Helen Hynson Vettori – Ladies of Mystery

Have you ever heard of the term Black Swan? Not the bird found in Australia – the expression. It means a catastrophic event that could not have been foreseen or imagined because of its unprecedented impact. As a decorated EMT/Paramedic and award-winning US Homeland Security emergency manager, I planned and prepared for, responded to, and recovered from devastating crises. Experience from those professions forged my credibility to imagine plots driven by horrific circumstances, but, until I retired, I never imagined I would pen a Black Swan trilogy thriller novel series. The Ladies of Mystery invited me to introduce you to the first book, Black Swan Impact, on November 2, 2024, and one year later they repeated the kindness by welcoming me to spotlight the second book, Black Swan Shock.

As you might have guessed from the title, the catastrophe that could not be foreseen or imagined in Black Swan Shock is a massive earthquake. Like the first book, it is an award-winning, internationally acclaimed work, but unlike the first, it won the 2025 Mystery / Thriller category from The International Impact Book Awards even before its publication. The honor may be attributed to the stunning calamity and the strong, likeable, and multifaceted characters.

The primary protagonist, Marla Case, is a major reason for its recognition because she is so compelling. Beyond the professional and technical influences that helped me to shape her, the personal one that inspired me most was our neighbor, Millie Wiggins. Millie and her family live a few doors up and walk past our home often. She always smiles and spreads her joy whenever I see her. She was born with Down syndrome and personalizes it beautifully. I used Millie’s wonderful traits to develop Marla who also has the condition.

Then, an earthquake resonates with readers because seismic events are a recognized part of our dynamic world. However, while tremors are common, mammoth upheavals are not, captivating the audience. Through that catastrophic event I build tension with vivid and stunning scenarios. Of course, imagination was a key element, but I also called upon my experiences as a former paramedic and emergency manager, firsthand accounts from fire and rescue personnel, and research related to the 1811-1812 New Madrid Earthquake to deliver plausible and anxious situations.

As an avid thriller enthusiast myself, I strive to offer readers exciting and intriguing fiction because that is the great appeal of the genre. From its opening, Black Swan Shock surprises readers as Marla runs the race of her life. Then, the plot crescendos when a historic earthquake strikes. The elite athlete and her family are caught in mayhem, hooking the audience by intimately sharing their trials and successes. Juxtaposed hair-raising scenes alongside altruism and wonderful relationships, readers will experience tension one moment and then joy the next.

BLACK SWAN SHOCK

Marla Case, an elite Olympic-bound athlete, finds her devotion to competition fading and chooses to step away. She considers becoming a medical responder and learns about the profession from a paramedic friend. Before committing to the rescue service, Marla accompanies her mother on an academic tour that ends abruptly when a massive earthquake strikes. The athlete reacts to save victims with her physical skills and newly acquired understanding of some emergency medical actions. She becomes a beacon of hope for the citizens of St. Louis, Missouri. However, personal tragedy affects Marla, as well, and she struggles to find catharsis herself.

Black Swan Shock is available worldwide from your favorite bookstore or online bookseller like Barnes and Noble and Amazon in hardcover, paperback, and electronic versions. E-books are obtainable immediately, but audio-book lovers will need to wait to listen to it. That format should be released in the first quarter of 2026. If you prefer, you may find links to purchase a paperback, hardcover, or e-book at my Website https://www.helenhynsonvettori.com/.

ISBN 9798895436257 (Paperback)

ISBN 9798895436264 (Hardcover)

ISBN9798895436288 (ePub e-book)

ISBN 9798895436271 (Audiobook)

Helen Hynson Vettori (pronounced: HELL-lun HIN-suhn Ve-TOR-ee ) was born in Washington, DC, and has always lived and worked in the National Capital Region. Her knowledge and experiences gained as a commended EMT/paramedic in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad and Employee of the Year emergency manager in the Department of Homeland Security enable her to write books with credible and thrilling Black Swan plots. She lives in Leesburg, VA, with her husband and enjoys hobbies like fine art painting and traveling, but, most importantly, she likes spending time with family. You may find out more about the author at her Website https://www.helenhynsonvettori.com/, follow her on Instagram @helenhvettori, or subscribe to her monthly topics on Substack https://helenhvettori.substack.com/.

