God’s sake.”
Lukas held back a laugh. “I think you mean a Vulcan, Mom.”
“Let me ask you something, Lukas. How do you feel when you’re around Taylor?”
Lukas pondered. “That’s easy, Ma. I feel like I’m right where I want to be. I feel joy, fear, happiness, then scared and vulnerable. Panicked and terrified he’s going to walk away.”
“Like Drew, you mean?”
Lukas paused. “Yeah, Ma, like Drew.”
“You live once, honey. You’re almost forty, and before you know it you will be my age. It’s best to share a life with someone, not run probability formulas to predict success or failure. Sometimes, you just have to jump and know, that no matter what happens, you’ll be okay.”
“What did you and Dad do before I was born?” Lukas quickly changed the subject.
Molly was taken aback. “Um, well, we had a lot of adventures, that’s for sure. Not much money, so we both worked a lot, but we had fun.”
“Mom, how did you meet your friends, you know, Linda, Betty, and Donna?”
“We worked together.”
“Teaching? Lukas asked.
“Not teaching. We worked together at Argonne National Laboratory before teaching.”
“What did you guys do there?”
Molly thought about a response. “Lots of stuff.”
“Mom, can you tell me more than that?”
Molly let out a sigh. “Not every story is my story alone to tell. I have to get the ladies to explain some things. It’s a long story, so let’s go get them so we can tell it together.”
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GUEST POST:
Background of The Poseidon Project
The idea for The Poseidon Project came to me years ago when I was living in Amsterdam. At the time, I was traveling the globe regularly and the disparity of resources from one region to another became extremely pronounced. Amsterdam is a city that is almost thirty feet below sea level, the water is controlled by a complex series of dams, dikes and canals and water is just a part of everyday life. It rains a lot and life just moves ahead whether it is raining or sunny. The Dutch just deal with it. Then I would go to a place where water was in demand, yet people had to ration it because it was scarce. I had crazy thoughts where countries who had a lot of water could sell to countries who didn’t have a lot. Water could become a valuable commodity, like oil or other natural resources and I began crafting this story in my head about how countries like Countries could become rich by selling, controlling and pricing water because it’s something everyone needs. Much like oil producing nations manipulating the supply and price of oil, almost at will. As the climate dynamics have changed, the location and availability has also changed. I was also fascinated by the fact that the amount of water on earth has stayed relatively constant for millions of years. What’s changed is its location, form (liquid, vapor, ice) and its potability (fresh vs. saltwater.) These dynamics became the basis for what would become The Poseidon Project and the characters who fight to prevent water scarcity from being used as a weapon.
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AUTHOR BIO & LINKS:
E. William Podojil has worked as a writer, advisor and international business executive while living in the Netherlands and the United States. He studied screenwriting at UCLA. His first novel, The Tenth Man, was published in 2004, by Haworth Press. His latest novel, The Poseidon Project, will be published by Wild Rose Press in August, 2024 as the first book in the Herb Society Mysteries series.
Podojil currently resides in Northeast Ohio with his husband and three sons. He travels extensively and writes about his experiences on his website www.ewpodojil.com.
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