Rotten Gods

October is packed with interesting author talks at our local library. Steve and I are here to to listen to Greg Barron the author of Rotten Gods.  Greg draws on his studies in International Terrorism to write this novel set in Dubai.  The novel is about a group of extremist who hijack an international conference packed with presidents and prime ministers and hold them ransom till they come up with a solution that will release the stranglehold that has gripped the world in every sphere including the economic, social political and environmental dimensions of society.  Our leaders have gathered to bring the world back from the brink of disaster that it finds itself in.  The terrorist are there to make sure they deliver. 

Rotten Gods is a reference to Dubai, the city where the drama unfolds.  Dubai on the surface appears to be prosperous.  Sky scrappers look down on streets where cars zoom by at speeds unheard of in most other places.  Opulent shops are patronised by sheiks who have made their wealth on the oil this land has offered up in plenty.  But if you look closely one sees the disbanded construction sites, workers who sold their all to make their way here from the sub continent left without jobs and without the means to get back home.  The suicide rate is rising…but the world is full of rotten gods uncaring of the problems swirling around them. 

I am excited to be here but at the end of the session I am a little disappointed that he hasn’t shed much light on the actual book itself.  He talks about his writing experience and his time in both Kenya and Somalia where part of the novel is based.  The photos he shows have been taken with an iPhone and don’t really convey a sense of these exotic locations.  Neither of us have read the book so we purchase a copy…the cover hints that we won’t be disappointed.