"Ultimatum"

New from Atlantic Monthly Press: Ultimatum by Matthew Glass.

About the book, from the publisher:

November 2032. Joe Benton has just been elected the forty-eighth president of the United States. Only days after winning, Benton learns from his predecessor that previous estimates regarding the effect of global warming on rising sea levels have been grossly underestimated. For the United States, a leading carbon emitter for decades, the prospects are devastating: thirty million coastal-dwelling citizens will need to be relocated; Miami will be washed into the ocean and southern California will waste away to desert; the relocation process will cost trillions of dollars. With the world frighteningly close to catastrophe, Benton opts to abandon multilateral negotiations in the Kyoto 4 summit and resumes secret bilateral negotiations with the Chinese—the world’s worst polluter. As the two superpowers lock horns, the ensuing battle of wits becomes a race against time.

Ultimatum is a prophetic thriller that explores the most pressing issue of the twenty-first century—the future of our planet—and boldly predicts the way the world will be in twenty-five years. It is a brilliant character study of U.S. President Joe Benton and his key aides, including Larry Olsen, his secretary of state, and Alan Ball, his national security advisor. In an amazingly convincing and compelling narrative that moves seamlessly from top secret meetings inside the Oval Office to clandestine emissions talks in Norway and tense negotiations in Beijing, Matthew Glass ratchets up the suspense as the story builds to a devastating climax. Ultimatum is a visionary and deeply unsettling thriller that steers us into the dark heart of political intrigue and a future that is all too believable.