Books

Polluting For Pleasure (W.W. Norton, 1993). From the liner notes: “In the tradition of Silent Spring and Unsafe at Any Speed comes this frightening landmark environmental study.  The message: seemingly innocuous recreational boats, particularly outboards, are polluting as much as all the cars and trucks in America, and the marine industry has been holding its breath, hoping that nobody notices.” Polluting For Pleasure was a complete surprise to a nation long used to going innocently boating on its lakes, rivers and coastlines in the summer; fishing, water skiing, snorkeling, or just enjoying the ride and watching the scenery.  In the book, we learned how as many as 15 Exxon Valdez oil spills could be poisoning our waterways every single year.  We learned what the ecological damage could be, and how the more highly-refined hydrocarbons can cause genetic damage and outright kill aquatic species at their most vulnerable life stages.  We also learned how easy it would be to make the problem go away. Features jacket reviews by Pete Seeger, Helen Caldicott and Dr. George Woodwell.

Polluting for Pleasure can be purchased at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or by order at any independent bookstore: http://www.amazon.com/Polluting-Pleasure-Andre-Mele/dp/0393035107

 

Book of Storms.  (Unpublished, 96,000 words)  On a stifling Miami night, Will Hudson, an obsessed, ADD-afflicted climatologist, impulsively abducts his nemesis (and part of his extended family), climate-denying US Senator French Douglas, leaving behind everything he loves and risking life itself to sail an instrument-laden catamaran into the most destructive hurricane in history.  If he survives, he will be able to perfect his climate model (the Book of Storms) and predict hurricanes like the one that took his daughter and parents, gaining redemption and saving millions of lives. In the process, the nation’s leading climate denier will have borne witness, with immense political consequences.  Hudson and his pregnant wife, Erin, anchor of a renowned CNN show called Climate Today, are each tested to their limits, and beyond, amid the terrifying chaos of a storm that is literally abrading a major U.S. city to dust. Their stories, set seventeen years in the future, anticipate the hard realities of a collapsing climate, while celebrating love, courage and character.

Day After Tomorrow-type exploitation this is not.  Book of Storms is the product of extensive scientific research, and several of my readers said it has a lot in common with The Da Vinci Code—a thriller that made people think, and told its audience things they didn’t know.  However, where Robert Langdon is basically a cipher, Will Hudson is a dynamic character with a distinct arc.

 

Silver Stars (unpublished: 143,000 words). Dean Hudson and Carl Stokes come of age in the late 1960’s facing the inevitable test of courage in war, each marked for a separate destiny by his father’s medal of valor.  Lina Hassan loves Dean, but cannot understand why he has disappeared when she needs him most, following a brutal attack.  The three characters, forced onto extraordinary journeys, must face life-threatening challenges alone.  Only two will meet the test, and only two will return. Silver Stars is a sympathetic and realistic portrayal of three young people caught in the upheaval between the golden years of America’s postwar era and the gritty decade of Vietnam, when the nation confronted its legacy of injustice, racism, drugs, pollution and poverty.

See sample chapter.