Thirst for Justice: A Novel

by David R. Boyd

Overview

“Fast and fierce” – Kirkus Reviews

For readers of John Grisham and William Deverell comes a political thriller ripped from today’s headlines. Lawyer and environmental activist David R. Boyd writes a riveting thriller about the psychological toll of a humanitarian crisis. Filled with tension and courtroom drama, Thirst for Justice will have you questioning what you believe about right versus wrong.

Michael MacDougall is a talented trauma surgeon whose life in Seattle is slowly unraveling. Frustrated as an ER doctor and with his marriage in trouble, he volunteers with a medical aid charity in the Congo. Disconsolate at the lives he cannot save in the desperate conditions of the region, he is shattered by a roadside confrontation with the mercenary Mai Mai that results in unthinkable losses.

Back home in Seattle, he is haunted by his experiences in Africa and what he sees as society’s failure to provide humanitarian aid to those who most desperately need it. Locked in a downward spiral, he becomes obsessed with making his government listen to him and dreams up an act of terrorism to shock his nation awake.

Activist and lawyer David Boyd’s debut novel is a taut political thriller that begs the question: how far is too far when you’re seeking justice?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770412408
Publisher:	ECW Press
Publication date:	10/27/2020
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

David R. Boyd is currently the UN’s Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment and an associate professor of law, policy, and sustainability at the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia. He is the award-winning author of eight books, including The Optimistic Environmentalist and The Rights of Nature. He lives on Pender Island, B.C.

Read an Excerpt

Michael took a deep breath before turning to his next patient. She was the size of a two-year-old American toddler, although her head was disproportionately large. Big brown eyes, but vacant. Skin stretched over bones. Legs like two sticks hinged, with a golf ball in the middle. He looked at the chart. Kapinga Kabobo was seven years old. Nineteen pounds. She should have weighed at least forty. The latest cholera outbreak had tripled the number of people seeking medical attention at the International Medical Assistance Foundation field hospital in Goma.

Michael had quickly become a staff favorite, his quiet confidence and warmth revealed in a broad smile and the crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes. He opened the girl’s mouth gently and used a tongue depressor to take a quick look. “Let’s get this girl on a rehydration program. If she can’t swallow, then use intravenous glucose and electrolytes.” Perhaps startled by the foreign sound of Michael’s voice, the girl defecated onto the dirt floor of the medical tent. The watery diarrhea contained flecks of mucous and epithelial cells the size of rice grains, a telltale sign of cholera.

“We also need some metronidazole. Add it to the IV drip please.” He scrawled instructions onto the chart.

The girl’s listless eyes fluttered and closed. She was fading fast.

“Come on, sweetheart, don’t give up on us now,” Michael pleaded, unwilling to admit that she was probably too far gone. He checked her pulse. Rapid, way faster than it should have been. He took her blood pressure. Low and falling. There was nothing he could do. He held her hand and stroked her cheek, trying to offer some small comfort as he heard the last, rattling breath. Biting back grief and frustration, Michael closed her eyes. Back in Seattle he could have saved her life. Then again, back in the U.S. he’d never seen a case of cholera and probably never would.

He knew that it wasn’t really the disease that had killed her. It was the fact that she had no clean water to drink, and no latrine for going to the bathroom. There were no parents or other relatives to notify; the girl was an orphan and a refugee. Michael would fill out the death certificate later. There were living, breathing, laughing, crying children needing his help.

Editorial Reviews

08/10/2020

In the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo, Seattle surgeon Michael MacDougall, the hero of environmental lawyer Boyd’s taut, thought-provoking debut, gladly donates his medical services, but he’s unprepared for the flood of sick and dying. After outlaws assault members of his team, he returns to Seattle a haunted man. Convinced that America needs to do more for the Congo’s poor and destitute, MacDougall attempts to persuade people in power to take action, like increasing their access to clean water. When his efforts prove fruitless, he commits an act of bioterrorism with the hope of bringing the nation’s attention to his cause. The result finds him arrested and on trial facing the death penalty. Boyd does a fine job of presenting the mental state that leads MacDougall to his misguided action, and raises the question of whether a person can ever be justified for an act of terrorism. Part thriller, part political commentary, and part courtroom drama, this novel will stick with the reader long after the final page. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Fast and fierce, fueled by a knowledge of the legal system that’s equally energizing and disheartening.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Part thriller, part political commentary, and part courtroom drama, this novel will stick with the reader long after the final page.” — Publishers Weekly

“A fast-moving and well-researched political thriller, Thirst for Justice tracks the tidal wave of consequences as one man’s desperate ploy to save the world turns into a struggle to save himself.” — Patrick Tarr, writer/executive producer of the CTV drama, Cardinal

“For Fans of John Grisham.” — 49th Shelf

“If you are collecting Canadian mystery authors, or environmental thrillers, Thirst for Justice belongs on your shelf.” — Kingdom Books

From the Publisher

2020-07-29
Environmentalist Boyd presents a fictional doctor with a plan to make U.S. power players attend to global water needs, though he may need to sacrifice himself to enact it.

Trauma surgeon Michael MacDougall is changed forever during a trip to Congo with the International Medical Assistance Foundation. His ongoing quest for purpose and meaning is quashed when, on a trip through the Masisi province, Mai Mai attack his car, killing Laurent, his young Congolese driver, and raping his colleague Anna. On his return home to his wife, Maria, and his work in the emergency ward at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center, Michael experiences the effects of trauma and depression, with difficulty concentrating and a sense of the meaningless of it all. He’s not brought back to life until his oldest friend, Dominic, agrees to help him launch a foundation that will support developing nations with water, rendering the war for clean water access unnecessary. But months of being brushed off by politicians and potential funders frustrates Michael, who can see that the time for action is now. He develops a plan that’s a bit off the books, and although skirting laws isn’t typically his style, he feels certain that his plan will make people listen. But once it does, there are signs that Michael may be in way over his head, as corrupt honchos at federal agencies play games with the legal system to make him pay.

Fast and fierce, fueled by a knowledge of the legal system that’s equally energizing and disheartening.

Kirkus Reviews

Listeners who relish a taut courtroom drama will appreciate hearing narrator Geoffrey Pounsett present the fictional terrorism trial of Dr. Michael MacDougall, a dedicated surgeon. After traumatic events in the Congo, he feels driven to commit an act of political insurrection: He releases a toxic chemical into the Seattle water supply. Pounsett captures the traits of a man who is caring, youthful, idealistic—and dangerously naïve. Pounsett’s apt depictions of the defendant’s wife and the EPA director display his skill in portraying women. The weary but steady and sagacious voice of the defense attorney is suitably reassuring. Listeners are asked to consider under what circumstances terrorism is justifiable. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2021 - AudioFile

Listeners who relish a taut courtroom drama will appreciate hearing narrator Geoffrey Pounsett present the fictional terrorism trial of Dr. Michael MacDougall, a dedicated surgeon. After traumatic events in the Congo, he feels driven to commit an act of political insurrection: He releases a toxic chemical into the Seattle water supply. Pounsett captures the traits of a man who is caring, youthful, idealistic—and dangerously naïve. Pounsett’s apt depictions of the defendant’s wife and the EPA director display his skill in portraying women. The weary but steady and sagacious voice of the defense attorney is suitably reassuring. Listeners are asked to consider under what circumstances terrorism is justifiable. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2021 - AudioFile