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It’s 2049, and climate change is making much of the world unbearably hot. Some people are looking to the far north to escape. An American architect is building a community called Camp Zero in northern Canada.
Rose agrees to go work there as an escort, but her real job is to spy on what’s happening. Her Korean-immigrant mother has lost her longtime home (and income) because of a terrible storm. The man who hires Rose to spy promises her mother a good home in a safe place in return for her work.
As Rose arrives at Camp Zero, the son of a very wealthy man gets there too. He is trying to get away from his family and all they stand for. Grant hopes to do some good by being a professor for the members of the community.
Both find the place to be not as they expected. Progress is far behind what Grant had been promised. He and Rose both gradually realize the project is hiding secrets. And to top it off, rumors (urban legends, really) are circulating of a group of women soldiers living at a decades-old climate research station nearby. Their mission and what’s really going on there are murky as well.
Camp Zero is a dystopian mystery, where the reader doesn’t really know quite what’s going on or where the story is going. The point of view alternates and it’s not clear how the different pieces are going to come together. The book is rough and portrays a perilous near-future. But it doesn’t just focus on the potential direction the world is heading in with climate change; it brings in elements of feminism and classism. It’s an interesting and unusual mix. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it, but it was thought-provoking.
Rated: High. Profanity includes 41 uses of strong language, 35 instances of moderate profanity, 5 uses of mild language, and 5 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes many references to women acting as prostitutes. Sex scenes are brief but have some detail. Violence includes several killings.
