Customer Reviews

Peabody's Prognosis

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Good novels are written by authors who know their subjects. Dr. Freeman Hall, a very popular docent in San Luis Obispo County, CA State Parks, and at the Morro Bay CA Museum of Natural History, is known locally as the ultimate authority on meteorology, and science in general. This book is entertaining and enlightening - perhaps it incorporates an element of autobiography, or perhaps it is just Freeman's fantasy at work. The choice of 14 point fonts makes is it easy for older eyes to absorb. Peabody's Prognosis relates how a fascination with extreme weather and water spouts leads a young U.S. Navy officer, Delbert Peabody, to resign his commission and become a college professor. He loves his shipboard tasks but sees the arbitrary assignment to sea duty as a threat to his marriage. He accepts an appointment at a community college in Sweetwater, Texas so he can investigate how a tornado could have occurred there early in the morning in 1986 when the atmosphere is usually stable. His beautiful if somewhat bipolar wife, Genevra, hates their life in "Hicksville." This leads to the obligatory steamy romances and relationships that every novel requires. When a new dam is proposed south of town, Peabody opposes its construction, fearing that the warm reservoir may intensify Sweetwater storms. Eventually, a twisters sweeps across a new Sweetwater Reservoir, intensifying, then merging into an F5 tornado. A giant explosion triggered by the storm wreaks even more havoc. The aftermath of the storm changes the lives of the characters forever. This book will sell up a storm in the meteorology community for sure! See freeman.morro-bay.com for more information on this unique book.