 |
Week-long rains in Washington State, paralyzing snows along the length of the East Coast, ravishing wildfires in California, drought from Salt Lake City to east of Kansas, coastal flooding in Florida, and many more disasters are devastating the United States. With famine in Africa and the Indian Ocean boiling hot, the rest of the world fairs no better. The earth it seems is literally falling apart. In America, people are running scared, taking to the road in search of safety but with few options. The government is useless, perhaps even clueless. Shortages of food, gas, water—all the essentials of life—pose problems for everyone. However, one man has a plan and enough money to put it into play. When wealthy septuagenarian Byron Marshall learns of the rapid rise in natural catastrophes caused by global warming, he and his wife Emily embark on a journey to Mosinee, Wisconsin, one of the safest spots in North America. There, Byron intends to use his money and his smarts to help others who have also made their way to Central Wisconsin.
Allen’s cautionary tale about the dangers of ignoring the increasingly dire warnings of global warming gives the reader much to ponder. It is a worst-case scenario of what could go wrong when the ozone becomes depleted, and the earth’s weather patterns are disrupted to the point of unimaginable extremes. This book hits home, especially in the face of recent warnings concerning climate change, and an American government whose administration is unwilling to even acknowledge the term. The world presented in this horror tale of incompetence and willful ignorance seems not only possible but probable, considering recent headlines announcing monster storms, raging fires, and extreme, record-breaking temperatures. Ignorance is bliss? This novel begs to differ.