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Sign up todayHummingbird Salamander
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“Is this postmodern eco-noir mystery, with its dark, twisty, dystopian currents a book that everyone will love? No. But fans of Vandermeer's other work will find plenty to love, as he lets his unique imagination unravel the mystery of an enigmatic eco-terror plot that is either meant to save the world... or destroy it! ”
— Josh • Underground Books
From the author of Annihilation, a brilliant speculative thriller of dark conspiracy, endangered species, and the possible end of all things
Security consultant “Jane Smith” receives an envelope with a key to a storage unit that holds a taxidermied hummingbird and clues leading her to a taxidermied salamander. Silvina, the dead woman who left the note, is a reputed ecoterrorist and the daughter of an Argentine industrialist. By taking the hummingbird from the storage unit, Jane sets in motion a series of events that quickly spin beyond her control.
Soon, Jane and her family are in danger, with few allies to help her make sense of the true scope of the peril. Is the only way to safety to follow in Silvina’s footsteps? Is it too late to stop? As she desperately seeks answers about why Silvina contacted her, time is running out—for her and possibly for the world.
Hummingbird Salamander is Jeff VanderMeer at his brilliant, cinematic best, wrapping profound questions about climate change, identity, and the world we live in into a tightly plotted thriller full of unexpected twists and elaborate conspiracy.
Jeff VanderMeer is the author of Dead Astronauts, Borne, and the Southern Reach trilogy, the first volume of which, Annihilation, won the Nebula Award and the Shirley Jackson Award for best novel and was adapted into a movie by Alex Garland. VanderMeer speaks and writes frequently about issues relating to climate change as well as urban rewilding. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida, on the edge of a ravine, with his wife, Ann VanderMeer, and their cat, Neo.
Lisa Flanagan is a classically trained soprano, comedian, voice-over artist, and Earphones Award–winning narrator.
Reviews
“This is climate fiction at its most urgent and gripping.”
"You won’t look up even once while you’re reading.”
“This madcap mystery offers plenty of charms, as well as something much darker.”
“Like your favorite Hollywood blockbuster…ecoterrorists, evil corporations, a race to defuse doomsday weapons, gunfire, fisticuffs, action sequences, and hair-raising escapes.”
“Celebrates nature while inviting us to contemplate the effects of contamination, pandemics, and other crises and how none of them make us ‘even blink anymore.’”
“Will leave you in the dark for as long as it possibly can, before divulging it all in a shocking reveal.”
“An eco-thriller…and an entertaining whirlwind.”
“VanderMeer knocks his conspiracy thriller out of the park.”
“[A] mix of thriller and biotech speculative fiction…Exquisite prose pulls the reader deep into the labyrinthine plot.”
“A taut, breakneck thriller.”
“Both a thriller and a requiem for a disappearing world.”
“A thriller equal parts ecological and psychological…revealing our current dystopia.”
“This gripping eco-thriller pulls readers into a world of danger, mystery, and obsession.”
“A detective story…futuristic in bearing but deeply relevant to this present, dangerous moment.”
“A strange, seductive eco-thriller ripe for our era.”
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