Water, Inc.

by Varda Burstyn

A private American consortium of corporate owners aims to pipe and ship water from northern Quebec to the US. Congressmen, state governors, and a federal administration hostile to Canada ride shotgun for them, aided by a brilliant, existentially torn Quebec deputy minister and a cut-throat minister of finance. They’re resisted by a whistle-blowing executive, the director of a major US environmental organization, a group of Quebec ecologists, a feisty British journalist, three rogue policemen, a reluctant eco-terrorist, and a maverick Vermont governor hated by the consortium and the White House.

In an era during which water scarcity—”one of the major problems of the twenty-first century,” according to the UN—becomes a very real proposition for much of the world, Water, Inc. is an exquisitely timed political thriller. With action sprawling across urban and rural America, into the cities and beautiful wilderness of Quebec, and as far as Mexico, Lisbon, London, and Brussels, it is a story of greed, heroism, clashing loyalties, love, hate, and mortal risk.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 4, 2005

Reviews

[Grahamgill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part novel and part environmental, political essay Varda Burstyn delves ‎into a topic near to Ontario's hearts. With the recent private purchase of well water rights by Nestlé who easily out bid the municipality and public use of water the fear of water becoming "blue gold" is real. The premis of such a story piqued my interest after reading the dust cover synopsis. While the novel aspect of the book moves fairly slowly, Ms Burstyn does achieve, what I can only guess was her underlying objective, raising a real issue that many may not have considered without reading her work. A classic tale of good evironmentalists, whistle blowers and compassionate law enforcement vs evil entrapeneurs, union leaders and politicos; Water Inc brings money, greed, violence, love, sex, betrayal, honour and the struggle to do what is right together to present non-fiction reality veiled as fiction. Only the names have been changed to protect the.........

[Angus Ho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engaging political thriller with an eco-corporate slant. Definitely prioritized the realism of corporate and political influence on large scale infrastructure projects but tended to make the villains almost comically evil. Surprisingly solid take on the Canadian political dynamic of Quebec which was refreshing. A lot of characters are introduced but it is not hard to keep track of given consistent context.

[DJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm pursuing a career in environmental science and I personally feel like this book should be read by everybody in the field.

This book effectively shows how economic gains and security gains powerful partners that halt or restrict environmental progress if the people of the public do not fight back.

I found the attention to each governmental vs thriller aspect had the appropriate amount of time to stay interesting and have the pages turning.

I'm very glad I read this book

[Matthew Cosgrove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewers seem concerned about the number of characters introduced. Don’t be. (And to me that seems like a lazy critique.) Most if not all characters are necessary to the plot, and the reader doesn’t necessarily need to remember each character’s bio in order to proceed. The story and main characters are well developed and the plot treads the line between optimistic and realistic quite well.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting and well-researched concept, but there are indeed too many characters.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast moving story with alot of moving parts. Makes one think about the future of our planet

[MisterHobgoblin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a badly written novel with a cast of thousands, most of whom serve no purpose other than to be killed, often in twos, threes or small groups. No character development at all.

The basic premise is that big business is in the process of selling Canadian water to the US at a time of global water shortage. Big business is trying to do this in secret and hence it needs to murder lots of people who start to ask awkward questions. This premise is silly beyond belief.

And throughout the book, characters are put into situations contrived to enable them to deliver pages-long monologues about ecological disaster and how bad capitalsim is. Whilst I am not necessarily unsympathetic to Burstyn's message, she puts it in such a one-sided (and long winded, and rhetorical) fashion that one is left to believe that big business is acting for no motivation other than sheer evil.

This is a flimsy novel (ironically one that never went into paperback) designed purely to carry a rather crude political message. It does this relentlessly and bores beyond belief in the process.

Is it the worst novel I have ever read? I can't think of a worse one.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Water Inc., William Greele has a master plan to build a pipeline between Canada and the USA to share the water. Once he proposes the pitch to other people, it's almost a done deal. When local Americans hear about it, they inform Claire Davidowicz, an environmental activist, who teams up with Malcolm MacPherson. From there, things get heated up, when Greele's plans gets more in tense, and they check out the story. When it's leaked out, Claire and their friends are in the life of fire as targets, putting their lives into line. For leverage, they reform into blackmail to find out one of its trade secrets, to get them to back down, before the truth comes out. What a great storyline.

[Carine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Traduction française de Water Inc.

Histoire plus que plausible de ce qui pourrait arriver avec l'eau du Canada et nos voisins du Sud. Pas très rassurant...

Pas une lecture facile, ça m'a pris beaucoup plus de temps qu'à l'habitude pour un livre de ce genre et de cette épaisseur. Et le correcteur d'épreuves ne gagnera pas de prix avec ce roman : il y a des coquilles en quantité, la ponctuation laisse parfois à désirer.

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book. Stressful and interesting to learn more about privatization of water and problems inherent in NAFTA. Makes me want to learn more about issues. Very fast paced. You can tell this is a first book- some of the dialogue was phony and there was way too much description of clothing, furniture, etc. in a way I found distracting and comical.

[John Kaufmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eco-thriller. Decent. Provides a glimpse of some of the water issues facing us, in particular privatization. Character development is okay, plot is good. Not a master thriller, but there was enough action and mystery to keep me reading.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book I am still mulling over...it's worth a glance...but I'll get back to this once I have figured out whether to recommend it.

[ChrisMaW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pakender Klima-Thriller mit leider allzuviel Aktualität.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sensational eco-political thriller that touches on numerous issues in the fight to keep water 'free'.

[Wren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good - eco thriller

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liked the concept, could be the future.