Almost 55 Degrees in the Shade

Silent and disparate groups counter a sophisticated mining conspiracy so far reaching there is no time but now. 50 Degrees in the Shade - if you can get some - is a comedic plot based read, laced with vigilante justice and plenty of characters to remember. The climate crisis is worsening and extreme weather events are everyone's problem in this satirical crime fiction story. Mining companies are moving unabated on the Australian mainland. A trenchant resistance group wants gas exports to fall off a cliff so NET ZERO happens. Into that mix steps a number of Aboriginal renegades seeking reprieve from rampant scarring of the earth. At the centre of everything is Warunga - an outback town promoting off-the-grid to others. The citizens want a progressive energy future. They become pitched against elements of the international reinsurance industry who are backing carbon emitters and reduction in natural disaster payouts. The fight is hampered on all sides. A Gold Coast enclave of Chinese Intelligence and influence peddlers want to secure their energy investment. A cabal of Balkan misogynists with assassination dna are hired to curtail the environmental push. A trumped-up religious cult sets up on prime agricultural land - fronting a slush fund for a smug British elite. On the ground the Federal Police are working both sides of the fence. Things are helped by a group of Indigenous women who dispose of violent men and sell soft-goods back to the chastened to build schools. Environmental and Social War is in the air. The story starts when Claudia Nirvana and Boris Broad from La Foreste meet in an outback watering-hole to discuss borrowed time. They observe an observer and quickly the dry bone environment is worth fighting for again. With more murder than you poke a stick at in this noir takedown - 50 Degrees in the Shade will keep you guessing.