Lost Frequency

Barry Swanson has written a taut, suspenseful thriller about an international race to discover a communication tool to translate a Lost Frequency into a language. How will such a tool be used by the victor in this race? Will it sustain good or diabolical purposes? Clues to this discovery lay with pods of whales. Have you ever wanted to talk with whales? Think of what we can learn from each other. Wisdom of the ages, shared. Will the human race thrive from what they learn, or struggle to survive as they use it against each other? And what is the fate of the whales.

A Puget Sound family’s legacy moves to a new generation when David Parker takes the reins. He uses a different approach as he begins covert work researching whale pods and their behavior. This is a perspective that hasn’t been tried before. His technology company team believes it can find the way to decipher and propel this promising advance for humankind. But can their solutions be stolen? And are they even on the right track? If successful, can humankind cooperate and collaborate in its use? As David Parker’s worthy opponent believes, “This is not the way that people interested only in power and influence think. For them, it is zero-sum. Power cannot be split. Power must always end up on one side. That’s the way the game is won.” The people in power are playing this game to win.

The mystery deepens as to just what the tech team is actually solving for. In the meantime foreign spies are infiltrating, stealing secrets, and eliminating anyone who gets in their way. “You are Prometheus, Mr. Parker . . . . Stealing fire from the gods to give to us mortals. Let us hope we do not burn ourselves.” The greatest threat is to David Parker and his family, and that is not something he had bargained for.

The explanation of the research in process is thought provoking. The work is clearly presented by such interesting characters, each with their own deeply held motives and reasons for participating. The descriptions of the whales’ grandeur, beauty, intellect, and lives are heartfelt and inspiring.

The author is a marine naturalist, a steward of the environment, and a singer/songwriter. Barry Swanson lives with his family in the Pacific Northwest on the beautiful Salish Sea. Prepare yourself for an intense thriller. Throughout this adventure, the author’s respect for the worldwide work of researchers, scientists, and for the marine mammals that populate our waters breaches the pages.