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Missy's Twitch
The near future New York City
As activists drive climate change anxiety to further their agenda for societal change, New York suffers through rolling blackouts. Therapists hang shingles to treat unhinged young people fearing the world is coming to an end. A climate countdown clock is erected in Times Square to alert the populace to the coming doomsday.
It's no wonder Missy has a twitch, a tic that becomes the talk of the town.
Heiress to an energy fortune built off fossil fuels, Missy Mayburn Crowe is stricken with overwhelming anxiety over what she believes is a looming "climate apocalypse." Wracked with guilt over her family's possible contributions to climate change, Missy develops an involuntary twitch, diagnosed by a famed TV shrink as climatosis. Exposure on television and in social media propels climatosis into a worldwide social contagion. That makes Missy a celebrity ripe for exploitation by politicians, media, and business opportunists as "proof" that the apocalypse is now.
Told with humor, insight, and brisk pacing, Missy's Twitch offers an entertaining twist on conventional wisdom about one of the most controversial issues of our time.
JON PEPPER is a novelist, entrepreneur, and business consultant based in New York City. Missy's Twitch is the fourth novel in his series, Fossil Feuds .
As activists drive climate change anxiety to further their agenda for societal change, New York suffers through rolling blackouts. Therapists hang shingles to treat unhinged young people fearing the world is coming to an end. A climate countdown clock is erected in Times Square to alert the populace to the coming doomsday.
It's no wonder Missy has a twitch, a tic that becomes the talk of the town.
Heiress to an energy fortune built off fossil fuels, Missy Mayburn Crowe is stricken with overwhelming anxiety over what she believes is a looming "climate apocalypse." Wracked with guilt over her family's possible contributions to climate change, Missy develops an involuntary twitch, diagnosed by a famed TV shrink as climatosis. Exposure on television and in social media propels climatosis into a worldwide social contagion. That makes Missy a celebrity ripe for exploitation by politicians, media, and business opportunists as "proof" that the apocalypse is now.
Told with humor, insight, and brisk pacing, Missy's Twitch offers an entertaining twist on conventional wisdom about one of the most controversial issues of our time.
JON PEPPER is a novelist, entrepreneur, and business consultant based in New York City. Missy's Twitch is the fourth novel in his series, Fossil Feuds .
224 pages, Paperback
Published October 10, 2023
4 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Jon Pepper
4 books8 followersJon Pepper is a novelist and consultant based in New York City.
His latest novel, "Missy's Twitch," will be released Oct. 10. It's the fourth in his series, Fossil Feuds, which centers around the founding family behind the century-old Crowe Power Company as they fend off critics and fight to maintain control of the firm.
A native of Michigan, Jon won numerous awards as a national writer and business columnist for The Detroit News. He subsequently became the president of a start-up firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and an executive for two Fortune 100 companies before starting his own strategic communications agency, Indelable, in New York.
His first book, "A Turn in Fortune," was published in 2018. It's a satirical take on the personal rivalries that erupt atop Crowe Power after its chairman Robbie Crowe learns his CEO is getting all the credit for the firm's sudden success.
"Heirs on Fire," a follow-up released in 2020, follows Robbie Crowe as he fights for respect and recognition while dealing with an estranged wife, a manipulative mistress, a takeover threat, and a possible revolt in his storied family. The New York Post called it "a clever corporate satire." Kirkus Reviews said it was "wickedly funny."
In "Green Goddess," the first female leader in the company's long history struggles to transition the firm from fossil fuels to green energy until she finds a revolutionary way forward inside a Crowe Power research lab.
"Missy's Twitch" chronicles the journey of Crowe Power heiress Missy Mayburn Crowe, as she struggles with overwhelming anxiety about climate change. Fearing her family is partially responsible for a possible catastrophe, she develops an involuntary twitch, diagnosed by an opportunistic therapist as "climatosis." Her prominence and notoriety leads to her recruitment as a spokesperson for a political agenda.
Jon's career as a journalist, executive and entrepreneur gave him a front row seat in the corner suites, estates, private jets and first- class hotels where the business elite dwell. With an eye for human quirks and vanities, Jon captures the multiple dimensions of life in executive suites with entertaining accuracy.
"I've always loved good satires about the business elite and the various pressures that guide decision-making for better and for worse," Jon says. "The goal of my books is to immerse readers in that world, make them laugh and make them think."
Jon and his wife Diane, who designed the covers of his books, reside in Manhattan.
His latest novel, "Missy's Twitch," will be released Oct. 10. It's the fourth in his series, Fossil Feuds, which centers around the founding family behind the century-old Crowe Power Company as they fend off critics and fight to maintain control of the firm.
A native of Michigan, Jon won numerous awards as a national writer and business columnist for The Detroit News. He subsequently became the president of a start-up firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and an executive for two Fortune 100 companies before starting his own strategic communications agency, Indelable, in New York.
