Energized

Lerner (Small Miracles) delivers a taut near-future thriller about an energy-starved Earth held hostage by a power-mad international cartel. With Earth’s major oil reserves tainted by radiation during the Middle East’s “Crudetastrophe,” a critical need for alternate-energy schemes develops. The most promising is Powersat One (PS-1), a solar-powered satellite built by mining Earth’s new second moon, a captured “dormant comet” called Phoebe. Despite PS-1’s potential, public enthusiasm ebbs due to NIMBY critics, fear of stray microwave beams, and factions favoring other approaches—especially Russian oil companies, who are the only major suppliers left. When a Russian plot interrupts communications with PS-1, microwave beams kill civilians and destroy energy projects worldwide. With no way to send military forces into space, everything depends on a NASA contractor trapped on Phoebe and a handful of radio astronomers back on Earth. Lerner’s vision of the future is both topical and possible in this crisp, fast-paced hard SF adventure. Agent: Eleanor Wood, Spectrum Literary Agency. (July)