Great Pacific: Trashed

An oil heir makes an environmental statement by claiming the Great Pacific Garbage Patch as a nation in this fast-paced ecological adventure. Chas Worthington III is working on technology that will help clean up oil spills to counter the environmentally hazardous initiatives of the company that his family started (which has since gone public). But due to his playboy attitude, his ideas are dismissed by the board. He fakes his death with the help of his best friend and builds a research station on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where he faces the wrath of a giant octopus, a group of indigenous cargo-cult descendants, and a band of pirates after Soviet-era nuclear weapons. Despite being based on the misconception that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a solid, islandlike entity, the story is a phenomenal ride of not only good old-fashioned action and sea monsters, but also of Chas’s self-discovery. The art buoys the story at every turn, and the images looking at the action from below the thin layer of garbage that supports the main characters are particularly well done. A strong first volume in a new series. (May)