Urumqi

About the Book

While working at the Chinese National Observatory in the frontier city of Urumqi, American astrophysicist Dr. Luca Barnes makes the find of a lifetime when he discovers the asteroid of our nightmares that will arrive in twenty years. He and his Chinese host, Dr. Zhao Lin, collaborate and present their findings to the Chinese government, after which Lin disappears and Barnes finds Chinese authorities on his trail. Barnes escapes to America, where he hopes to reveal his findings to his own government, so a plan to destroy or divert this massive object can be developed. But he runs headlong into today’s America, where rivalries have grown severe and his very own brother betrays him. As the years pass and his efforts are thwarted, Barnes learns the painful lesson that it is not the calamity we fear that will be our undoing, but rather our response to it. Urumqi is the journey of one man who learns his limits and, sadly, the limits of those he holds most dear.

About the Author

Ken is a writer living in the twin cities of Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota. A native of Galesburg, Illinois, he has lived in Minnesota since 1966. He attended the University of Minnesota, obtaining a BA in Child Development. After a varied career ranging from social services, law enforcement, investigator, actor, playwright, and poet, he proudly adds novelist to the list. Urumqi is his latest work. You can find more at www.kenvarnold.net.