Doug Barden

The Plague Messenger Doug Barden

The Plague Messenger is a stand alone work of literary fiction that combines elements of magical realism with a serious and timely examination of the causes of - and potential solutions to - our global environmental crises. Ten years after the failed 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, humankind faces a series of increasingly devastating catastrophes, the likes of which have not been witnessed since the biblical plagues. Swarms of mutated fireflies send thousands to the hospital with acid burns; throngs of mythical sea creatures cripple oil rigs; giant clouds transform into critically endangered animals; and a rain of human waste fouls much of the world's water supply. Jonah Feld, a Columbia University Professor and the White House's Senior Environmental Science Advisor, is the only one who knows the plagues aren't random anomalies but Nature's revolt against humanity. But sharing his secret means risking personal and professional ridicule-or worse. As a teenager, Jonah's insistence that he could communicate with Elijah, an African elephant housed at the Bronx Zoo who was attempting to enlist him in a war against human indifference to climate change, landed Jonah in a mental hospital. Now, older, wiser, and with a career, a teenage daughter, and a serious relationship on the line, risk-averse Jonah must decide whether to protect himself or the planet. Initially, Jonah questions God's role in these plagues and has no desire to commit apostasy, as he knows the age of Jewish prophecy officially ended in the sixth century BCE. Nonetheless, Jonah recognizes the urgency and legitimacy of Elijah's demand, and at the risk of losing everything, he urges his colleagues at the highest levels of government to become proper stewards to our environment. When that fails, he feels he has no choice but to embrace his role as a messenger by spreading the word to anyone who will listen, leveraging the Internet in sensational ways to make himself heard. Will Jonah, as the plagues increase in magnitude and scope, overcome his long-held skepticism and accept the mantle of Prophet? Whatever Jonah decides, he will not change the minds of many others throughout the world who remain convinced Jonah is crazy and a threat to our global society.