BIRNAM WOOD by Eleanor Catton

The title is a MacBeth reference, but here it’s a New Zealand environmental activist group that surreptitiously plants vegetables on unoccupied lands they don’t own.  Mira founded the group, and now she has accepted a large donation from American billionaire Robert Lemoine.  Is this a pact with the devil?  Time will tell, but Lemoine certainly is not known for his ecological awareness.  Under the guise of building a doomsday bunker, Lemoine is conducting an illegal mining operation.  Tony, a former Birnam Wood member and aspiring journalist, becomes curious about Lemoine’s activities and finds himself being pursued by Lemoine’s heat-seeking drones.  Lemoine is the perfect villain—charismatic but ruthless, unscrupulous, self-serving, and opportunistic.  I don’t love the fact that Mira and her roommate Shelley are more than a little starstruck by Lemoine, whereas it takes a man (Tony) to see through his façade.  That quibble aside, this novel is full of suspense and adventure and therefore right up my alley.  Plus, it mentions that fewer than a million days have passed since the birth of Jesus.  I love fascinating tidbits like this, as well as the suggestion that we replace “I’m sorry” with “Thank you.”  For example, instead of saying to my tennis partner, “I’m sorry I muffed that shot,” I could say, “Thank you for not yelling at me for muffing that shot.”  What a concept.