For decades Californians have ignored the threat of The Big One, but how horrific can it be? THRUST FAULT paints a picture of a worst-case scenario Californians face when two major earthquakes destroy its fragile levee system: Hundreds of Californians die and millions more are left to fend for themselves, besieged by water-borne illness, thousands of impassable roads, overwhelmed hospitals, and the onset of an economic dilemma that threatens the world economy. One family, led by patriarch Noah Huntsman, has prepared for such a dilemma, but must also contend with hostile neighbors, price-gouging proprietors, wilding youth, the violent and the desperate. Noah and his family and friends are forced to go on the road after his house is torched by hostile neighbors. All the while the state's residents suffer at the hands of an overmatched, cowardly Governor. It takes the intervention of the head of the state's Department of Water Resources to right the ship. Thrust into a leadership role and backed by a millionaire benefactor, the young DWR Director assembles private industry and federal resources to assist residents, repair infrastructure and maintain law and order in a frenzied effort to bring normalcy back to the once Golden State.