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The Fracking War
Veteran investigative reporter Jack Stafford leaves California to take a job with a newspaper in Upstate New York, where he discovers a citizen rebellion modeling itself after Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang. In The Fracking War, activists use sabotage to defend against what they perceive as industrial terrorism, perpetrated by multinational corporations' environmentally damaging practice of hydrofracking for natural gas and oil. Set in the pristine Finger Lakes wine country of New York and neighboring Pennsylvania, Stafford and the newspaper staff witness the tragic impacts of hydrofracking--the health risks, water and air pollution, and a rapid increase in crime. The fictional events of The Fracking War were pulled from newspaper headlines offering a glimpse into an escalating conflict between citizens who want to protect their communities and the out-of-control expansion of the natural gas industry's controversial method of extracting natural gas.
406 pages, Paperback
First published January 2, 2014
3 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Michael J. Fitzgerald
3 books1 followerLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 13, 2014
Read this review on my blog! http://roseshadowink.wordpress.com/20...
I spent five years living in Pennsylvania, so I’ve seen first-hand how hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) can contaminate drinking water. Mine never caught on fire, but we tested it every few months just to make sure and no one drank it. No one I knew even let their pets drink tap water. So I was familiar with the issue when I picked up the book. And considering the recent accident at the Marcellus Shale natural gas well in southwestern Pennsylvania, this book could not be more timely.
You can definitely tell that Michael J. Fitzgerald has worked as a journalist. His prose is rich and attentive to detail, with meticulous effort used to set the scene. This style definitely served to give the reader a better sense of the atmosphere of the Finger Lakes, anchoring the story in this lush setting, and with the people who inhabit it. At the same time, the setting feels universal, which I’m sure was intentional, as fracking is occurring all over the country.
The events of the book feel ripped from the headlines, and it’s easy while reading to forget that the book is fiction. I think this was an effective technique. A lot of nonfiction has been penned and filmed on the subject of fracking, but with the exception of Gasland, not much of it has hit home with most people. Ficti0n helps us connect, and if that was the author’s intention – to connect the reader to the characters, and therefore to their situation, then he has definitely succeeded.
I spent five years living in Pennsylvania, so I’ve seen first-hand how hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) can contaminate drinking water. Mine never caught on fire, but we tested it every few months just to make sure and no one drank it. No one I knew even let their pets drink tap water. So I was familiar with the issue when I picked up the book. And considering the recent accident at the Marcellus Shale natural gas well in southwestern Pennsylvania, this book could not be more timely.
You can definitely tell that Michael J. Fitzgerald has worked as a journalist. His prose is rich and attentive to detail, with meticulous effort used to set the scene. This style definitely served to give the reader a better sense of the atmosphere of the Finger Lakes, anchoring the story in this lush setting, and with the people who inhabit it. At the same time, the setting feels universal, which I’m sure was intentional, as fracking is occurring all over the country.
The events of the book feel ripped from the headlines, and it’s easy while reading to forget that the book is fiction. I think this was an effective technique. A lot of nonfiction has been penned and filmed on the subject of fracking, but with the exception of Gasland, not much of it has hit home with most people. Ficti0n helps us connect, and if that was the author’s intention – to connect the reader to the characters, and therefore to their situation, then he has definitely succeeded.
March 22, 2014
Excellent fictional account of the conflict between environmentalists and the big oil and gas companies who are contaminating water and air by using hydrofracking around the world. Although the setting is in Finger Lakes in Upstate NY and Pennsylvania, the story is universal and could be applied anywhere. It's a page-turner, informative while still moving the plot right along. And it's hard to believe its fiction since most of what is in the book is also in today's headlines. Highly recommended. Love this author!
April 23, 2014
And a sequel is underway "Fracking Justice"
April 22, 2019
Excellent but frightening story on gas fracking.
June 6, 2020
I wanted to like this one but it didn’t really take off for me.
The book plays out almost like a mockumentary about an investigative journalist returning to his old paper - a small local paper in New York State. It follows his and his newspaper’s coverage and exposure of the misdeeds of the fracking industry all over the US. [a noble cause]
The author tries to whip up a little excitement - a couple of subdued love stories, a car crash and a little eco terrorism - but it doesn’t really ignite, unfortunately.
The book plays out almost like a mockumentary about an investigative journalist returning to his old paper - a small local paper in New York State. It follows his and his newspaper’s coverage and exposure of the misdeeds of the fracking industry all over the US. [a noble cause]
The author tries to whip up a little excitement - a couple of subdued love stories, a car crash and a little eco terrorism - but it doesn’t really ignite, unfortunately.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews