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The Tranquillity Initiative

4.33 of 5 stars 4.33 · rating details · 6 ratings · 6 reviews

Tranquillity Initiative is a medical thriller in which President Charles Anderson-in order to put a stop to an endless war with Astrakhan, and to salvage his presidency and bid for reelection-authorizes the Tranquility Initiative, the illegal use of anthrax weaponry. Two of the bombs are stolen off of the Trabzon Base in Turkey. They are smuggled into New York by Micha Rod...more

Paperback, 308 pages

Published August 15th 2010 by Eloquent Books

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Jan 26, 2012 Martha Cheves rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Tranquillity Initiative – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat and Think With Your Taste Buds

According to his records in the administration office, the young man, dressed in the color-coded coveralls of a porter, was a civilian who had been recruited by an independent contracting company from the Philippines. In reality, he had been raised in the suburbs of Astrakhan and had traveled to the Philippines to live with a distant cousin in hops that he would be recruited to w...more The Tranquillity Initiative – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat and Think With Your Taste Buds

According to his records in the administration office, the young man, dressed in the color-coded coveralls of a porter, was a civilian who had been recruited by an independent contracting company from the Philippines. In reality, he had been raised in the suburbs of Astrakhan and had traveled to the Philippines to live with a distant cousin in hops that he would be recruited to work in the American action. Because he was wall-eyed, and darker than most of their local recruits, he appeared unintelligent to the Americans. They never looked at him twice. In the far corner of the Quonset hut, near the exit reserved for garbage collection, the young man unobtrusively removed the two red, white and blue Tranquillity bombs from a regulation canvas shoulder bag. It was a familiar bag, one that he – like the other native workers – used for picking up garbage around the base. Quickly and skillfully, he transferred the flag-colored bombs to the ragged native carrying case in which he stored a warm jacket and his lunch. It was a tight fit getting them in, but he managed. Stealing from the U.S. Air Force was a well-organized activity at this base. The young man and his friends had been taking bits and pieces of armament for months. To date, he had been most proud of the small surface-to-air missile he had managed to spirit off the base. He had believed that a theft of such gigantic proportions would probably remain the high water mark of his life. He had not counted on the portability of Tranquillity.

When it appears that the war with Astrakham had no end, a group of men inside the high loops of the US Government took it upon themselves to re-up the Tranquillity Bomb. They all agreed that this would be the best way to end the war as well as show others that the US would prevail no matter what. The group had no doubts as to the destruction that would be inflicted upon Astrakham if the Tranquillity Bomb was used. This particular bomb was designed to silently disburse the deadly disease known as Anthrax. The one thing the group didn’t count on was theft of two of these deadly bombs.

The bombs looked like bowling pins and decorated in red, white and blue were easily smuggled out of the country and into New York City by a group of young people posing as bowlers that carried their own balls as well as their own ‘lucky’ pins wherever they went to compete. What they didn’t expect was to find the real threat of the bombs. This came when one was opened in the attempt of removing the explosives, which were non-existing. When they realized their mistake, it was too late. Their fate and deaths were sealed. The only thing left to do now was to take revenge on the US by dropping the 2nd bomb from one of New York’s highest buildings. This will be payback for the destruction inflicted upon Astrakham.

Senator Richland Powell and CDC doctor Cassandra Williams find themselves in a race for not just their own lives but the lives of millions as they attempt to find who has the second bomb. In a city the size of New York, their chances are slim. Powell feels there is a connection between the Anthrax in Astrakham and that in New York but can’t quite prove it. Cassandra feels the connection too, especially since it was her own grandfather who invited the Tranquillity Bomb. His interest in Anthrax flowed down to Cassandra as well as her own father, making them two of the most renown experts in the field. With that, Cassandra knew the two cases were connected. She just had to prove it and find the other bomb before time runs out and the terrorists have a chance to seek their revenge.

