The Water Thief

The Water Thief is a dystopian novel about a future where the corporation is the dominant organization on the planet. Your life is the sum total of your value to a corporation and everyone tries to maximize their value by ruthlessly competing with everyone else- family, friends, co-workers. The beauty of the book is that even though the premise may sound far fetched, in actuality there are many similarities with what is happening in the world today. Take the idea that a company can buy your 'futures'- your future productivity, and you end up paying dividend to that 'owner' of your 'stock'. This is not very different from the credit card industry and to some extent the student loan industry. Being pushed/manipulated/encouraged to sell your future for gratification/education now, but not being told about the years of servitude that will follow.
I really enjoyed 1984 and this book is in the same style, but more readable and shorter. I liked the detailed explanation of the world order, believable characters that either do or do not fit in the order, and the ending that keeps you wondering. Great book, would recommend it!

Description: Charles Thatcher belongs to Ackerman Brothers Securities Corporation, one of the biggest corporations in a near-future world where all governments have disappeared, to be replaced by businesses whose only concerns are making money and beating the competition. Generosity and free access to anything are believed to breed weakness and lead to laziness, so everything is for sale. Even air and rainwater have to be paid for. Image is also everything so perception is deemed to be far more important than the truth.

Charles is a Delta – not the lowest of the low but a mid-grade class. Along with many others he works in perception management, tasked with finding any information or news that might harm his employer, and spinning stories and messages that help to put his company, Ackerman Brothers in the best possible light. He is constantly striving to be promoted to executive, something which very few achieve.

Then he stumbles across some information about a woman charged with stealing rainwater and decides to embellish the story - accusing the thief of being a seditionist and revolutionary who believes in government. What he doesn’t realize is that his story might be close to the truth. Disgruntled by his life, his investigation leads him to become enamored by the woman’s cause and the possibility of life beyond the corporations. But such beliefs are deadly and dangerous as the corporations will stop at nothing to squash revolutionary thoughts and to keep the masses in line.

John’s thoughts: This is an interesting theme for a book. Already we live in a world where corporations hold far too much political power and influence, and Soutter extrapolates this into a dystopian future where corporations have become all powerful. What might a world look like where governments no longer exist? He paints a grim picture.

Everything has a price tag and there is no such thing as social rights. Individuals are only worth what they can contribute to company profits, and if they cannot contribute anything then they are worthless – considered a drag on efficiency and company morale. It is wrong to save money as it is only through spending that people contribute to the economy. Indeed, people are encouraged to trade their own “futures”, thereby maximizing their spending (and forever indebting themselves to the corporation which already owns them).

The problem for me was that the picture was too extreme. It’s a bit like when you read a politically oriented article or news story that has been written by someone with hardline extreme views – personally I tend to go glassy eyed rather quickly due to a lack of balance and reasonableness. For a futuristic novel to achieve maximum impact it has to be believable, even if it stretches credulity a bit; and to my mind this novel goes a little too far.

Still, it was an interesting and thought-provoking read. The story is well written and it built nicely to the climax. I have to say that the ending, though perfectly in line with the theme and the story, did leave me a bit dissatisfied. Overall I’d rate this three stars and recommend it to anyone who is a fan of futuristic, dystopian novels.

This book imagines a world sometime in the future where the form of rule is Capitalism and everything - and I do mean everything - is for sale. From the moment you are born you have a value and your futures are bartered and sold by your parents. You have a computerized ledger that tracks your "caps" and you pay for your air, your water and even your friends. In this dystopian world we meet Charles Thatcher, a mid level employee of Ackerman Brothers Securities Corporation - or rather he is owned by them. His function is to drive perceptions because perception is reality whether it's the truth or not. Or in current dialog - spin rules.

Charles finds an interesting story about a woman accused of "stealing" water by using a solar still. The woman is educated and has money so he doesn't understand why she is choosing to live in a low rent district and why she doesn't hire a lawyer to fight the charge. After he writes his report and sends it up the line she vanishes. He finds himself intrigued by the supposed sedition she was espousing so he tracks down a friend of hers and that starts his downfall. Or does it?

This was a fascinating book. Really far out of my usual choice for a book but something about it appealed to me and I'm very glad that I did read it. It's not perfect; some of the conversations about socialism, capitalism, democracy, etc. go on for too long and are far too textbook to just be a chat between friends. The world created by Mr. Soutter though is well defined from the descriptions of the different class worlds to the dark, dreary atmosphere to the marvel Charles feels over the novelty of "cooking." The characters are developed and true to their place and their motives keep you guessing. The story is very thought provoking particularly given today's political climate. It ends in a way I was not expecting and that made for a very satisfying book. One that I will keep to read again for I feel this is one of those books that will change with the times and with successive readings.

4.5

Silly me, I thought this was actually going to be a book about "water issues"... it a book about corporations. It is a world where corporations have taken over and rule the world.. Every aspect of a person;s life "costs" something. Greed, competition and lying abound. There is a price for everything.
The story is about Charles Thatcher, a mid-value worker in a world run by corporations. Even parents sell their childrens "futures" to the corporations.
Charles Thatcher begins to question the system when he submits a report - full of lies of course - about a woman names Sarah Aisling. She is being accused of stealing rainwater that she had been collecting in buckets- and the rainwater belongs to the corporations of course. This sentence kind of tells you the way people think: "She couldn't afford an attorney, so obviously she didn't deserve one."
No one trusts anyone because secrets told to the corporations can earn money - and include a person's value to the corporation resulting in a position increase.If you like dystopian type books - and dislike being ruled by corporations - you'll enjoy this book.

This work by is an absolute must read for everyone who holds precious freedom of choice.
Indeed, it is a must read for everyone who cherishes life, growth, creativity, love, freedom.

We are besieged by the machinations of the corporate world, by lobbyists, by political spin, by rough riding unlimited campaign contributions designed to buy votes. We are cheated in school by often being given 'feel good history' as opposed to real history in all its blood, pain, growth, war, victory, failure, nastiness, lies, deep truths, and oh so hard won, blood spilled into so much ground in so many ways, freedom of choice; freedom of real representation; freedom to be educated; freedom to join a union for collective choice and bargaining; freedom to not be unappreciated and underpaid cogs in the wheels of corporate monsters whose avaricious hearts can only be assuaged by more and more and more money and power.

This author takes you to the core of the myth of how corporations love and care about you; the lies told over and over, expanded, and drummed into your heads by your chance at climbing that corporate ladder to the bliss of bonuses and golden parachutes earned by caring only for the welfare of the corporation.

This author takes us to a dystopian world showing us how we buy into this; why we buy into this with each piece of change we earn, ever giving it back, ever feeding the insatiable gods of corporations from which we get our housing, our clothes, our food, our daily routines of 9 to 5'ing it and then coming home to what...more dreams of more, that one day we may be recognized as valuable to the structure; valuable enough to move to a bigger cubicle; to a boxed in office; to an office with a window; to a huge office with leather and maybe a super deluxe printer and what, silver stapler pushed down by a secretary we treat oh so definitely as an underling to be ordered about.

The American people, people around the world, rejected Social Darwinism in the century before cars, planes, and mass communication. They rejected eighty hour weeks; faced private corporate armies; faced lockouts, shutdowns; waged strikes. Muckrakers exposed the criminality of chaining children as young as 4 to machines, and sending them down into mines. They exposed the horrors of insane asylums; of the rat hairs and other things that went into food; they fought for public education; they supported “trust busting” of vertical and horizontal corporations. They forced passage of laws to protect workers, children. And those advances continued, until recently as we face those “too big to fail.” Earlier people rejected tenements; rejected the idea of not being compensated for injuries on the job. They made labor history; they gained respect. Today, as we see so fully in The Water Thief's dystopian world, all that is gone. The only way to the top is by crushing others beneath your feet; selling your children for “caps.” It is the nightmare world that we are headed toward. It is a world of no longer shark eat shark, but piranha eat all.

Are there those in the sterile, crushing, miserable environment who hold onto hope?
Are there those who are real, not bought, friends; the kind of friends who stand by you no matter what your problems? Are there those who know how to love; who cherish moonlight and the scent of flowers; who rejoice in fresh water, and yes, even find joy in cooking?

The choice is ours: cog or person. This author tells it like it is, and reminds us, the choice is always ours. Which choice is yours?

There are books that speak to our social issues and the way our lives are currently progressing. These books take the time to look deeper into the world around them but by giving the themes a different face- something the reader can digest without revolting at seeing the world around them. We've seen this in many dystopian books.

Nicholas does an AMAZING job at looking some of the serious issues that are plaguing us today. He does it in a way and with such depth that it takes a minute for the mind to even realize what it read and you may have to go back to look at it again.

The main character starts out just the cog, spinning for the man... but his world changes. Nicholas has done a great job at crafting a believable character that you can connect to.

The end is one that you have to take a minute to let your mind reset before you pick up your next read. It's an epic book. If you like 1984 or books in a similar vein, then this is going to be a huge hit with you. Grab a copy today!

* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

The Water Thief By Nicholas Lamar Soutter is a book that comes with a message. Each reader will gain something different from this book. The author uses fictional characters to show just how much control or hold large corporations have on the lives of the citizens of the country. The story-line is filled with stories that can be very persuasive to the readers mind.

I was not sure what to expect from this book. The back of the book did not really give me a clue as to the real storyline of the book. The back of the book did not show the genre of the book, I was again confused. Then I read the "Thanks" page in the book. It stated ". . . I'm reasonably sure that the only people who are going to read it are those mentioned in it anyway. . . . " I thought to myself "If the author has no more confidence in himself than that, then I am not really sure I want to read this book. So I put it on the bottom of my "to read books". I kept putting it on the bottom so many times that I was ashamed of myself. I finally decided that I had committed to read this book and my word was good, so I had to read it.

I am glad I did read "The Water Thief". The first chapter was a bit morbid but essential to the story. It talked of using the body fat of people to make soap. That brought back memories from history to my mind. It spoke of owing the company store and that brought back memories of stories told by ancestors. Now my interest had heightened. I was now into the storyline. I continued reading until I finished it. I am glad I did. I found "The Water Thief" a fast paced interesting story which deals with real life problems and possibilities of what could happen to this country if corporations continue to have a such a strong hold on the people.

The author gave me a lot to think about and I will follow the progress of this author as he writes future books.

After reading the book, I reread the back and it all made sense.

I give this book a 4 star. The reason for my rating is due in part to the message in the front of the book. It does not motivate the reader to dive into the book. The genre listed on the back would help a lot. Once I started reading the book, I found it most interesting. I felt the fear of the characters as they were fighting for their lives.

I rate the story-line itself a 5 star. It held my interst and made my mind wander to the near future. I had to wonder if this was our future in America.

I do recommend this book to adults who enjoys reading a book with a message. It will bring lots of memories to the readers mind. Not all memories will be good but it has a valuable lesson in it.

This book really reminded me of a movie I recently watched with Justin Timberlake called 'In Time' (2011). This movie is set in a futuristic age where people live to the age of 25, then a clock on their wrist activates and counts down a year. Time is actually the currency of this world, and you work to get more time, you use time to buy the things you need, etc. It was actually really really good so I recommend you check it out.

The reason why I am bringing this up is that in this movie, there is a 'system'. The 'system' is what makes the world revolve. This 'system' is what dictates the ways of life, how it categorizes people, how it controls people. And in 'The Water Thief', such a 'system' exists.

People are brainwashed to believe certain things. They are pawns in a game that only the ones holding the power can win. In some cases, the ruthless will rise to hold some of that power. It is a cut throat, dog-eat-dog world. But there are a select group of people that know the truth, and want to rebel or beat the system. They gather in dark corners, 'off the grid', and plan on how it can be done, and prepare for it. They infiltrate the enemy to gather as much information as possible, lying patiently in wait for that moment... that moment when the plan is activated and they can be free of the 'system' and open the eyes of the world. Are they completely over their heads? Is it hopeless? Is it a suicide mission? Can it really be done?

Ahhhhh won't be telling you here. You will have to find out for yourself and pick up this novel.

I was not wowed by 'The Water Thief'. There was enough action to keep my interest. But my biggest problem with this novel was how preachy it felt. There was a lot of discussion, especially in the last third of this novel, about the evils of their society (or the system) that felt very repetitive. It was somewhat beneficial to understand the system that governed this society... but it went on and on for a while. I am an action girl. Long speeches make me yawn and go for a nap!

Without a doubt, this was a well written, and thought provoking dystopian novel, which for the most part, I did enjoy. The action scenes were fluent, believable and definitely elevated my heart rate. It was a world that struck a fearful chord... it was not a pleasant place.

