100 Books - #4 "Last EV Out"

Our review today is on the book named, "Last EV Out" written by author Blake Palmer Timothy.

Synopsis
Set a few years into the future, Timothy imagines a world that has put aside the idea of a combustion engine so far that it is nearly criminal to even discuss it openly. Okay, this is not "1984" and this is by no stretch an Orwell masterpiece. But, ideologically, it's not too far off.

Picu, our main character, finds himself in the possession of information that truly will set the world on it's ear. Mostly that all the cobalt (a key ingredient in electric car batteries) has been slowly becoming used up. World-wide. Lender Corp., the biggest processor of it, has developed a replacement. But it only lessens the amount of the cobalt needed, not replacing it altogether. Lender has found a way to stave off the collapse, but it's a bluff. A certain group of corporate big-wigs have stashed enough to light the engines on a secret interstellar rocket. One that has just enough room for them and their families.

The young man who stumbles upon the truth feels deeply obligated to tell everyone. At the same time, he knows that if it got out, it could lead to the cataclysmic undoing of the world economy. Of course, the corporate giants discover Picu and chase after him.

He's a bit of clumsy goof and this book has it's share of real humor. Sadly, as the business creeps close in, our hero is saved by an unbelievably commonplace angle. Adventure would demand that Picu find a way to solve his dilemma. But he is represented as too much of an idiot. And therefore, a clumsy hero that has no saving grace.

Review
This story is fairly recent in it's development, but it is not in print at this time. The meanderings of Blake Palmer Timothy is not going to ever show up on the NYT. The story-line is, however, somewhat original. The humor would be the only thing that saves this story, but on it's own, there's just not enough to carry it. Timothy is a writer in the genre of Douglas Adams. Complete with the British origins. But he is nowhere near Adams' ability.

The story was published in a small market by a small company. However, they did a better job of publishing that Timothy did writing it. I suppose we can't have it all, all the time.

This book is not in print. For more information on 100 Books, click here.