Ultimatum

The author of Trigger Point delivers “an anxiety-inducing thriller about global warming [that] effectively taps a hot topic and handles it with flair” (Publishers Weekly).

November, 2032. Joe Benton has just been elected the forty-eighth president of the United States. Only days after winning, his predecessor reveals that estimates regarding the effect of global warming have been grossly underestimated. For the United States, a leading carbon emitter for decades, the prospects are devastating. Miami will be washed into the ocean and southern California will waste away to desert; the relocation of thirty million citizens will cost trillions of dollars. With the world on the verge of catastrophe, Benton abandons the Kyoto 4 summit and resumes secret negotiations with China-the world's worst polluter. As the two superpowers lock horns, the ensuing battle of wits becomes a race against time.

Ultimatum*is a prophetic thriller that explores the most pressing issue of the twenty-first century. In a convincing and compelling narrative, it moves from top secret Oval Office meetings to clandestine talks in Norway and tense negotiations in Beijing.*Ultimatum*is an unsettling thriller that steers us into the dark heart of political intrigue and a future that is all too believable.

“Fans of political thrillers will flock to this one, which combines realistic characters with shrewd political commentary.” -Booklist

"1100260164"
Ultimatum

The author of Trigger Point delivers “an anxiety-inducing thriller about global warming [that] effectively taps a hot topic and handles it with flair” (Publishers Weekly).

November, 2032. Joe Benton has just been elected the forty-eighth president of the United States. Only days after winning, his predecessor reveals that estimates regarding the effect of global warming have been grossly underestimated. For the United States, a leading carbon emitter for decades, the prospects are devastating. Miami will be washed into the ocean and southern California will waste away to desert; the relocation of thirty million citizens will cost trillions of dollars. With the world on the verge of catastrophe, Benton abandons the Kyoto 4 summit and resumes secret negotiations with China-the world's worst polluter. As the two superpowers lock horns, the ensuing battle of wits becomes a race against time.

Ultimatum*is a prophetic thriller that explores the most pressing issue of the twenty-first century. In a convincing and compelling narrative, it moves from top secret Oval Office meetings to clandestine talks in Norway and tense negotiations in Beijing.*Ultimatum*is an unsettling thriller that steers us into the dark heart of political intrigue and a future that is all too believable.

“Fans of political thrillers will flock to this one, which combines realistic characters with shrewd political commentary.” -Booklist

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Ultimatum

Ultimatum

by Matthew Glass

Narrated by Phil Gigante

Unabridged — 14 hours, 22 minutes

Ultimatum

Ultimatum

by Matthew Glass

Narrated by Phil Gigante

Unabridged — 14 hours, 22 minutes

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Overview

The author of Trigger Point delivers “an anxiety-inducing thriller about global warming [that] effectively taps a hot topic and handles it with flair” (Publishers Weekly).

November, 2032. Joe Benton has just been elected the forty-eighth president of the United States. Only days after winning, his predecessor reveals that estimates regarding the effect of global warming have been grossly underestimated. For the United States, a leading carbon emitter for decades, the prospects are devastating. Miami will be washed into the ocean and southern California will waste away to desert; the relocation of thirty million citizens will cost trillions of dollars. With the world on the verge of catastrophe, Benton abandons the Kyoto 4 summit and resumes secret negotiations with China-the world's worst polluter. As the two superpowers lock horns, the ensuing battle of wits becomes a race against time.

Ultimatum*is a prophetic thriller that explores the most pressing issue of the twenty-first century. In a convincing and compelling narrative, it moves from top secret Oval Office meetings to clandestine talks in Norway and tense negotiations in Beijing.*Ultimatum*is an unsettling thriller that steers us into the dark heart of political intrigue and a future that is all too believable.

“Fans of political thrillers will flock to this one, which combines realistic characters with shrewd political commentary.” -Booklist


Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Glass's debut, an anxiety-inducing thriller about global warming, effectively taps a hot topic and handles it with flair. In 2032, vast regions of America's coast-Florida, Texas, California-are underwater. Catastrophic hurricanes regularly sweep through the South. Much of the West has been without rainfall for years, as wildfires rage. More than 25 million people face relocation to higher ground, where new cities must be created. The newly elected U.S. president, Joe Benton, frustrated with the failed Kyoto Treaty process, proposes radical solutions worldwide, with devastating economic consequences. When the earth's greatest polluter, China, won't go along with the deal and escalates the argument to the nuclear level, the narrative shifts into overdrive. A contrived conclusion and passages belaboring the machinations of government and its various bureaucrats are the only weaknesses in what is otherwise a compelling tale of environmental doom. (Apr.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Reviews

Global warming presents a U.S. president with a doomsday scenario as he takes office. Newly elected President Joe Benton is eager to launch his "New Foundation" programs and clean up the mess left behind by his arrogant, foul-mouthed predecessor. Benton, observes one character, "has a mandate for change." This setup may suggest 2009, but it's actually 2033 and, just as he prepares to take the oath of office, Benton, No. 48, learns from No. 47 that global warming is progressing at an alarming, unanticipated pace. Massive relocations of entire sections of the country will soon be imperative as cloudless skies parch farmlands and oceans drown Miami. This premise could well serve as the basis for an action-laden, "special effects" thriller written in shorthand. To his credit, British author Glass makes what promises to be a refreshing choice by following the intricate political strategies and machinations that ensue in pursuit of Kyoto 4, an international treaty controlling emissions. China remains, at best, uncommitted as a signatory, and Benton's staff devotes seemingly innumerable sessions to scope out what China's leaders may be up to. Intent as a stenographer on capturing every codicil, subclause and qualification coming out of the deliberations, Glass comes up with a narrative that soon loses drive, focus and tension. Among the scores of characters he brings onto the scene, few are drawn well enough to fascinate, other than Secretary of State Larry Olsen, whose unilateral moves occasionally ramp up subtle suspense. At the center of what becomes a long holding pattern, Benton remains an unknown protagonist, bereft of traits and ticks. When problems close in, does he nibble jellybeans,shoot hoops? How does he feel as the United States faces a penultimate crisis? The lack of character detail and insight, which extends as well to a first family that is merely sketched in, robs the tragic denouement of emotional resonance. Glass's plot is fresh and arresting, but the book lacks distinctive, identifiable characters to drive it. Agent: Ben Evans/Oyster Bridge Literary Agency

Product Details

BN ID: 2940173643162
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Publication date: 04/01/2009
Edition description: Unabridged
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