A scientist warns of an imminent, catastrophic climate change. An eccentric reporter exposes the truth about man-made global warming. A billionaire philanthropist has the money to make the solution happen, and the three join forces. But a powerful Senator and his lobbyist friends stop at nothing to oppose them. The planet doesn’t wait.
WARM FRONT, set against the pristine Arctic wilderness and the sordid political minefields of global warming and oil exploration, depicts the intrigue that develops when industries’ lust for oil clashes with science and environmentalists’ commitment to save the Earth. WARM FRONT is a nature lover’s answer to the late Michael Crichton’s STATE OF FEAR.
Taking a subject that most of us should probably understand better than we do, especially a controversial one like climate change, and teaching the reader about it while entertaining them in a novel is a great idea. Warm Front integrates the science of climate change at a level understandable by a layperson, as well as addressing some of the common objections raised by climate change deniers.
In the acknowledgements section, York says the science in the book is accurate, and for those with doubts, he's footnoted some of those things that might be questioned as well as included a bibliography for those who want to dig deeper into the subject. The characters are likeable and realistic, most of the time. At a high level, this is a good story, beyond educating the reader.
However, things start to fall apart in the devilish details. I spotted enough typos and proofreading issues to consider the book marginal in this area, although far from the worst I've seen. There were events that stretched my ability to suspend disbelief. Specifically, each of the two main characters was almost run off the road, one of their planes vandalized more than once, both were shot at, each was threatened in other ways multiple times, and both a car and plane crash happened under suspicious circumstances, yet there was never any sign that law enforcement was notified more than once, possibly twice. Last, there was a tendency toward extended narratives, giving the reader too much unneeded detail, which caused the story to bog down. I'd still recommend Warm Front for the overall story and as a relatively painless introduction to the science of climate change, but only for a non-critical and forgiving reader.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **