OUT OF THEIR ASHES, GREEN SHOOTS WILL GROW

The Constant Gardener meets Dexter – Green Shoots is a gripping conspiracy thriller with an ecological heart.

Brought back from the brink of suicide by a mysterious phone call, grieving journalist John Adamson is on a quest for the truth about his wife Christina’s death in South America.

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A private investigator provides John with clues to what really happened, but also tips him off to investigate a spate of deaths of businessmen, all found with the same cryptic message: ‘Out of their ashes, green shoots will grow.‘

From the protest-filled streets of London to the ravaged jungles of Ecuador, John is unwittingly drawn into a lethal plot.

There seems to be a vigilante killer on the loose, but who is behind these murders and what is the connection to his wife’s death?

My Review

Originally, I wasn’t even going to read Green Shoots. It didn’t appeal to me. I was afraid it would be too political. It’s not that I’m not interested in politics or the environment – I am – I just prefer to keep it separate from the fiction I read.

But then I did and I was literally blown away. It was nothing like I expected. So much heart and emotion. And then the locations I was familiar with – Beachy Head (though I’ve never tried to jump or take a selfie on the edge), Birling Gap and the steps leading down to the pebble beach, Brighton, Hove, The Seven Sisters (I hiked up and down those for the Macmillan Cancer charity). Unfortunately, I’ve never been to Ecuador, but I can see the beauty in my mind’s eye and despair for the birds, the jaguars and the monkeys.

Green Shoots is quite a simple story really. Journalist John Adamson has lost his beautiful wife and no longer able to cope, he takes himself up to Beachy Head. But he receives a call which stops him literally going over the edge. The man on the line knows where he is and why and tells him that he knows the truth about Christina’s death. He also persuades him to investigate the mysterious, seemingly unrelated murders of successful businessmen, all found with the same cryptic message: ‘Out of their ashes, green shoots will grow.’

Desperate to find out what happened to Christina in Ecuador, John is drawn into a dangerous world, where someone has a personal vendetta against these men. But is it enough to kill them and is it because they were all involved in plundering the Ecuadorian forests in order to make money from oil, timber, leather etc.

The scenes where John witnesses the destruction of the environment and the unbalancing of the delicate ecosystem were very harrowing – more harrowing that the grisly murders, because it’s really happening.

I can’t even begin to say how much I loved this book and everything it represents.

Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Ben Westwood is an author, lecturer and performer. He has worked for many years as a journalist, writing for publications including The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian and The Independent. He lived for several years in South America and has authored travel guidebooks to Ecuador, Galapagos and Peru. Green Shoots is his first novel and draws on his own experience of grief and of living in Ecuador.

Ben now lives in East Sussex with his two children and lectures at the University of Brighton. In his spare time, he is a singer-songwriter and has released two self-funded albums.

To accompany the release of his debut novel, Ben is releasing a Green Shoots Soundtrack of 10 original songs on the themes of grief, loss, love and healing, available on Spotify, iTunes and all major music channels from September 2022. For further information on all Ben’s writing and music, benwestwood.net or music on benwestwoodmusic.com.

Follow him at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/benwestwoodwriter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/benwestwood
Instagram: www.instagram.com/benwestwoodwrite
Website: www.benwestwood.net
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62898865-green-shoots
Buy Link – https://geni.us/QDyqA43