Rotten Gods (Greg Barron, HarperCollins)

In the not-too-distant future, the world is on the brink, with unchecked pollution, environmental catastrophes, collapsing food supplies, debt-ridden Western governments and unprecedented inequality. Enter the latest proponents of militant Islam, al Muwahhidin, who capture a UN summit in Dubai, taking global leaders hostage and threatening annihilation if their demands are not met. As a thriller should be, Rotten Gods is hefty—perfect for a long-haul flight or a holiday. Over seven days, we follow events as a female Australian intelligence officer, a British pilot, a Somali security operative and various others work to save the day. The action moves from Dubai to Yemen to Somalia, from the headquarters of desert warlords to islands inhabited by pirates, as the clock ticks down. Despite the countdown—a mirror of the biblical seven days of creation—the action sometimes lags because there aren’t many real cliffhanger moments. The shifting focus from character to character should heighten the tension, but to me the only mystery was how the hostages would be saved, not why or whether they should be. The book raises big questions about how we should live, but in the end I felt there was more attention given to concepts than character development. This is a worthy page-turner that would translate well to the big screen, but it doesn’t break any new ground.

 Lachlan Jobbins is a reviewer, editor, ex-bookseller and presenter on For the Love of Books on STUDIO (Foxtel)

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Category: Reviews