Helen Hynson Vettori wrote the sci-fi political thriller, Black Swan Impact, because of her utter dismay regarding the U.S. Federal Government’s response to SARS COVID-19. When COVID-19 emerged, she had already retired from the Department of Homeland Security workforce. During her years of service, she helped plan and prepare for biological threats, to include pandemics. She rose to a position as an emergency management fellow and even won an award for outstanding emergency management achievements related to her efforts for planning and preparing for biothreats. As the COVID outbreak gripped the world, she became increasingly appalled by official actions or lack thereof compounded by confusing messaging.
During lockdown family phone calls or Zoom meetings, Vettori would ask questions like, “How can this be?” or “Why aren’t they using the pandemic plan with the strategies and messaging that have been in place for years?” In response, her sister turned those questions toward an idea. She challenged Vettori by saying it sounded like she had a story bottled up inside. That observant sister was right. Vettori wrote the first draft of Black Swan Impact, first titled Black Swan Catastrophe, in two weeks. Then both her brother and her sister helped the author to focus on certain aspects of the plot and characters, expanding and enhancing them until Vettori ultimately brought the sci-fi political novel to fruition.
One can argue that Black Swan Impact is fiction and improbable. Yet there are truths woven throughout the novel, including the fact that some people will or won’t follow orders and strategies, particularly when they are politically motivated and garbled in messaging. The truths embedded in Vettori’s novel stem from her vocational subject matter expertise and life experiences. Helen Vettori NEMAA, NSFP-EM appeared in her signature block when she was a member of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) workforce. The professional acronyms signified her subject matter expertise in emergency management. She earned noted knowledge and skills over the course of years through education, valuable mentoring from those immersed in the field, applied applications, and leadership initiatives. She even received affirmation of her contributions by being awarded employee of the year award in 2013. However, her career in DHS as an emergency manager did not solely influence her as she wrote Black Swan Impact. Indeed, there were other elements that enabled her to create a plausible world facing an unimaginable threat from a novel, virulent pathogen. Her eclectic background afforded her unique, first-hand knowledge that she wove into the plot. Those other career paths were serving the National Capital Region as an EMT paramedic by joining the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad, acting as a senior medical intelligence analyst at the Protective Medicine Branch, earning a master’s degree in strategic intelligence, and becoming a staff member of Counter Narcotics and Terrorism Operational Medical Support.
When it was time for her to retire from the federal government, she devoted her full attention to endeavors like travel until the 2020 pandemic lockdown barred that. Like everyone, she fell captive to the situation. Her frustrations regarding the muddled response led her to write, which became cathartic. Vettori credits that process for her to be able to move away from anguish and disbelief by channeling those emotions into the sci-fi political thriller, Black Swan Impact. They allowed her to craft a plot laced with credibility and striking scenes garnered from some of her amazing life journeys. Further, she hopes the story will enable readers to learn from the dystopian tale. “If readers think COVID ruined 2020,” she said, “then they can leap to 2113, to see how PYV more than challenges humanity in my sci-fi political thriller Black Swan Impact. Then readers can take away the implied warnings and combine them with our memories of COVID pandemic issues to help us to avoid repeating mistakes during future crises.”

BLACK SWAN IMPACT

In 2113, people inhabiting the Earth believe that peace and prosperity will forevermore be their way of life on the third planet in the Sol System and elsewhere as they move further into space. That optimism bursts, when Dr. Syia Case, Director of Epidemiology from the National Institutes of Health and wife to the White House Chief of Staff, raises the alarm that Earth is facing an emerging pandemic crisis the likes of which had not been seen before. Initially, President Daniel Piper looks to Dr. Case as his favored subject matter expert to assist him and the White House Crisis Action Team plan and prepare for and respond to the novel pathogen. However, when Piper steers the United States toward questionable courses, Dr. Case and the strident voices on the task force find there is more than a virulent virus to fight.

Austin Macauley Publishers – https://www.austinmacauley.com/us/book/black-swan-impact

Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Black-Impact-Helen-Hynson-Vettori/dp/B0CVLHG3TY

Barnes And Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/black-swan-impact-helen-hynson-vettori/1144944171?ean=9798889100911

A seventh generation Washingtonian Helen Hynson Vettori served the National Capital Region first by joining the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad as an EMT/Paramedic. Then she taught at a private school in Rockville, Maryland until 2001. Post 9/11, she joined the Department of Homeland Security workforce as the Senior Medical Intelligence Analyst at the Protective Medicine Branch. When that branch was defunded, she transferred to a new position at the National Incident Response Unit. There she performed all aspects of emergency management duties but specialized in planning and preparing for biological incidents to include pandemics. After retiring from the federal government, she followed passions like reading, traveling, and painting. Currently, she lives in Leesburg, VA with her husband. Vettori and her husband have two grown children both of whom are married and one grandchild.

https://helenhvettori.substack.com

Instagram (@HelenHVettori), and Facebook (@ Black Swan Impact)