The Doomsday Show

This entertaining environmental thriller from Alpert (The Coming Storm) opens during Climate Emergency Week when Manhattan’s streets are swarming with protestors. Max Mirsky, the head of the Doomsday Theater Company, is performing a parody of a song from Oliver! mocking Hollister Tarkington, CEO of Stygian Energy, “America’s biggest coal-mining company,” outside its corporate headquarters. Suddenly, a masked woman approaches Max and reminds him he once wrote an article naming the five people who have done the most damage to the environment, including Hollister. She whispers, “We just got number five. Now we’re going after the other four.” When Hollister drops dead in his office and another on the list dies a suspicious death, the FBI suspects Max is responsible. Soon afterward, terrorists kidnap Max’s daughter, Sonya, a climate activist. Realizing the FBI is concentrating its manpower on preventing more deaths and not on finding Sonya, Max and his friends determine to rescue Sonya. Well-drawn characters match skillfully planted clues, and readers will enjoy the protestors’ parodies derived from popular Broadway shows. Alpert should win new fans with this one. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House. (Oct.)