Toxic Soup by RR Rowley

Toxic waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation has been poisoning the environment, human beings, and wildlife for more than six decades. When her brother dies a horrible death at Hanford, Casey Long, a kayaker and windsurfer by day and bartender by night in the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon/Washington, swears to put an end to the upriver contamination. But how can she possibly take on the entrenched fortress of a facility?

After she confides in Little Bear, a bitter Native American fisherman, they contrive a dangerous plan. Joined by a peculiar mishmash of collaborators, they risk everything to save the environment and achieve justice for all injured parties, past and present.

RR Rowley recently spent some time with The Big Thrill discussing his latest thriller, TOXIC SOUP:

Which took shape first: plot, character, or setting?

The setting, then plot.

RR Rowley

What attracts you to this book’s genre?

In TOXIC SOUP, the genre allows me to show how Casey’s decisions reveal how darkness can influence morality, highlighting the suspense of her journey.

What was the biggest challenge this book presented? What about the biggest opportunity?

The biggest opportunity was to rage my distaste of nuclear waste.

Was there anything new you discovered, or that surprised you, as you wrote this book?

I discovered the number of failures involved with containment of nuclear waste—the dereliction of duty by the DOE.

What authors or books have influenced your career as a writer, and why?

Martin Cruz Smith, Tana French, Lee Child.

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RR Rowley has lived coast to coast in the USA, in London, UK, and has spent many years on his farm in Grenada, West Indies. He has owned and operated several companies and was involved in start-ups. Currently, he resides in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State.

To learn more about the author and his work, please visit his website.