This book will scare the heck out of you because it’s possible. It will scare the heck out of you because it’s typical. It will scare the heck out of you because if it happened the people of the US would most likely receive no warning. This book has the making of a great movie! It’s simply so real that you find yourself actually seeing the events as being possible. I really enjoyed this book.

Review Stir, Laugh, Repeat at Amazon.com Stir, Laugh, Repeat (less)

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Feb 20, 2011 TC rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: action-thrillers

I was offered a copy of this book for review, and having looked at a review on Amazon.com thought it sounded like an interesting read. It is a medical thriller, where millions of lives are being threatened by a group of terrorists.

The story opens on an American Air Force base in Turkey, with preparations underway for a bombing run on Astrakhan. However these are not conventional bombs. An under-pressure President, keen for re-election and hoping not to get mired in another unwinnable war, has au...more I was offered a copy of this book for review, and having looked at a review on Amazon.com thought it sounded like an interesting read. It is a medical thriller, where millions of lives are being threatened by a group of terrorists.

The story opens on an American Air Force base in Turkey, with preparations underway for a bombing run on Astrakhan. However these are not conventional bombs. An under-pressure President, keen for re-election and hoping not to get mired in another unwinnable war, has authorised the use of anthrax bombs which are deployed and create devastation. Germ warfare finds it's way to the USA though, as two of these bombs are stolen by terrorists and smuggled into New York.

In the second part of the book the terrorists manage to open one of the bombs, unaware of the contents, and release the spores of anthrax close to Times Square. When an unheard of cluster of cases starts to trickle into local hospitals CDC doctor Cassandra Williams, fresh from investigating the outbreak in Astrakhan, is sent to Manhattan to investigate. Once the terrorists realise they hold a weapon of germ warfare they start to plot the demise of potentially millions of people. In the meantime a secretive group within the US Government is determined to prevent the revelation that the nation has been using such weapons on its enemies.

The third part of the book races to a dramatic climax as Cassandra, working with Senator Richland Powell, attempts to prevent the attack while at the same time preparing for the consequences should they fail.

I found this book a riveting read, from the political machinations to the effects of anthrax on the body and the likely implications of such an attack on a major metropolis. The story is told from a range of viewpoints which allows the author to cover a lot of territory but when moving from one to another it was kept clear whose perspective it was. This is in contrast to some books where it isn't always obvious at the start of a new chapter where you are. The third part of the book really picked up the pace and I found it hard to put down, wanting to find out whether the terrorists would succeed.

I found myself liking Cassandra and Richland but did feel that their characters didn't really come alive for me until the third part of the book. I think with such a range of viewpoints it would have been hard to develop all the characters in great depth but would have liked to know more about them in particular earlier on.

All things considered I really liked this book, it was a worrying glimpse at what could happen if the conventional rules go out the window, without being a complete doomsday scenario that wipes out mankind.(less)

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Feb 27, 2011 Giovanni Gelati rated it 4 of 5 stars

Bombs, terrorists, Presidential elections, and surprises, surprises, surprises await you if you are bold enough to crack the covers on this novel. I love finding quality reading material as the lines begin to blur in what is ”real” publishing and what is not. Joan Meijer went the self-pub route and brings a doozy of a novel that maybe, just maybe was too hot to handle for the big boys to publish. The plotline is serious, the narrative intense, the situation dire. Enough of my rambling, to what i...more
Bombs, terrorists, Presidential elections, and surprises, surprises, surprises await you if you are bold enough to crack the covers on this novel. I love finding quality reading material as the lines begin to blur in what is ”real” publishing and what is not. Joan Meijer went the self-pub route and brings a doozy of a novel that maybe, just maybe was too hot to handle for the big boys to publish. The plotline is serious, the narrative intense, the situation dire. Enough of my rambling, to what is between the covers:
“Tranquillity Initiative is a medical thriller in which President Charles Anderson-in order to put a stop to an endless war with Astrakhan, and to salvage his presidency and bid for reelection-authorizes the Tranquility Initiative, the illegal use of anthrax weaponry.
Two of the bombs are stolen off of the Trabzon Base in Turkey. They are smuggled into New York by Micha Rodan's terrorist group. Seeking explosives for an IED, the terrorists open one of the weapons and find nothing but strips of tin foil. When they dump the foil and the invisible anthrax germs it accompanies outside a building off 42nd Street, the germs are swept into Times Square by a light evening breeze. As the disease unleashes its fury within the city and around the world, and with the terrorists always one step ahead of them, Doctor Cassandra Williams, an anthrax expert from the CDC, and Richland Powell, the junior senator from New York, race frantically to stop Rodan and his men before they can properly deploy their second weapon and bring the city's death toll from hundreds to millions.”

