Ultimatum Book

I expected a lot from this book, touted by the Economist as a taut thriller about a hot topic. I was deeply disappointed.

DISCLAIMERS: I'll try not to give away too much, but there's some spoilers here. Also, I appear to be one of the few "climate change" agnostics left out there. So while I'm open to the discussion of epic destruction to come, I expect some evidence or reasoning to back it up.

The plot is pretty straightforward: President-elect Joe Benton is told of secret studies by the Navy revealing cataclysmic damage to come from climate change. He desperately tries to negotiate with the Chinese to reduce emissions and save civilization from untold suffering, but ends up pushing international relations to the brink of catastrophe. Unfortunately, this concept is executed so poorly that it ends up laughable rather than thrilling.

This book is not convincing. I don't expect scientific accuracy from a work of fiction (especially one set in the future), but Glass seems to have a mortal fear of science. He produces a top-secret "environmental surveillance" group (such a cliché) that supposedly has the magical ability to predict climate change with 99% accuracy. When asked why nobody else detected the disaster to come, our brilliant "scientist" can only prattle on about her research fleet and expect us to believe that her research will be validated a few years later. Yeah, sure. So does Benton want the research peer-reviewed? Does he expect corroborating studies? Nope. After the first 50 pages or so, there is no longer any attempt to explain things beyond vague insinuations about "feedback" and the occasional natural disaster. It's clear that Glass is catering to an audience already convinced of impending doom from global warming, and he does nothing to explain the situation's gravity. Sure, he has plenty of numbers (millions have to be evacuated!!!) and statistics (trillions of dollars!!!), but he never gets technical or detailed about how things will go so wrong.

This is a grave error. Near the end of the book, when the US is faced with a thermonuclear apocalypse, Pres. Benton keeps pressing for everyone else to sign on to his "Carbon Plan". It's supposed to be grave, but I literally burst out laughing. The positioning is so incongruous, it's funny. Glass gives us no reason to believe that his disaster is so terrible as to warrant so much suffering. Nor does he provide us with good reasons (beyond sympathy for wildfire victims) for Benton's desperation. Which leads to the next flaw...

The characters are pathetic. Glass has been compared to Tom Clancy, but Clancy's characters have exponentially more depth. And anyone who's read Clancy knows that his characters ain't all that deep. I'm not sure why Glass even bothers with dialogue after the first 100 pages - we can predict what they'll say word for word. Benton is relentlessly moral, and aside from occasional outbursts (which inevitably include "Hell's Bells!", a phrase you will grow to loathe as it is repeated over and over and over...) he's a straight arrow. His family dynamics are dull - though he has trouble with his son Greg, there's no explanation of why and Glass soon forgets about it altogether. The President's advisers are equally flimsy, with tough-guy Larry Olsen standing firm and sniveling Alan Ball constantly aiming to back down. China's President Wen, on whom so much depends, is mostly ignored for the critical part of the book. Don't expect any exploration of his psychology. The other characters are even more forgettable.

While it only took me a day to read Ultimatum, it must have taken Glass a lifetime to write it. He forgets about plot lines and leaves them lying around like confetti on January 1st in Times Square. A suspicious leak? It's all the rage for a few pages, but soon it fades away. The internal political dynamics in China, arguably the most interesting part of the book, are never explored in depth. We see one of the possible successors to the Chinese Presidency stepping forward from the crowd... but nothing comes of it. These are the themes that a good thriller will tie together at the end, but Glass leaves us with nothing but questions. Why did Wen do what he did? What dynamics back home in China prompted it? Why did the rest of the world line up on Benton's side? I don't know, and you probably won't either.

I give this book two stars because it is fairly engrossing and offers some interesting possibilities for the future (military intervention in Columbia, etc.). But if you're hoping for a real exploration of the climate change issue, don't buy this book. If you're hoping for interesting characters, don't buy this book. If you're hoping for the complex plot lines and intrigue of a thriller, don't buy this book. If you want a mediocre Clive Cussler look-a-like with lots of irritating dialogue and no plot evolution, be my guest. This is the book for you.