It's not just a page-turner, it's a head-turner. It's Dan Brown meets Al Gore. You can't stop reading and once you're done, you can't stop thinking about its messages. A book that bookstore employees will hand-sell to customers and those customers will then insist their friends read. --Dale Dauten, King Features
More frightening than any vision of our future, Mark Nykanen's Primitive depicts the reality of the here and now. A timely and stunning vision of what happens when true-believers clash, catching innocents in the middle. --Ed Stackler, editor of New York Times-bestselling authors Greg Iles, Ridley Pearson, Ted Dekker, and others.<
Primitive captures the raw and rugged high alpine environment, a powerful, emblematic setting for this furiously-paced thriller about a mother and daughter, and the radical environmentalists who want to use them to deliver a desperate message to the world. -- --Christopher Van Tilburg, author of Mountain Rescue Doctor
A neo-primitive cult, possessing secret government documents filled with terrifying information about global warming, kidnaps a famous fashion model and holds her hostage, forcing her to act as their spokesperson. As time runs out, her estranged daughter allies with a dangerous activist group to rescue her, while battling dark agendas from the government and Big Oil.
From the International Thriller Writers' Interview With Author Mark Nykanen
By Cym Lowell |
Thrillers includes a wide range sub-genres. Primitive, by Mark Nykane, explores the world of environmental terrorism. Mark flourished in his career as an on-camera investigative correspondent for NBC, often toiling in undercover assignments, and winning four Emmys and an Edgar for his achievements. He learned the world of environmental threats firsthand.
In Primitive, Sonya Adams, a maturing model, is kidnapped by a neo-primitive cult sequestered in the remote beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Cult members call their compound Terra Firma, and want to draw attention to their doomsday environmental message, which is based on a terrifying government document that they've obtained. They want to use Sonya as their spokeswoman in podcasts, assuming that her beauty and presence will enhance their chilling message.
Surrounded by majestic mountains and picturesque forests, Sonya is outraged by what is done to her, and fights for her life against her kidnappers. But she also faces dangers unknown to her from big energy companies and the government, which collude to try to silence her along with her kidnappers. The heroine's only hope might be her estranged daughter, Darcy, who is determined to rescue her mother, requiring a hunt akin to tracking down Islamic militants. But Darcy, in turn, is stalked by a ruthless bounty hunter, Johnny Bracer, who plans on following the young woman to her mother so he can claim a huge reward.
We asked Mark a few questions about himself and his writing:
If you were stranded on a desert island, what one book would you like to have with you and why?
I would want the latest, most definitive history of the world, hopefully heavy in natural science and cosmology. Why? Because I could learn while I am stranded.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what one character from your book would you like to keep you company and why?
I would choose Darcy because she has a spirit much like my own: curious, a fighter, relentless. I know your readers will think it must be sexual attraction. Truly, that's not the case..
That said, Darcy is an attractive young woman. [Editor: h-m-m]
Who is your favorite thriller character in the genre?
I know it's always diplomatic to point to the characters created by other authors when you're asked this question, but the blunt truth is that my favorite characters are the ones who have come to life for me and changed me as much as they've changed one another on the page. So with that in mind, I'd have to say that my favorite characters are Sonya and Darcy in Primitive, because they have such a conflict-ridden relationship, yet they're both profoundly affected by the deep feelings that they hold for each other - and by the tumultuous events that quickly overtake them. But I also love Ashley Stassler and Diamond Girl in The Bone Parade. Again, it's probably the relationship between the two of them that captivates me most. They are both extraordinarily willful characters who come up against each other continually. Diamond Girl utterly shocked me - and readers, too, I should add - time and again.