His first book, "A Turn in Fortune," was published in 2018. It's a satirical take on the personal rivalries that erupt atop Crowe Power after its chairman Robbie Crowe learns his CEO is getting all the credit for the firm's sudden success.
"Heirs on Fire," a follow-up released in 2020, follows Robbie Crowe as he fights for respect and recognition while dealing with an estranged wife, a manipulative mistress, a takeover threat, and a possible revolt in his storied family. The New York Post called it "a clever corporate satire." Kirkus Reviews said it was "wickedly funny."
In "Green Goddess," the first female leader in the company's long history struggles to transition the firm from fossil fuels to green energy until she finds a revolutionary way forward inside a Crowe Power research lab.
"Missy's Twitch" chronicles the journey of Crowe Power heiress Missy Mayburn Crowe, as she struggles with overwhelming anxiety about climate change. Fearing her family is partially responsible for a possible catastrophe, she develops an involuntary twitch, diagnosed by an opportunistic therapist as "climatosis." Her prominence and notoriety leads to her recruitment as a spokesperson for a political agenda.
Jon's career as a journalist, executive and entrepreneur gave him a front row seat in the corner suites, estates, private jets and first- class hotels where the business elite dwell. With an eye for human quirks and vanities, Jon captures the multiple dimensions of life in executive suites with entertaining accuracy.
"I've always loved good satires about the business elite and the various pressures that guide decision-making for better and for worse," Jon says. "The goal of my books is to immerse readers in that world, make them laugh and make them think."
Jon and his wife Diane, who designed the covers of his books, reside in Manhattan.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 29, 2023
Missy’s Twitch by Jon Pepper
A Review by William Abbatt
This is a remarkable work. Eminently readable, it interweaves a good yarn with insightful commentary on global warming.
One of the characters is Missy Crowe. She enters the stage as an entitled person who takes to heart dire warnings about an imminent apocalypse caused by neglectful climate management. Missy is the progeny of a family whose wealth derives from power generation that is said to contribute to global warming, with its adverse consequences. She becomes a pawn in the hands of those who sound warning bells about climate change and uses her newly acquired status as a town crier who sounds the death knell drumbeat of global warming.
But her celebrity also causes her to question her assumptions, thus beginning an unexpected journey. Maybe she shouldn’t believe everything she hears.
The author spins a fascinating story that offers lucid observations deserving of consideration by all who are willing to reflect on what we know and don’t know about climate change.
July 29, 2023
A Review by William Abbatt
This is a remarkable work. Eminently readable, it interweaves a good yarn with insightful commentary on global warming.
One of the characters is Missy Crowe. She enters the stage as an entitled person who takes to heart dire warnings about an imminent apocalypse caused by neglectful climate management. Missy is the progeny of a family whose wealth derives from power generation that is said to contribute to global warming, with its adverse consequences. She becomes a pawn in the hands of those who sound warning bells about climate change and uses her newly acquired status as a town crier who sounds the death knell drumbeat of global warming.
But her celebrity also causes her to question her assumptions, thus beginning an unexpected journey. Maybe she shouldn’t believe everything she hears.
The author spins a fascinating story that offers lucid observations deserving of consideration by all who are willing to reflect on what we know and don’t know about climate change.
July 29, 2023
July 24, 2023
This is an of the moment influencer YA book. Which is probably why this one wasn’t for me. I was initially interested in the climate crisis angle. The story is clever, is set in the super rich set (anything about climate crisis makes Missy twitch but then she is flying around in private jets without a problem, go figure), and I can imagine it actually happening, even a Psychiatrist cashing in on a non-existent condition. But in the end the book didn’t grab me. But everyone’s opinion is different, so let me influence you a little to give it a go and make up your own mind. Thank you to North Cove Press LLC and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.
August 21, 2023
I LOVED this book! It's fun and fast paced as I would expect from this author but I also found the book to be very thought provoking.
Missy the main character evolves throughout the story and as the reader I followed along on that journey and learned and grew as well.
I also particularly liked the story line of the mother and daughter and how they navigated their changing relationship. Many touching and funny moments as they found they had to acknowledge each other's independence.
All in all a lot of fun and over in a blink of an eye!
Missy the main character evolves throughout the story and as the reader I followed along on that journey and learned and grew as well.
I also particularly liked the story line of the mother and daughter and how they navigated their changing relationship. Many touching and funny moments as they found they had to acknowledge each other's independence.
All in all a lot of fun and over in a blink of an eye!
February 2, 2024
Engaging read on climate change! My biggest chuckle was his ability to match the real world's mainstream media's ever-escalating pending climate disasters. While making the reader laugh at the absurdity of it all, the realization that this is actually happening now is sobering; and I think that was Jon's mission with Missy."
December 24, 2025
witty satire of the climate scam
Very witty and insightful satire of the climate scam -would make a good gift for your green friends- if they can read that is!
Very witty and insightful satire of the climate scam -would make a good gift for your green friends- if they can read that is!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews