On Nov. 8, four representatives of Tech’s Office of Government and Community Relations (GCR) gathered to educate students and faculty about the connections between Tech and the world around it.

The representatives focused on delineating the role GCR plays in the interactions between Tech and the outside world. According to Dene Sheheane, GCR’s vice president, the office is “focused on enhancing Georgia Tech’s reputation and image.” Sheheane described the office as a “three-legged stool,” referring to the Community, State, and Federal Relations branches which respectively work with the City of Atlanta, the state government and the federal government.

Chris Burke, GCR’s Community Relations Director, explained that his branch “engage[s] at the community level,” with efforts falling into two primary categories: business engagement, which involves working with businesses to encourage them to incorporate talented students and faculty in  internships, co-ops and research initiatives; and community outreach, which involves promotion of Tech and STEM education in various Atlanta communities.

Burke said that the Institute is often “the carrot to lure businesses into the city.” As a result, Burke elaborated, Atlanta leaders view Tech as a valuable economic asset to the city.

While discussing GCR’s community outreach, Burke explained that “we are a public university, and we have a public responsibility.” Burke noted that his office has “a great interest in K-12 education,” especially in the popularization of STEM fields, leading Tech to host a variety of summer camps and visits for young students.

Casey Aultman, GCR’s Legislative Advocacy Manager, represented the State Relations division, explaining that her branch works closely with the governor’s office, the Georgia General Assembly and the Board of Regents to advance Tech’s interests at the state level. Citing several past successes, Aultman highlighted Governor Nathan Deal’s recent veto of House Bill 859, often referred to as the “campus carry bill,” which faced opposition from many in the Tech community, and the continued existence and success of the HOPE Scholarship.

Finally, Robert Knotts, the Federal Relations director for GCR, highlighted his branch’s efforts at improving Tech’s relationship with the federal government.

Knotts explained that his division “bring[s] national figures to campus” in an effort to improve awareness of Tech and its role as one of the nation’s leading research universities. Knotts also highlighted his branch’s sponsorship of the Federal Jackets Fellowship, which gives students the opportunity to intern in a federal office in Washington, D.C.

Additionally, Knott’s office sponsors a Thought Leadership Roundtable series in Washington, D.C., which has helped to advance national discussion of such topics as women in engineering and African Americans in engineering.

Vice President Sheheane emphasized that his office is “the front door to the institution,” and that GCR will continue with its efforts at improving Tech’s local and national reputation to ensure that the Institute remains a nationally recognized and well integrated part of the world around it.

Josh Pastner is ridiculous. Ridiculous in the way that he finished the 120 credit hours required for his University of Arizona bachelor’s degree in five semesters, including a particularly trying term with 33 credits. Ridiculous in the way he finished his master’s a year later. Just ridiculous enough in that, if his keynote at an Alumni Association event last week is an indicator, he could provide energy Tech basketball desperately needs.

Even as a high school student, Pastner knew he was going to be a coach. When he was applying to college and looking for a spot on the basketball team, it was not to become a full time player; it was to become a student coach.

This first step led him to the University of Arizona where he was a part of 1997 NCAA Champion team. Two years later, he was named an assistant coach. From there, he moved to Memphis a few seasons later under Kentucky’s current coach, John Calipari.

After Calipari accepted the job at Kentucky, all of his assistants were set to follow him, including Pastner. On his way to Lexington, Pastner received a call from the Memphis athletic director asking him to come to his house.

When he arrived at the AD’s house in a t-shirt and shorts, Pastner was offered the head coaching position. Although shocked by the opportunity, Pastner accepted and began his head coaching career.

It is important to note that while Pastner didn’t necessarily live up to expectations at Memphis in terms of his teams’ play, he did live up to them in terms of recruiting. Recruiting is one of the biggest problems Tech has dealt with in recent years is finding talented players in high schools nationwide, and Pastner has already begun to develop a solution.

As evident in his extreme dedication to his degree, Pastner believes the education athletes receive is integral to their time at a school. To some recruits, Tech’s relatively rigorous academic curriculum is a deterrent, an obstacle to quickly achieved stardom.     Pastner believes it can instead be an asset.

Convincing players that coming to Tech will convince NBA scouts not only of their playing ability but also their maturity, Pastner has a clear plan. It may be a while for Tech to achieve the success it once enjoyed in the Bobby Cremins era, but Pastner leaves the Jackets optimistic.

Teegan Van Gunst is an unquestioned leader of the volleyball team. A senior in Mechanical Engineering with twin sister Annika, she leads the team in kills.

Technique: How did it feel to be selected as a candidate for the 2016 Senior CLASS award, [which is presented to senior student-athletes nationwide]?

Van Gunst: It was kind of a surprise, but it’s definitely an honor that I didn’t think much about. It’s really cool to be included in that group of people to represent what we do here at Georgia Tech.

Technique: How difficult is it to balance rigorous academics while simultaneously playing volleyball at a high level?

Van Gunst: It can be difficult at times … a lot of late nights, especially around midterms, but it’s just a grind that we love honestly. We know it’s hard, but … I don’t think we ever get used to it.

Technique: You attended the United States National Team’s open practice. What was that experience like?

Van Gunst: It was definitely cool, especially hearing from coach [Karch] Kiraly, who is pretty much a legend of both the beach and indoor, so definitely cool being in the gym with that kind of prestige.

Technique: How long have you been playing volleyball, and what made you start playing?

Van Gunst: I started playing in the seventh grade … and pretty much because my PE teachers saw that we — me and my twin sister, [Annika,] — were tall, and they were like, “You should try out for the volleyball team,” and we were like, “I don’t even know what a volleyball is, but sure.” We had no clue what volleyball was going into it, but we love sports. We were soccer before that. … We’ve been playing since then.

Technique: What is it like to compete alongside your twin sister, Annika?

Van Gunst: Really cool. I don’t know too much about not playing with her because we’ve been always playing together. It’s definitely cool to have someone on the court that you know so well and is with you all the time.

Technique: Are there any schools you particularly look forward to competing against in the next few weeks?

Van Gunst: I’m looking forward to the rematch with Pitt this Sunday. We played them earlier in the season — I think it was our first ACC match of the season at Pitt — and we didn’t play as well as we could have, and they played very well.

I’m looking forward to that rematch … getting even with them. … We haven’t played Florida State yet, and I’m also looking forward to UNC because we lost to them the first time. I would say that every game from here on out is a huge game for us, but I would say those three are the highlights.

Technique: What are your long-term career plans? What’s next for you after you stop playing volleyball?

Van Gunst: Geez, hopefully that won’t be till another few more years because I want to continue playing. … Outside of school, I want to … play professionally. Those leagues are typically in Europe or South America. There’s not a U.S., league, so I’d go overseas for that.

Either that, or I’d stay [at Tech] for a fifth year and start my masters’ and play beach [volleyball] and transition to the beach game.

Technique: Last year, you beat Monique Mead’s single season number of kills with 471 kills, and you averaged 3.92 kills per set. Right now, you’re at 369 kills, and you’re averaging 4.24 kills per set. Are you focused on surpassing your stats from last season, or do you have another goal in mind?

Van Gunst: Obviously, I want to do better than I did last season. … You always want to be getting better and growing in your game. Monique was an awesome player here — a four-year All-American — so I guess being in the same conversation with her and upping the numbers that she was at is definitely awesome, but … we want to win. We haven’t been to the NCAA tournament for a good number of years, and that’s honestly my number one goal.

Technique: How do you feel about the odds of reaching the NCAA tournament?

Van Gunst: I think our odds are good if we keep playing the way we’ve been playing. We’re excited, but we also are staying hungry because we still have eight regular season games left.

That’s a lot of room for things to change. … [We’re] just focusing on one game at a time. If we continue on the path that we’re on and keep working hard in the gym and playing with the confidence that we’ve been playing with … especially over the last few weeks, … we’re looking to upset some people once the tournament starts.

Technique: What would you tell Tech fans about the rest of the volleyball season?

Van Gunst: Everyone should come out to our games. This weekend and two weekends from now. … Senior night is on [Nov. 20] — Notre Dame and Louisville.

Can our country maintain a union of two increasingly distanced wings of thought? Now more than ever before it seems that the climate of hate within the United States has reached a tempered boil, and it is unclear whether the gas can be turned off at this point.

Regular citizens hate their countrymen simply for having a differing viewpoint on political issues. Need convincing? Look at any number of videos from this election cycle’s political rallies and events. While it might be easy to spot the blatant animosity and crudely-directed anger coming from those in the Trump camp, a close examination of Clinton’s leal supporters will reveal a horrific wall — nay, a sheer cliff of contempt accompanied by a torrential downpour of condescension for those they disagree with.

Why has political discourse devolved to this level? It is easy to diagnose it as yet another symptom of America’s lack of greatness in this particular day and age. But the difficulty of actually debating the root causes of this or any other issue is unbelievable.

No one listens to well-crafted arguments anymore. There is no respect for facts or rhetoric of the like that William F. Buckley sold on “Firing Line” for so many years. Indeed, it is a great tragedy that we have lost his measured hand in our approach to discussion today. For those unfamiliar, the approach was best summarized by Weekly Standard Editor William Kristol, who said, “Buckley really believes that in order to convince, you have to debate and not just preach, which of course means risking the possibility that someone will beat you in debate.”

Today, there is nothing but preaching. Even the presidential debates — routinely blown out of proportion as some great and final decider in the selection of candidates — are simply some arbitrary length of time which has been allotted for the sole purpose of holding a bonafide alpha-talking contest between two individuals with nothing new or interesting to say.

It is worth noting that it does not need to remain like this forever. But, if current trends continue — and there seems no reason to suspect they might not — the process will only delve deeper into the rank catacombs of facade appeal. Even a surprise Trump win next Tuesday would do nothing to change the course we are on; his entire persona revolves around a hyperbolic image without substance.

In fact, perhaps it could be said that a Trump presidency would serve as a lesson to all those who were so eager to watch him stumble his way into our political system. Even if he falls short, the trail he has blazed should be a fair course to slake the thirsts of all those out there who cannot be bothered with engaging in real, practiced discourse with those with whom their views might differ.

“No, don’t wear that. Red doesn’t look good on dark skinned people,” he said to my roommate while discussing Halloween costumes. My jaw  dropped. I was flummoxed, although I should not have been.

Growing up as a South Indian girl with chocolate skin, I’d seen and heard all of the clichéd things that were said to dark complexioned Indians. From commercials selling skin bleaching products like Fair and Lovely to the fake concern from aunties at dinner parties telling me, “You shouldn’t go outside when the sun is shining so bright outside,” looking down upon those with a darker complexion is deeply ingrained within the Indian culture. Although no one should be sun bathing at 3 p.m. on a sultry July day, children should not have to worry about maintaining a fair complexion over getting a hearty dose of Vitamin D.

While all genders face this scrutiny, Indian women are more often targeted, as the culture, like most cultures, considers women to first and foremost be objects of beauty. As a result, the emphasis that is placed on the quest to be a fair maiden is just unhealthy. This is blatantly seen in Indian media. Growing up, I cannot recall seeing a heroine of an Indian movie ever being close to my skin tone. I asked a few people if they could mention any Indian actresses with a deep complexion, and the first name mentioned was Kajol. But when I looked at pictures of  her, she might be dark by Bollywood standards, but by no means is her skin tone representative for the millions of people who fall in the darker end of the 50 shades of brown that comprise the Indian population.

When only one kind of woman is idealized, it makes sense that droves of women strive to attain this “beauty.” A 2010 BBC News article read, “… the Indian whitening cream market is expanding at a rate of nearly 18% a year.” Many dermatologists have spoken out against such products mentioning that the practice of skin bleaching has consequences. Another way to achieve this perception of fairness, is by buying makeup that is lighter than one’s skin tone. The physical side effects of this method are nearly harmless, but it takes just as much of a toll on one’s self-esteem.

I called out the guy sitting in my living room, but he was unable to understand that the color red did not belong to lighter skin tones and was adamant that people of darker skin should not venture into wearing certain colors. I was initially appalled at his narrow perception, but I’ve come to realize now, that these targeted “beauty” efforts in the Indian culture play a larger role in not just the way women perceive themselves but in the way others also treat and perceive darker skinned women. It by no means excuses his statement, but brings to light that women of darker complexions need better representation.

The Yellow Jacket Marching Band — or, to me, just “the band” — is one of the oldest organizations on campus. It was founded in 1908, predating the Ramblin’ Reck Club, homecoming festivities and the RAT cap tradition. The band is an ever-present organization at athletic events, providing music to football, basketball and volleyball games throughout the fall.

Even more importantly, the band is one of the oldest tradition-keeping bodies on campus. If you take a look inside the Couch building, located in the center of West Campus housing, you will find a number of items of historical importance not just to the band but to Tech traditions in general. In the rehearsal hall hangs a goalpost. In the trophy case are a number of RAT caps, old uniforms and Tech memorabilia.

The band also maintains an active role in preserving some of Tech’s oldest and proudest traditions, while the administration itself remains largely apathetic — or, in some cases, tries to alter traditions from their historical meaning. Take the RAT cap or even the acronym: RAT. RAT stands for “Recruit at Tech.” It has stood for “Recruit at Tech” since it was introduced as a way to refer to first-year students; the band still actively maintains that it stands for “Recruit at Tech.”

Yet, if you have attended FASET in the past few years, you have likely heard a different acronym: RATS, for “Recently Acquired Tech Student.” Not only is this acronym grammatically incorrect (a singular student is not a RATS; the cap is not a RATS cap), it breaks from the historical definition with no real justification. I have also heard the acronym “Recently Acquired Techie,” which, while maintaining the original acronym, is somehow more patronizing than RATS.

It is extremely rare to find a band member with an incorrectly filled-out RAT cap. It is extremely common to find a RAT with an incorrectly filled-out RAT cap or even a cap that hasn’t been touched since convocation. The tradition of wearing and filling out RAT caps has almost entirely disappeared from campus, even in the SWARM block during football games.

I would expect most students to know the words to “I’m a Ramblin’ Wreck.” I would expect slightly fewer to know “Up with the White and Gold.” I doubt many know the words to “To Hell with Georgia.” I’ve seen students wear Georgia ball caps in class before. I sometimes feel that some students may not hate u[sic]ga at all. Clean, old-fashioned hatred for the University of Georgia is one of the oldest and strongest traditions on campus, and even it is
dying out.

Traditions in the band serve to assist new members in feeling included in the organization. The band has many traditions which are common to the entire group, with the individual sections carrying their own traditions unique to their instrument. Some band members have compared the band to a large frat, with good reason. The traditions of the school combined with the specific traditions of the band help create a sense of belonging by bringing new members into the culture of the band, creating connections between them, their section and their bandmates.

Traditions help to create a student body that is unified by a basic common culture. Their existence helps create connections among a diverse body of students by providing a starting point for interactions between students. For a campus community seeking to bridge gaps in its student populations, traditions are more important than ever, but instead of being emphasized, they seem to be in danger of dying out.

As a senior, I am allowed to feel a little nostalgic about my time here at Tech.

I will be the first to admit that I have complained, whined and gotten upset at Tech multitudes of times. My irritation has ranged from the construction, like the awful and dangerous intersection at Ferst and Hemphill and the Atlantic Drive renovation, to the curriculum and even the lack of holidays in the Spring semester. Recently, I realized, that while there may be a lot to lament about, I have taken a lot for granted.

A few weeks ago, I was asked how I would feel about Tech’s rankings. Of course, my response was that I would be unbothered unless there was a dramatic drop. Looking back, I would change my answer — specifically the unbothered part. The fact that Tech is ranked so high affords us so many opportunities. I never have to explain my school because Tech is quite well-known. Recruiters flock to our career fair. Even the funding we get from industry and other sponsors is due to our outstanding performance.

As an electrical engineering major, I have a communication requirement. This probably seems to have little bearing on this topic, but interestingly, the benefits of this requirement are not that common among technical programs. I was obligated to take a course, the end result of which was a well-written resume, a technical presentation and a technical paper.

Our communications department in ECE also takes every opportunity to give us resume advice and professional tips. Sitting through a resume workshop for my GT 1000 class a few weeks ago and hearing the spiel for the millionth time was boring to me and other team leaders. What I didn’t realize was that the professional etiquette, the pristine resume, the career fair tips are so ingrained in me that I don’t question it, and I assume it is common knowledge. Spoiler: it is not.

When I was planning my four years as an electrical engineer in freshman year, after hearing the advisors and upperclassmen, I knew I was going to do summer internships. It was a given. I never contemplated that I may not get an offer or that I would never get hired. Some of my friends at other universities have not had the same luxury, and job prospects are much harder to come by when hundreds of companies are not lined up at the door to snatch up students from your school.

I would say the average intelligence at Tech is quite higher than the norm — we are after all one of the best tech schools in the country. This also leads to a higher level of thought that permeates through the student body. The education mixed with the fact that a great number of us are nerdy in our own way fosters an unique bubble of conversation and a twist on our perspective.

That is not to say we Tech students spend all our hours outside of class contemplating the world and engineering solutions — although some do, and I admire you. Everyone, from the Computer Science majors to the Architecture majors, is passionate about something. Be it the work we do or our hobbies, we get to meet people with interests, cultures and ideas that are so varied and may even oppose our own. Nevertheless, it is an atmosphere that I miss when I am at home for weeks during winter break, and it is something I am not sure I will ever encounter in such great a magnitude again.

This place has changed me, mostly for the better. Although I definitely did not enjoy the experiences of spending 12 hours on a diode lab or finishing a paper in an airport, I still would not want to change them. It is definitely an accomplishment to get through four — or five plus — years here, one wrought with blood, sweat, a lot of tears and very little sleep. Tech is hard and definitely gives us enough to complain about, but I will certainly be proud to graduate in May.

Despite minimal media coverage (and even less positive media coverage) Gary Johnson, the Libertarian presidential nominee, is currently polling between five and seven percent, which is tremendous for a third party. He and his running mate, Bill Weld, make up more executive experience than all the other presidential tickets combined, serving as two term Republican governors in the heavily Democratic states of New Mexico and Massachusetts.

Receiving even less media coverage is Allen Buckley, the Libertarian nominee for Senate. Yet, he is polling at around 11 percent among Georgia voters due in most part to his strong grasp on tax policy.

There is a myth that if you vote for someone who cannot win, you are wasting your vote. That is especially untrue this election. If you want to see more voices on the stage, getting the Libertarian party to five percent of the popular vote will allow it to compete legitimately in future elections.

Whether like me — a Libertarian and Johnson supporter from the time he declared his candidacy — or someone fed up with the current parties, it is not enough to know that there’s someone experienced who isn’t Trump or Clinton. Knowing where Libertarians stand on the issues is essential to aid in a decision to submit the least wasted vote possible.

Of all the candidates in this race, the person Johnson sides with most is Bernie Sanders. They both are socially tolerant to the hilt. Libertarians believe that individuals should be able to make whatever choice they want as long as it does not adversely affect others, this includes supporting a woman’s right to choose and marriage equality. In fact, the Libertarian Party had marriage equality written into its platform upon its founding in 1972, far before either of the other larger parties did. Ending the the war on drugs would also serve to open up the freedom to use the relatively tame substance of marijuana, overcoming an unjust racial disparity in arrests due to drugs, and discontinuing the United States’ title of having the largest incarceration rate in the world.

Libertarians and Bernie agree on everything from social issues to foreign policy, but they begin to diverge on economic issues. They both want to address the fact that crony capitalism is able to manipulate the government, but seek to handle it in different manners. For Johnson and Buckley, it is all about fiscal responsibility.

There is a misconception that Libertarians are pro-business, but there is a difference between being pro-free market and pro-business. Under the pro-free market mantra, government cannot be bought and should instead play a role in ensuring that markets remain competitive. But, that is not happening now. Now companies are able to push for regulation and tax exemptions that allow them to increase their dominance while decreasing competition. Through limiting the effects of lobbying and passing regulations that do not stifle the abilities of smaller competitors, Johnson and Buckley can move towards more income equality without breaking the bank.

And breaking the bank is a large issue. The national debt is a problem, one that we do not want to address, but one that needs to be addressed. If the debt continues to balloon eventually the government will be unable to pay back bond holders, decreasing the value of a U.S. Bond, and forcing the government to cut back on spending overnight. It has already started. In 2011 the federal government received its first negative rating by a prominent credit union causing the debt to downgrade from a AAA rating to a AA+ and since then, in some cases, it has been dropped to an A-. Instead of allowing the balloon to continue to inflate and burst, we should gradually curb the debt, and this is where Allen Buckley shines. Johnson and Buckley are the only candidates on the Georgia ballot that will decrease spending to ensure a sustainable government, and that comes by making warranted cuts everywhere including the military.

There is a reason why Johnson is leading over both Trump and Clinton among the active military. They see the government’s use of the most powerful military in the world as somewhat unjustified. The U.S. has gotten the infamous stereotype as the “world police,” due to the way we have involved ourselves in foreign issues, and the outcome is not warranted. Let us take ISIL as an example. Involving ourselves in regime change in the Middle East has entailed bringing arms into the region and using our war machine to try to stabilize it. But we are not fighting a war of industry like we were in WWII. The conflict only serves to build resentment that translates to recruitment for terrorist groups. Instead of performing drone strikes as was the foreign policy of Clinton or “bombing the s*** out of them” as Trump proposes, we should contain ISIL and let it fizzle out as we lower resentment by showing Syria that we want to work with them through trade and diplomacy rather than war.

Libertarians are also for free trade, and that includes the free trade of labor. As a former border-state governor, Johnson understands how crazy the Trump wall is and embraces immigration. If people want to come into the U.S. to work, it should be easy to get a work visa which entails and background check and social security card so that taxes get paid. It’s time to stop treating immigrants as a scapegoat for our problems.

Trump complains about the election being rigged. He’s right, but it’s not rigged against him, it’s rigged against the third parties. While the Libertarian party has been able to get presidential ballot access in all 50 states, the restrictions on ballot access still make it hard to get Libertarians on the ballot for more local races. Additionally, the Commission for Presidential Debates is made up of Republicans and Democrats. They set the threshold for being on the debate stage at 15 percent which is simply a disguised way of saying that third parties are not allowed. If Johnson had been allowed on the debate state, we might be seeing a very different election right now.

Every election to two major parties will make the argument that you shouldn’t vote for a third party because they cannot win. Do not keep falling for this. Gaining prominence as a party is an iterative process, and if you help the Libertarian party make it to five percent of the popular vote, they will receive retroactive federal funding for the 2016 election, federal funding for the 2020 election and easier ballot access. In most cases, the popular vote doesn’t matter. We live in Georgia which will probably vote Republican. But, if you vote Libertarian, your vote matters more than it possibly could because it is the popular vote that determines the resources a party receives in coming elections.

Do not waste your vote on a candidate that you dislike just to stop someone you hate. On November 8th, vote for Gary Johnson and Allen Buckley. Vote for social tolerance. Vote for fiscal responsibility. But, most importantly, vote for a less polarized government where more opinions can be discussed.

A really great suspense thriller/murder mystery grabs the reader from the first page and does not let go. “After the Crash,” the first novel to be translated into English by the bestselling French novelist Michel Bussi, hits the ground running and does not stop until the last line of the story. Starting with a moment of high drama, and continuing with unexpected twists and turns, the novel does not disappoint.

The opening action takes the reader through the moments before the 1980 crash of Airbus 5403 as it dives into the mountainside of the Swiss Alps. Of the 169 passengers, only one survives, a three-month-old baby girl. The problem: there were two identical babies on board, and no one knows which one survived.

Set in 1998 France, two sets of grandparents, the underprivileged Vitrals and the affluent De Carvilles, battle over the unidentifiable infant, each convinced that the child belongs to them.  The pursuant custody case awards the child, Lylie, to the Vitrals. Undeterred, the De Carvilles hire private detective, Credule Grand-Duc, to solve the mystery of the “true” identity of little Lylie. The only condition: he has until her 18th birthday to do it.

What simply begins as a case of an unidentified person quickly takes a turn toward a more sinister narrative as an illicit romance is revealed, the dead begin piling up, and another interested party joins the race to solve the mystery.

The narrative alternates between the present of 1998 and the past 18 years, told through Private Detective Grand-Duc’s journal. Segmented as such, the novel is easy to put down, but readers will find it difficult to walk away from such an intriguing and entertaining story.

Bussi creates a complex character in the protagonist, Credule Grand-Duc. Given the assignment of his life, he devotes his entire life to the investigation. Through Grand-Duc’s journal, Bussi is able to manipulate the plot and seems to take much joy in doing so. The proverbial carrot is dangled so far ahead of the reader that there are only slight hints as to where he is headed.

Bussi pens a suspenseful narrative, but there were problems from the beginning. Purported as talented, intellectual and beautiful, everything the Vitrals are not, it is an anomaly why Lylie never attempts to discover her own identity. Even when circumstances warrant her dire need to know her lineage, she opts for deadly measures instead of requesting a simple DNA test which leads to another flaw in the narrative.

DNA paternity testing became available in the 1980s so why was a test not performed? Admittedly, novelists often use the oversights or questionable decisions of their characters to move a story forward, but in “After the Crash,” it is unclear if that oversight is intentional or a major faux pas.

Bussi also falls short with the characters of Lylie and her “brother” Marc Vitral. Between the incestuous feelings that Marc has toward Lylie and the obvious personal attributes that Lylie does not share with the entire family, Bussi intimates that Lylie will not be the daughter of the Vitrals. When Bussi could have made the reader want to root for Marc, he fails to gain the necessary empathy for Marc’s predicament.

Even with the obvious shortfalls, the novel is ultimately a suspense thriller/murder mystery, and there Bussi has made a remarkable debut into the American market.

Mystery aficionados will be disappointed to find that they cannot solve the mystery. The ultimate reveal did not occur until the final pages when Bussi provided a masterful solution that covered all aspects of the intricate plot.  “After the Crash” is a quick and satisfying read.