English language
Published Dec. 14, 2015 by Alfred A. Knopf.
In a future hammered by climate change and drought, mountain snows have turned to rain, and rain evaporates before it hits the ground. In a fragmenting United States, the cities of Phoenix and Las Vegas skirmish for a dwindling share of the Colorado River. But it is the Las Vegas water knives - assassins, terrorists and spies - who are legendary for protecting Las Vegas' water supplies, and for ensuring Phoenix's ruin.
When rumours of a game-changing water source surface, Las Vegas dispatches elite water knife Angel Velasquez to Phoenix to investigate. There, he discovers hardened journalist Lucy Monroe, who holds the secret to the water source Angel seeks. But Angel isn't the only one hunting for water, Lucy is no pushover, and the death of a despised water knife is a small price to pay in return for the life-giving flow of a river.
A good cli-fi thriller. It was a bit slow going at first, with a few expressions and abbreviations that needed a bit more explaining. Otherwise, a chilling look into a not-so-distant future of desertification, corporate dystopia, and structural / interpersonal violence that necessarily follow the privatization of the basics of life.
wow. the writing is at times artless and sometimes shockingly gory, but the story and the POV characters are so on point. I tore through it, glad I read this. a great book for our present climate, politically and environmentally, and IMHO a worthy follow up to THE WIND-UP GIRL and THE DROWNED WORLD.
