Paolo Bacigalupi
2015-05-26
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A "fresh, genre-bending thriller” (Los Angeles Times) set in the near future when water is scarce and a spy, a hardened journalist and a young Texas migrant find themselves pawns in a corrupt game.
"Think Chinatown meets Mad Max." NPR, All Things Considered
In the near future, the Colorado River has dwindled to a trickle. Detective, assassin, and spy, Angel Velasquez “cuts” water for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, ensuring that its lush arcology developments can bloom in Las Vegas. When rumors of a game-changing water source surface in Phoenix, Angel is sent south, hunting for answers that seem to evaporate as the heat index soars and the landscape becomes more and more oppressive. There, he encounters Lucy Monroe, a hardened journalist with her own agenda, and Maria Villarosa, a young Texas migrant, who dreams of escaping north. As bodies begin to pile up, the three find themselves pawns in a game far bigger and more corrupt than they could have imagined, and when water is more valuable than gold, alliances shift like sand, and the only truth in the desert is that someone will have to bleed if anyone hopes to drink.
Paolo Bacigalupi's The Water Knife is a gritty, dystopian thriller that delves into the socio-political ramifications of climate change. Set in a near-future Arizona, the novel is a stark reminder of the precarious balance between resource scarcity and human survival. Bacigalupi's prose is both visceral and thought-provoking, rendering a world that is as captivating as it is unsettling. The novel's exploration of ethical dilemmas and the moral ambiguities of survival make it a compelling read that resonates with contemporary concerns.
