Review: The Water Thief by Nicholas Lamar Soutter

The Water Thief
written by Nicholas Lamar Soutter
published by Nicholas Lamar Soutter

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Why did I pick this book: I was asked by the publicist to review this book. (I received a copy of this book for review purposes.)

Did I enjoy this book: What can I say?  I’m a sucker for Dystopia.  I chuckled at the Easter Eggs in the first few pages (though now I’ve got an undeniable urge to dig out my copy of Lord of the Flies), and once things progressed far enough that libraries started to be named after railroad lines I was hooked.

The Water Thief is thought provoking and extreme, and though at times it felt a bit preachy, I didn’t mind too much.

Would I recommend it: If you’re a fan of dystopian novels (especially if you’re fostering a secret hatred of capitalism), you’ll love it. Literature professors ought to add it to their syllabi, because I bet I’m not the only one nerdtastically awaiting the Rand versus Soutter theses.

Will I read it again: If I can afford it.

About the book – from Goodreads: “There is no difference between the saint who gives food to starving children and the worker who operates the gas chamber that kills them, except that one is making money and the other is losing it.”

CHARLES THATCHER is a private citizen, which is to say that he’s the private property of the Ackerman Brothers Securities Corporation. He’s got problems: the cost of air is going up, his wife wants to sell herself to another corporation, and his colleagues are always trying to get him tossed into the lye vats.

But when he discovers a woman stealing rainwater, he sees his chance to move up in the world, maybe even become an executive. He reports her, painting a picture, not just of a thief, but of a seditionist and revolutionary, someone who believes in that long-dead institution called “government.”

When she suddenly vanishes, he fears the worst and begins trying to track her down. What he finds is a nightmare far worse than he’d imagined-that his report on her may actually have been right.

Now engaged with a small rebel group, Charles learns about life outside his corporation. But in a world where everything is for sale and lies are more profitable than the truth, he begins to wonder if even these revolutionaries have something to hide.