The Testing Ground - The Journey

by Sargent Thurber Reynolds, Louis Evan Grivetti

Overview

The Testing Ground trilogy (Volume 2 – The Journey) traces the cross-continental trek of Travis and Reese Saunders, survivors of a virulent virus accidently introduced by Asiatic explorers that destroyed human life in what once had been the northwestern sector of the American continent. The couple leaves their home in the Big Hole Valley to search for survivors. On horseback, river passage, and on foot they make their way across the continent following the headwaters of the Missouri River to the junction with the Mississippi River and the ruins of former St. Louis. Along the route they encounter small groups of survivors who relate stories of survival hardships and challenges, – accounts that illustrate human dignity in the face of terrible ecological and health-related disasters. They pass through communities where the virus eliminated most of the population, leaving hard-working survivors who adjusted and worked together for the recovery of their communities. In other locations they met with community groups basically unharmed by the virus. While traveling eastward along the Ohio River, they encounter a destruction zone where militant bands engaged in forced religious conversion continue to be battled. They travel on through the mountainous terrain of west and east Virginia and ultimately reach the ruins of Washington, DC, where madness reigned during the Ripple and Dark Time, leaving the once-proud city a nuclear wasteland. Traveling on to former New York City they encounter evidence of a French-backed invasion of North America and assist American militias by scouting and carrying messages to Americans guarding the border with former Canada, Continuing their journey Travis and Reese explore survivor communities in the former American southeast. What they observe, learn, and experience during The Journey, ultimately forces a decision to return to their previous home in the Big Hole Valley. Upon reaching their destination, the travelers are confronted with an unexpected reality: extraterrestrial inhabitants have settled in northwestern North America and humans are not the only bipeds that occupy The Testing Ground.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940156876136
Publisher:	EditPros LLC
Publication date:	10/31/2016
Series:	The Testing Ground , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	460
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Louis Evan Grivetti is a professor emeritus in the Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis (UC Davis). He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in paleontology at UC Berkeley (thesis: Intertidal Foraminifera of the Farallon Islands), and his Ph.D. in geography at UC Davis (dissertation: Dietary Resources and Social Aspects of Food Use in a Tswana Tribe). His academic research specializations have included cultural and historical geography, domestication of plants and animals; food history; and wild plant use during drought and civil unrest/war – with implications for health and nutritional status.
Sargent Thurber Reynolds is a retired technician for Valley Toxicology, and exploration geologist and consultant with Reynolds, Bain and Reynolds, and Tri-Valley Oil & Gas Co. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology at UC Berkeley (thesis: Geology of the North Half Bannack Quadrangle, Beaverhead County, Montana), with a secondary credential at National University. He is an ardent angler, past president of the Fly Fishers of Davis, Calif., and past president of the Northern California Council Federation of Fly Fishers.
Both authors have lived and worked extensively within the western, central, eastern, and southern regions of North America, and have lived, traveled, or worked in the Middle East. The Testing Ground volumes constitute their initial literary collaboration.