In Diana Colleen’s immersive speculative novel, set in the near-future, a group of women passionate about the environment kidnap some of the world’s wealthiest men in a desperate ploy to recruit them into helping save the earth.

Josh Latham is CEO and founder of Omnicia, “the largest corporation on earth,” one that excels at greenwashing: manipulating corporate images to make them appear eco-friendly when they are not. Latham has just finished showering when suddenly his body stops working, the room fills with water, and it seems he’s drowning.

When he awakens, he’s in a strange place where he meets Mel, leader of the “well-funded sisterhood of psychedelic therapists” who assures him he and the others won’t be harmed. The other men include the head of a social media platform, a retired founder of a giant software firm, a founder of a transportation conglomerate and a German fashion mogul. The women know important details about the men, whose every move and emotion they monitor with futuristic technology.

The men are kept “compliant” with a mix of drugs, immersive technology to simulate experiences, and meditation. The women’s aim is to break down their egos and coerce them into working to solve climate change. The key to winning them over involves psychedelic therapy, which goes smoothly—until one of the men has a nightmarish experience and tragedy ensues.

Colleen is a trained psychedelic facilitator, and her knowledge shows. This is a well-plotted, expertly written story of a mission carried out by smart, likeable women motivated by a love of the earth. It’s fueled by tension as the women try to bring the men along. While a less capable author might have leaned on stereotypes, the men aren’t all evil, and the women aren’t all good. There’s no preaching or politics, just the implied message that the earth is immeasurably beautiful and worth saving.

Ultimately, this is an absorbing story that will have readers guessing at and cheering for the fully satisfying ending.

Also available as an ebook.