Author(s): Paul E Hardisty

Current Affairs

In a near future, where civilisation has collapsed, a government of youth has taken power in North America. All older people deemed responsible for the cataclysmic climate emergency are relocated, but a breakaway group escapes exile to seek freedom ... at devastating cost...

 

' The dystopian future landscape of The Forcing comes with a heightened realism that grips and shakes you ... provocative and insightful, visceral and terrifying' SciFi Now Book of the Month

 

' A compelling, moving story of survival in a dying world ... a novel that might have actually predicted our future' Ewan Morrison

 

' Smart, gripping, and all too plausible ... asks the big questions that we're running out of time to answer, and announces Paul E. Hardisty as the true heir to John Christopher' Tim Glister

 

The jaw-dropping, passionate and provocative climate-emergency thriller from one of the world's leading environmental scientists.

 

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Civilisation is collapsing...

 

Frustrated and angry after years of denial and inaction, in a last-ditch attempt to stave off disaster, a government of youth has taken power in North America, and a policy of institutionalised ageism has been introduced. All those older than the prescribed age are deemed responsible for the current state of the world, and are to be ' relocated', their property and assets confiscated.

 

David Ashworth, known by his friends and students as Teacher, and his wife May, find themselves among the thousands being moved to ' new accommodation' in the abandoned southern deserts - thrown together with a wealthy industrialist and his wife, a high court lawyer, two recent immigrants to America, and a hospital worker. Together, they must come to terms with their new lives in a land rendered unrecognisable.

 

As the terrible truth of their situation is revealed, lured by rumours of a tropical sanctuary where they can live in peace, they plan a perilous escape. But the world outside is more dangerous than they could ever have imagined. And for those who survive, nothing will ever be the same again...

 

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'A bold, beautifully written and imagined novel about an all-too plausible future - Paul Hardisty is a visionary' Luke McCallin

 

' An excellent blend of deep suspense, thriller and - to be honest - horror. The message within it is all too plausible, the solution to the problem distinctly chilling. Wonderfully pitched and easily believable' James Oswald

 

' Fierce, thoughtful, deeply humane and always compelling. Tightly plotted, the tension builds from page one and never relents' David Whish-Wilson

 

' Outstanding! Thrilling and thought-provoking.If there's any justice, this book will be HUGE!!!' Michael J Malone

 

' The book I've been waiting and hoping for... ' Paul Waters

 

' Hardisty is a fine writer' Lee Child

 

' With the biting intensity of a thriller and the majestic world-building of a classic dystopian tale ... a cataclysmic call-to-arms and a powerful warning' B S Casey

 

Praise for Paul E. Hardisty

 

***Shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger***
***The Times and Sunday Telegraph Book of the Year***

 

' A stormer of a thriller - vividly written, utterly tropical, totally gripping' Peter James

 

' A fast-paced action thriller, beautifully written' Tim Marshall, author of Prisoners of Geography

 

' A remarkably well-written, sophisticated novel in which the people and places all come alive on the page... ' Literary Review

 

' Searing ... at times achieves the level of genuine poetry' Publishers Weekly