Thanks to Andrew Hanson, author, for providing us a good description of his new book:
In the year 2030, London is recovering from a disastrous flood, which some say was caused by climate change. When a controversial talk-show host is murdered, suspicion falls on radical activist Ben Martins. Ben may be innocent, but he has no sympathy for the victim and risks becoming embroiled in ever more dangerous schemes. If protecting the planet can justify anything, is Ben a pragmatist or a terrorist? And why does CCTV footage of the murderer show someone dressed distinctively like Ben?”
The first two chapters are available on my blog at: http://andrewhansonblog.wordpress.com Greenies came third in a competition run by the Multi-Story website, for which I received professional feedback from Booker-nominated author Jim Williams.
I wrote Greenies because of my sense of anger, bordering on hopelessness, at the lack of serious action to tackle the causes of climate change. Yet I wanted to write a novel that would be readable, compelling, and not didactic. Setting it in the near future, in the year 2030, seemed like a way of exploring possible climate impacts, yet in a world which a reader can still recognise as theirs. The disastrous flood of London, which takes place three years before the central narrative, is caused mainly by a spring tide combining with a storm surge, but rising sea levels will contribute to the danger of such an event.
The group of activists at the core of the novel reflect my own experiences and frustrations with environmentalism, but also provide a method of examining how people are drawn into extremism. When direct action is taken to its logical extreme, where do you draw the line? Again, partially motivated by anger, it was a way for me to say well, logically, this action makes sense…though to carry it out might seem contrary to established morality. I wanted to say look, the situation is so serious that doing even this begins to look like a good idea! These are the sort of questions that the central character wrestles with. They are quite separate from the murder, the tragic nature of which is explored and which is never sought to be justified or excused.
Links to purchase:
http://www.amazon.com/Greenies-Mr-Andrew-Hanson/dp/1500430250 (hard copy)
http://www.amazon.com/Greenies-Andrew-Hanson-ebook/dp/B00M7CH3WC (Kindle)
Goodreads Reviews
4.2 rating based on 6 ratings (all editions)
ISBN-10: 1500430250
ISBN-13: 9781500430252
Goodreads: 22852778
Author(s): Publisher: Amazon Createspace
Published: 7/24/2014
In the year 2030, London is recovering from a disastrous flood, which some say was caused by climate change. When a controversial talk-show host is murdered, suspicion falls on radical activist Ben Martins. Ben may be innocent, but he has no sympathy for the victim, and risks becoming embroiled in ever more dangerous schemes. If protecting the planet can justify anything, is Ben a pragmatist or a terrorist? And why does CCTV footage of the murderer show someone dressed distinctively like Ben?
