Snowflake

A Novel

By: Arthur Jeon

Narrated by: Jeffrey Holz, Maxwell Glick

Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

A high school scholarship student must kill the president as an act of environmental protection.

Brilliant 18-year-old Ben Wallace didn’t set out to become a presidential assassin, but after a mind-altering experience, Ben discovers some facts about Earth’s rapid global warming, and none of it is good news. Now, Ben is on a dangerous trajectory, believing he must kill the president of the United States to save the planet.

“A species goes extinct every 20 minutes, 26,000 a year.” (NY Times)

“Worldwide, 7 million people a year die from air pollution.” (Science Daily)

“Humankind has wiped out 60 percent of all animals since 1970.” (The Guardian)

Faced with such dire news, Ben becomes outraged by the president’s climate change lies, attacks on climate science, and destruction of the natural world. He decides there is only one solution - a desperate, but necessary act of environmental activism and social justice to protect his generation: Ben must kill POTUS.

At his exclusive private school, Ben becomes a loner, self-isolated from the other students who appear - on Instagram, anyway - not to have a care in the world. Not a single student seems to notice the planet is burning. It's all too much denial and lies - he's got to act! Skipping his meds and therapist to prepare for his mission, the actions of this teenage vegan stress-test the line between madness and morality.

During the six weeks leading up to his assassination of the president of the United States, Ben realizes he’ll never get close enough to kill the president with a gun. Instead, he hatches a realistic high-tech strategy, meticulously prepping for the daunting challenge he faces to assassinate a president.

Throughout this controversial climate change novel, Ben grapples with the philosophical, practical, and moral reasons that make his radical actions necessary. Mr. Hale, Ben's STEM teacher and a former Navy SEAL, sees that his best student is struggling and attempts to take Ben under his wing. But Hale makes a fateful mistake by ignoring the signs of Ben's unraveling.

With a narrative structure that springs from Ben's brief journal entries, a ritual that helps him process his overactive mind into a singular confessional voice, the events tighten into a gripping suspense thriller racing to a shocking conclusion. For those who feel like its young protagonist, angry and helpless as we blow past irreversible tipping points, the novel is an urgent battle cry - if not to take up arms, then to become a climate change activist fighting against humankind’s extinction.

Warning: Snowflake, a cli-fi novel and political thriller, is a work of contemporary historical fiction - it swims the current of America's craziest cultural waters and terrifying global warming facts. But the climate science Ben cites is real, the politics are true, and the president’s attacks on the environment are accurate.

©2020 Arthur Jeon (P)2021 Arthur Jeon

Incredibly Gripping, with emotional narration

In addition to being a thriller, this book was highly informative about where we are in the slide into climate chaos. You really feel Benji’s anger and angst. This book takes you on an incredible and emotional ride. I was wrung out by the narrator’s skill and how well it was written.

Climate Change, Mental Health and more

Ben Wallace is a young man who is gifted, clever, and outgoing. Sadly no one notices when Ben stops his medications, begins to self-isolate nor his single-minded focus on global warming and whom he blames. There are tragic consequences to his actions followed by finger-pointing. His mentor notices but fails to connect with Ben in a significant manner that would allow the impending situation from happening.

Arthur Jeon, the author, tells the story of a young man spiraling out of control. His descriptions, dialogs, and storyline are well executed with vivid imagery. He developed each character and situation with care. The facts and weaving of the story around the dangers of climate change are well researched. Jeon is vivid in his imagery of Ben’s mental illness and the dangerous path he is on.

The narrators, Jeffrey Holz and Maxwell Glick delivered solid performances. Their cadence matched each situation, and they were adept at projecting the right amount of emotion. They spoke clearly and with confidence, slipping into their characters.

This is a book that one must listen to and then contemplate afterward. For me, it was a bit difficult to get past the “cretin” and “orange man” comments that were repeatedly being used to describe an unliked President. While I recognized this was an effort to demonstrate Ben’s unbalanced mind, it felt a bit overdone. Also, there were too many facts included which made the book a bit burdensome at times.

There were no issues with the quality or production of this audiobook. It was clear and crisp.