Here is something about the author:
“Joan Meijer is the author of fifteen books including the best selling "MetaFitness: Your Thoughts Taking Shape" - featured on Oprah. Her most recent fiction release is "Tranquillity Initiative" a medical thriller about an anthrax attack on New York City. She had to completely rewrite more than half the book when the twin towers came down since she had selected those buildings as the best buildings in the city from which to deploy an anthrax bomb.
Joan is the former president of The National Emergency Care Advisory Council which worked with the major Networks Program Practices Departments to correctly represent first aid in programming. She is a former New York City Paramedic but she says she's saved more lives as a First Aid Instructor for the American Red Cross. One of the lives she saved was that of a 38 year old student who, as a result of her teaching, recognized that he was having a heart attack even though he was exceptionally fit and young, took himself immediately to the hospital where he went into cardiac arrest as he walked in the door.”
This is different kind of thriller read. It is dark, it is graphic, it is almost a horror story within a thriller. The ride through the novel was quick and took many a turn but I am not going to say anymore so I don’t spoil it. This author is joining us on our The G-Zone blogtalk show Tuesday April 12 at 8pmEST. I have a feeling this is going to be one charged, entertaining conversation.
What are you reading today? Have you checked out our new blogtalk radio show The G-ZONE? Check us out and become our friend on Shelfari, The Novel Spot &Twitter. Go to Goodreads and become our friend there and suggest books for us to read and post on. Did you know you can shop directly on Amazon by clicking the Amazon Banner on our blog? Thanks for stopping by today; We will see you tomorrow. Have a great day. http://www.gelatisscoop.blogspot.com

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Jan 06, 2011 Anastacia Knits rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, medical-examiners, thrillers

This book was a thriller, all right. I do not generally read thrillers (nor do I like to watch them) - those are the types of things that keep me up at night, or give me nightmares, and I already have problems enough sleeping. But the premise of this book caught my eye & I agreed to review the book (I received a copy for free by the author).

I was immediately hooked into the book, and read it in a little less than a week. I could have easily finished faster, but the book is darker than I woul...more

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Jan 17, 2012 Jennifer Walker rated it 4 of 5 stars

Author Joan Meijer has a long history in politics and the medical industry, so it is fitting that she would write medical political thrillers. Tranquillity Initiative is very well thought out, with twists and turns that keep the story interesting. The characters are well developed, although I found some of the dialogue to be unnatural. All in all, a very interesting read for political and medical thriller fans.

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Nov 10, 2010 *Babs* rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Thrillers

Shelves: arc-asked-to-review, thrillers

In this medical thriller we have an anthrax attack on NYC. One of many twists is that this anthrax is american made that was stolen from a military base. Cassandra Williams and Senator Powell try to find the terrorists in time. There are so many twists, that the story keeps you on pins and needles and the ending is remarkable. This is a must read.

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Mar 14, 2011 Lori marked it as to-read

Feb 28, 2011 Steven marked it as to-read

Feb 22, 2011 Antares marked it as to-read

Nov 26, 2010 Joan Meijer added it

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