A Curious Chemistry

A Curious Chemistry is a comic thriller about eco-warriors, leather bars, a clueless young man, an idealistic young woman, and a grotty town on the verge of destruction.

Ned Smallwood is a young man who lives a boring life. He has no luck with women and works at the bird sanctuary at Shingle Point - a dilapidated coastal town contaminated by hazardous, highly toxic chemicals from the nearby, leaky, and unstable chemical plant.

Ned's life is transformed when he meets Julia, a beautiful and highly idealistic girl, who, for some reason, is very interested in Ned. They go on a date, but to Ned's dismay, she turns out to be an ultra-extreme radical socialist and part of a militaristic action group called the Children of Gaia. But Ned can't help but fall in love, and he will do anything for Julia, so he finds himself being dragged into the group's dangerous and highly illegal activities.

Meanwhile, Lord Harold Grimes, the chief executive of Grimes Chemicals, has a problem. The chemical plant at Shingle Point is unprofitable, and numerous gas leaks and pipe ruptures have resulted in vast compensation claims for the company. He hatches a radical plan. It will net him vast sums of money but involves much death and destruction.

Julia and the Children of Gaia are forced to act, dragging Ned into a situation so dire it radically changes his life, everyone he knows, and the whole of Shingle Point ...

REVIEWS
"Mike Mannion's books are well plotted with characters that leap off the page." Colin Barnsley - Author of the musical Atlantis. "Certainly knows how to keep you hooked." Chris Tunstall - Book reviewer and author of Guardian of the One.