From 24 to 28 January 2000, the NSA supercomputer failed. What happened was only the beginning . . . On 30 January, under the heading 'NSA System Inoperative for Four Days', Walter Pinkus wrote the following in the 'Washington Post': "From the evening of 24 January through early 28 January 2000, 'the main computers of the National Security Agency failed, causing an unprecedented blackout of information, ' officials said on 29 January". The cause of this mysterious event has never been revealed. What may have happened during these four days forms the genesis for this thriller. An 86-year-old scientist is brutally murdered in Plattsburgh, NY. During the investigation, FBI Agent Young asks the obvious question: What was it that he knew that was so important? Agent Young meets with a retired scientist who is in hiding. He is the sole survivor of the team of four scientists who worked on a top secret military project. One question remains unanswered: Why is their project so heavily classified that no one in the FBI or NSA can learn the nature of their work more than forty years later? 'The Entity' is a highly original techno-thriller. The fast-paced action takes the story to Paris, London, Sicily, Washington DC, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles and the deserts of New Mexico and Nevada.
About the Author: Norman Harrison was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, where he taught high school biology and chemistry for two years before joining the Navy to 'see the world'. During his twenty-six years as a US Navy aviator, he flew to forty-three countries, lived in six and for many years flew missions to and from aircraft carriers at sea. Harrison earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Texas, Arlington, a Master of Arts degree from Michigan State University, and a Master of Science from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. He currently is an associate professor of aeronautics for Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, European region. The concept for 'The Entity' evolved from one of the courses he teaches: Human Factors in Aviation. Basic premise: seventy-five percent of all aircraft accidents are caused by human error. To eliminate human error, we must eliminate the human . . . Harrision began work on 'The Entity' while living in Fontana Vecchia, a 350-year-old villa in Taormina, Sicily, formerly the home to two internationally famous writers, D.H. Lawrence and Truman Capote. He continues to live in Taormina. His second novel, 'Tarnished Wings', will be published in early 2013.