GREENSWORD

 

 

Greensword by Donald J. Bingle: Book Cover

 

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They’re about to save the world; they just don’t want to get caught doing it.

Zeke, Milo, and Brandon are struggling to keep their environmental protest group, GreensWord, alive.  It impresses chicks and sure beats getting jobs as corporate serfs in the real world.  But their chief benefactor, movie star Matthew Barrington, threatens to cut off funding unless they stop global warming before his Malibu beach house slides into the storm-tossed ocean.  In their desperate effort to save the beach house and their organization, the GreensWord trio is willing to try almost anything.  But nothing is fast enough to stop global warming in time. . .until they think of the unthinkable solution.

If that means they also take out the reigning internet tycoon and his monopolistic Seattle software company, that's just organic frosting on the vegan cake.

And although they may be crazed fanatics, they've watched enough T.V. to think they know exactly what to do to foil any investigation of their noble crime.

GREENSWORD is a dark comedy about the environment, extremism, stupid criminals, and the lengths to which people will go to avoid getting a real job.  See reviews below.

From the American Library Association's Booklist:   "A novel about three slacker environmentalists may seem an unlikely vehicle for edge-of-the-seat suspense, yet Bingle’s satirical ecoterrorist thriller just might haunt readers’ nightmares for days. Zeke, Milo, and Brandon are twentysomething conservationists whose only claim to fame, aside from a little TV footage spotlighting their faltering environmentalist organization, GreensWord, is their dubious relationship to action movie star Matthew Barrington. Desperate to save his lavish Malibu beachfront property from global-warming-induced surf damage, Barrington cuts GreensWord a million-dollar check, stipulating that its recipients do something about the ecological crisis immediatelyTheir ensuing, hare-brained schemes to put the money to good use only generate legal woes until they hit upon one that seems fool-proof: purchasing a rogue Russian nuclear warhead and smuggling it into a cave at the base of Mount Rainier. With a detonation that triggers massive volcanic eruptions and atmospheric ash, global warming will come to a halt.  Needless to say, nothing goes quite as planned, and Bingle’s storytelling acumen makes the scenario all too chillingly plausible."-- Carl Hays

From Library Journal"Zeke,
Milo, and Brandon, members of a tiny ecoprotest group called GreensWord, aim to stop global warming before the beach house of their prime (and only) benefactor, actor Matthew Barrington, slides into the ocean. When Barrington threatens to cut off their funding, the enterprising trio steps up its timetable and changes its agenda from painting ... roofs ... white to deflect the sun's heat to a plan that rivals the worst nightmares of everyone living in the nuclear age. The author of Forced Conversion demonstrates his talent for dark comedy in the style of Kurt Vonnegut and Victor Gischler. Bingle takes aim at both sides of the global warming controversy, addressing global complexities in comedic trappings for a cautionary tale that belongs in most libraries."

Says Hugo and Nebula Award Winner, Robert J. Sawyer: "Science fiction has always been a great vehicle for biting satire and social commentary­­from H. G. Wells' The Time Machine right on up to Donald Bingle's engrossing GREENSWORD.  Bingle is a terrific writer."

Order for $15.00 by sending funds by PayPal to orphyte@aol.com.  U.S. shipping is free. Now also available on Kindle and Nook for just $6.99.

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Says USA Today Bestselling Author of the Warlands trilogy, Elizabeth A Vaughan:  "I loved GREENSWORD.    The characters made me laugh right out loud, but the actions of this group of half-cocked people, with a half-assed plan, had me gasping in horror as their implausible schemes became all too plausibly real. Suddenly, the twists of the chilling plot had me turning the pages, unable to look away from the macabre tale and yet still chuckling guiltily as the story reached its terrifying climax in a horribly real way.   GREENSWORD is a darkly humorous, gripping thriller that combines environmental imperatives, terrorist activities, and sex in ways that still make me wake up in a cold sweat, months after reading the book, convinced that it could happen."  

Says Joseph A. Morris, conservative political commentator:  "Donald Bingle's GREENSWORD is great science fiction, but it is also raucous political satire.  With irony and wit worthy of Jonathan Swift, he exposes the fundamental conceit that drives extremists of all kinds:    Absolute conviction that all the accumulated, hard-earned, wisdom of the past is nothing in comparison with the light bulb that just went off in their heads.   Bingle is a master story-teller and his stories are worth telling."

Says Romance Reviews Today:   "Zeke, Milo, and Brandon form the core membership of an environmental group known as GreensWord. Their goal is to stop global warming. Their main – indeed their only – sponsor is Matthew Barrington, a somewhat washed up movie star, who has a house in Malibu that he believes is threatened by global warming. Barrington wants action – and he wants it now. He offers a million dollars to the group to solve the problem with the proviso that if it is not done within months, he will move his funding to a group that can get results. The three young men toss around various ideas before settling on one they believe will immediately affect the warming; they intend to set a nuclear warhead off on Mt. Rainier. This should solve the problem and make them heroes, right?

Donald J. Bingle has written a dark, comedic satire on the dangers of extremism on either side of any issue, but global warming in particular. He states that “nobody said environmentalism was easy” and proceeds to illustrate how people are carried away by their idealism with a scenario out of our nightmares. Zeke, Milo and Brandon try to plan for everything, but nothing goes as planned. The characters in the story are somewhat heavy-handed, almost drawn as caricatures. I was not sure a book about such a dark subject could hold my interest, but it did make me think. This is a year when the American public will receive many calls to action and we cannot be manipulated by fear. I agree with Mr. Bingle; we need to think and listen first, but we also need a sense of humor about it all. GREENSWORD is dark, ironic, but humorous as well."
-- Lisa Baca

Donald J. Bingle is a published author of short stories and adventures in the science fiction, fantasy, horror, and comedy genres.  His first novel, Forced Conversion, was published by Five Star (Cengage) in November, 2004.  His third novel, Net Impact, was published by Alliteration Ink in August, 2011.  You can get Don’s complete writing resume' at www.donaldjbingle.com.

GREENSWORD was initially written as a screenplay and film rights are available.  Interested agents and producers may contact Don at:

Donald J. Bingle

5N085 Crane Road

St. Charles, Illinois 60175

312-807-4248

orphyte@aol.com