Water, Inc.

This threat to a continental resource has been eyed by the United States for many years. The NAFTA arrangement opened every resource to outside control through its Chapter 11 terms. If interested parties could once gain permission to extract the resource, then the demand and profit would be the only limitations. And demand for water in the USA is rising beyond calculation. In this racing novel of finance, chicanery, corruption and political power, Varda Burstyn demonstrates how the right connections and influence manipulate people for profit. She posits a viable threat to Canada's most precious natural resource. Bill Greele is a financier well versed in Canada's water resources. He also has no illusions about his country's increasing demand for this rapidly diminishing resource. Water has been drained from the watercourses of the United States. What water remains in streams is highly polluted. The underground aquifer is being pumped dry for irrigation, industry and - golf courses? This demand is exceeding supply and Greele wants to provide for the market. He also wants to pocket the profits providing new water can bring. With sheer force of will, Greele assembles a consortium of investors to create an extraction and pipeline project. His field agents have decided Quebec, with its "nationalist" aspirations is highly vulnerable to Greele's ambitious plan. All he needs is an agreement in principle to begin operations. In thrillers, seemingly minor events may have unexpected impact, bringing together unlikely people and leading to barely feasible results. In this book, a former Air Force officer sees his proposal for a fuel-efficient aircraft summarily dumped, diverting the funds to the water plan. Although not well versed in Canadian issues, Malcolm Macpherson's environmentally aware - the proposed aircraft would have been both cost-effective and less polluting of the atmosphere. When he learns of the Quebec pipeline project, Malcolm wants to scupper it. He's clearly out of his depth. Bill Greele has a long reach and will use whatever means necessary to achieve his goals. Macpherson encounters environmentalist Claire Davidowicz. She's not the granny-glasses shirtwaist dress sort of activist. Claire's a hard-bitten businesswoman with good contacts and knowledge of the paths of power. Macpherson has inadvertantly selected well, but neither are prepared to face the challenges arising before them. Greele's long reach extends into many places. He doesn't influence politicians, he owns them. They are able to do his bidding and in the current US administration with its "cochon" of a President, more than willing. Out of their ken, pressure, great pressure is applied to the Quebec Separatiste government to approve the proposal quickly. Greele and his cohorts have no qualms about using whatever is needed to complete the project. Murder isn't beyond their ethics. Privatising water has been in the works here for some time.

What a fabulous book! Such a great read- a real page turner, couldn't put it down. Great characters, terrific plot, suspense, overwhelming information. It has it all!!

Like millions of women in North America, I am never happier than when I'm reading a book with amazing women characters at the heart of the action. For me a good women's read has to be a great read, with well drawn characters who I can identify with. Varda Burstun's Water Inc is this kind of really inteligent, aborbing thriller that I just wanted to read and read. For the first fifty pages I was delighted with the political intrigue, then once the plot thickened I literally couldn't put the book down becuase I wanted to know how my favourite characters were doing-- which is always the point for me of reading a novel in the first place. And the writing was great throughout -- clean, funny, smart. I loved the understanding of Quebec and the detailed environmental and scientific research, all intergraded into a fast paced novel that meets my requirements for vacation reading because it was so pleasurable!"

Varda Burstyn's Water Inc. is as good as the best political thrillers, and even better, because as you read, you learn things that everyone should know about the water industry. The plausibility of the plot adds an extra thrill. Wonderful subway reading without the guilt that comes from reading cheap thrillers.

This may sound odd, however, I'm on the subway totally engrossed in this book by Varda Burstyn called Water Inc. My two favorite characters are falling in love, my most beloved part of Canada is about to sell its soul... and then I hear... "Excuse me, what are you reading, your so into it" Oh-My-God. To be perfectly honest, I have not seen, 'my type' look in my direction in three years. So ... she's buying a copy and we have a date this weekend!!! But back to the book. You may have experienced how some books, as you read them, become part of your life. You find yourself walking down the street and thinking about a story and characters as if its reality. That's what Water Inc is like for me. Books don't often do that, but when they do ... it shows.