My CommercialEco-Thriller with Speculative Elements:
THE FRACTURING ICE
2023 SHORTLISTED: Retreat West Opening Lines Contest
2022 KILLER NASHVILLE CLAYMORE AWARD BEST THRILLER FINALIST under title BENEATH THE ICE
Set in 2050, the Doomsday Glacier, Thwaites, in Antarctica, has collapsed, causing a two-foot sea-level rise. Worse yet, rare-earth minerals necessary for modern technologies, including the tools for fighting the climate crisis, are all but gone.
It may be the future, but the world is running like it’s 1985. Does Antarctica hold the solution? Some think so…
Unique magnetic crystals found only in Antarctica could restore the modern era. There’s just one problem: with the collapse of Thwaites, the first domino has fallen. Any large-scale mining in Antarctica will cause the other dominoes to fall, ending the world as we know it.
Carlos Perez, a scientist turned killer, stashes revolutionary crystal samples at a Chilean research facility in Antarctica, crystals he will use to crown the next global superpower. To avoid detection by authorities, he returns to the scene aboard a pleasure cruise. Recently widowed Diana Harris, a sustainable planet advocate with a background in geology, is also aboard with her best friend. After finding an exotic red crystal, she begins an investigation that sparks a love interest but endangers her life and the lives of others. The CIA is also aboard, tracking Carlos’s crew.
When Diana uncovers Carlos’s plans, she commits to stopping him. But Carlos leaves Diana and other campers stranded on shore when he hijacks the ship to recover his crystal samples, now on top of a newly formed iceberg. Diana leads the campers to safety as a rare cyclone approaches, but the group barely makes it back to the ship alive. With time running out before life-threatening winds hit, Diana must act. But first, she must overcome her own self-doubts and painful memories of a climbing accident. China is monitoring the new iceberg from a nearby secret military base. Saving the planet is about to become deadly.
bclark@iowareflections.com t: @prairiewind46