NOMINATED FOR THE 2021 PHILIP K. DICK AWARD
“The novel is as tense and thrilling as any of Brown’s work, and as full of rage and hope. It’s a novel that truly reckons with the enormity of both our climate emergency and the system that produced it – a tale of human imperfection and redemption.” — Cory Doctorow, bestselling author of Walkaway
“Brown has a strong line in neo-noir courtroom drama. The ideas that triumph matter as much as the plot-resolution outcomes of Donny’s exertions. That hope shines through and takes the edge off my nightmares.” — Locus
“[A] larger-than-life near-future legal thriller of environmental collapse and social rebuilding… Brown adds new layers to the wildly imaginative dystopian setting of his first two works, now with an emphasis on environmental law. The scenes of sunken New Orleans are vivid and will keep the pages turning.” — Publishers Weekly
“[A] beautiful, moving book, with fine homegrown American villains; a monstrous invention; a bunch of great characters, and well-placed reflections upon the meanings and misuses of past, present, future; and an indictment of the misdeeds of capitalism. Donny Kimoe (whom we met in Rule of Capture) becomes someone deeply interesting as he lawyers a path to redemption in a messed-up world. We could all live here together.” — Endless Bookshelf
“[A] smart, interesting thriller.”—Reading List
Coming August 2020 from Harper Voyager
In this second dystopian legal thriller from the author of the acclaimed Rule of Capture and Tropic of Kansas, defense lawyer Donny Kimoe juggles two intertwined cases whose outcomes will determine the course of America’s future—and his own.
In the aftermath of a second American revolution, peace rests on a fragile truce. The old regime has been deposed, but the ex-president has vanished, escaping justice for his crimes. Some believe he is dead. Others fear he is in hiding, gathering forces. As the factions in Washington work to restore order, Donny Kimoe is in court to settle old scores—and pay his own debts come due.
Meanwhile, the rebels Donny once defended are exacting their own kind of justice. In the ruins of New Orleans, they are building a green utopia—and kidnapping their defeated adversaries to pay for it. The newest hostage is the young heiress to a fortune made from plundering the country—and the daughter of one of Donny’s oldest friends. In a desperate gambit to save his own skin, Donny switches sides to defend her before the show trial. If he fails, so will the truce, dragging the country back into violence. But by taking the case, he risks his last chance to expose the atrocities of the dictatorship—and being tried for his own crimes against the revolution.
To save the future, Donny has to gamble his own. The only way out is to find the evidence that will get both sides back to the table, and secure a more lasting peace. To do that, Donny must betray his clients’ secrets. Including one explosive secret hidden in the ruins, the discovery of which could extinguish the last hope for a better tomorrow—or, if Donny plays it right, keep it burning.
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