water inc.                                                                  en Français

The Book | Reviews | Interviews | Global Water Crisis | Readers' Guide | Author's Essay | Links

Currently available in English and French, coming soon in German and Korean.

"Alluring characters and a careening plot provide shivery pleasures
as Burstyn orchestrates a galvanizing introduction to a looming global crisis."
BOOKLIST

WATER INC.

A fast-paced eco-thriller about a multi-billion dollar water heist — the biggest ever: Chinatown for the twenty-first century.

The United States is parched and has a terrible thirst after years of drought. William Ericsson Greele, a brilliant, immensely powerful industrialist, figures he's the man withthe solution and Canada is the place to make it happen. Exploiting Quebec's desire for independence, he organizes a consortium to pipe and ship water south. Serge Lalonde, a hot Quebec deputy minister, agrees to ram the project through while US Senators, state governors and federal officials ride shotgun for them. But there's one big catch: the project must be a fait accompli before the plan goes public - otherwise a vigilant environmental movement might successfully derail it.

Malcolm Macpherson, a Seattle aerospace executive, accidentally finds out about the plan. He enlists the efforts of rebel-girl Claire Davidowicz, director of eco-Justice USA, to try to head it off. Together they win the support Quebec and US environmentalists, a feisty British journalist, three rogue policemen, a reluctant eco-terrorist and a maverick Vermont governor hated by Greele's group and the White House. Deadly consequences follow in a desperate race against time and power.

In an era when water scarcity has become a menacing reality all over the world, Water Inc. is an exquisitely timely political thriller. With action sprawling across urban and rural America, into the cities and beautiful wilderness of Quebec, and as far as Mexico, Lisbon, and Brussels, it's a story of greed, heroism, clashing loyalties, love and mortal risk.

Click to Read an Excerpt

"Burstyn tenders a sharp tale of hydrological reengineering - the
theft of water - in a prescient and illuminating thriller . A flustering
cautionary tale, rolling with intrigue and suspense."
KIRKUS REVIEW

"A rip-snorting contemporary eco-thriller..."
BOOKS IN CANADA

Available in English in hardcover (Verso Books, London and New York), in paperback (McArthur $ Co, Toronto); in French (Jacques Lanctot editeur, Montreal)Verso, London: 2005. ISBN: 859845967
Paperback - McArthur & Co, Toronto: 2006.

Forthcoming in German from Paul Hanser Verlag (Munich, 2008) and in Korean from Escargot Press (Seoul, 2008)

Unabridged Audio CD/Cassettes
Oakhill Publishing Limited. PO Box 3855, Bath, BA1 3 WW, UK.
info@oakhillpublishing.com

Korean edition:
Coming soon from Escargot Press, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

French edition
H2O Inc. c/o Lanctot editeur, 4703, rue Saint-Denis, Montréal, QC, H2J 2L5.
www.lanctotediteur.com

German edition:
Coming soon from Carl Hanserm, Verlag GmbH & Co. KG Vilshofener Straße 10 81679 München.
Tel.: 089-99830 414
Fax: 089-99830 461
www.hanser.de