GOLETA, Calif., Nov. 5, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Nail-biting and death-defying scenarios, an explosive depiction of nature's wrath, explicit descriptions of pain and suffering -- all of these are packed in C.M.F. Kosai's historical-fictional narrative entitled "Surviving" (now available through 1stBooks Library). A disaster novel of great proportions, "Surviving" recounts the intriguing escape of an ill-fated prisoner, and how this unexpected turn of events drastically changes his life, his destiny and the destinies of those around him.
"Surviving" commences with the eruption of Mont Pelee, a killer volcano, on May 8, 1902. This catastrophe destroyed the entire city lying at its feet, St. Pierre. This beautiful city, called the "Jewel of the Caribbean," was on the leeside of the Island of flowers, Martinique.
The city vanishes in piles of rubble and debris. Rocks, some small, many large, land in Fort-de-France, the Capital city some miles away. The hot flow from the volcano drives out poisonous snakes and insects. The rushing fluid brings devastation on the usually sheltered, crescent beach that forms the cities' harbor. Boats capsize and burn. Rum, stored by distilleries lining the quay, explode. People are exterminated; they lay where the hot gases caught up with them, clothes burned directly off their bodies. Trees blow over in the hot torrents of wind. Giant sculptures are moved from their pedestals. Buildings crumble. Steel melts. Fires flare up to catch anything they can to contribute to the cruelty and desolation. And one man, his name Louis Ciparis, a prisoner in solitary confinement, escapes -- burned, but alive.
"Surviving" is a classic example of how mysterious God's ways are. It also echoes the reality that there is always a good and a bad side to every man, that nobody is completely evil or totally a saint.
C.M.F. Kosai now lives in the comfort and beauty of Southern California, near Santa Barbara. This author has written for newspapers and magazines. Over the years, C.M.F. Kosai lived and moved from one place to another: from Spokane, Wash.; to Pasadena, Calif.; to Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.; and back to California.
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