The character development was excellent! I was very emotionally invested in some characters, while really disliking others... which by the way, is a big factor in why I am so conflicted with the ending. That is all that I can say about the ending without having to enter big spoilers... just... was conflicted.

It is definitely worth a look and I would recommend it to readers that are into dystopian novels.

*I received a eBook copy of this book for free to review from the author; this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own.*

It seems fitting that Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451 and the mid-twentieth-century prophet of today's world, should have died this week. For those of us who ever doubted the veracity of his predictions, let us take a good look around, at a society that has grown increasingly alienated by endless reality shows on flat-screen TV's, a constant feed of iPod music through our ear buds, and subsequent self-medication through junk food and recreation drugs. Whether you like today's world or not, Bradbury saw it coming sixty years ago.

This is all by way of a preface to the rise of a new harbinger of what awaits us in the not-too-distant future. Nicholas Lamar Soutter's book The Water Thief depicts a world where Gordon Gekko's dream has come true: a neo-feudal world where deregulation has empowered big business, where small government has devolved into no government, and serf-citizens are held in bondage for life to the corporations. It is a world where nothing comes for free, not education nor the exchange of ideas, not water nor air. A dystopian novel this certainly is, but you couldn't call it science fiction, simply because its premise is already rooted in the here and now, and the signs of what we can expect in years to come are already clearly marked.

The protagonist Charles Thatcher is immediately likeable because he represents so many of us. He's a small cog spinning in a large, complex wheel. He's decent. He's disillusioned. We can relate to his confusion, his sense that there is something terribly wrong, if only he could figure out what it is. That is the insidious nature of The System: it creeps up on an unsuspecting society that is preoccupied with earning a living, paying off its student debt and trying to save for retirement before the age of eighty-five. Before we know where we are, we find ourselves in thrall to overlords of corruption and greed. For the sop of an increasingly elusive American Dream we are now working longer hours for less pay, poorer benefits, and an uncertain retirement. We are traveling greater distances to a workplace with no job security, and what one parent was able to provide financially back in the seventies now requires the efforts of two. Our credit card debt is mountainous; our mortgages are under water. And we call this progress? Who's actually winning here? (Hint: a very, very small percentage of people who are still trying to convince us of the benefits of the trickle-down effect.)

This is the world we live in today. The Water Thief takes that world to its logical conclusion in a setting of Orwellian ruthlessness and paranoia. In a smart, thought-provoking, and compelling story Soutter sets forth his vision through the characters of Charlie and Kate as they recognize the humanity in one another amid the scavengers, and through Linus whose perspective from the top of the food chain makes the philosophy of objectivism appear almost sentimental by comparison. The poster child of Ayn Rand turned rogue.

Writers don't just write, they hold up a looking-glass through which we see ourselves and who we may become. Often their predictions are chillingly accurate. George Orwell showed us a reflection of ourselves; so, too, did Ray Bradbury. In his passing he leaves the mirror in the capable hands of Nicholas Lamar Soutter, if only the world can turn away from its headlong descent into madness and takes a good, hard look at itself.

When it comes to dystopian type stories, "1984," "A Brave New World," et. al, there is always a lesson to learn or a possible warning about how certain extremes can create a bleak future. This book is no exception. "The Water Thief" tells of a near future where democracy is not only dead, but that it was killed by capitalism. I remember reading Ayn Rand's book, "Atlas Shrugged," and learning that corporations and the rich are needed for the world to continue to exist. This book approaches those ideals presented by Rand and smashes them down. In fact there are times when the author, Nicholas Lamar Soutter makes reference to Ayn Rand's capitalist classic, such as the Atlas square where a statue of Atlas is perpetually shrugging, and various other references that are fun to find while reading this potentially depressing, yet enlightening, story of what could happen.

In the bleak future of "The Water Thief," corporations or Corps run everything and the Leviathian known as government has been destroyed. Everything is up for sale, and if one is to survive Creds must be paid to purchase everything, even air and water. Everyone carries a badge that keeps track of their credits or "Creds." The badges are also a way for the corporations to track a person's every movement and keep track of licenses, such as if one desires to smoke, a license must be purchased and kept up to date. Parents sell their children to the Corps for their futures. So from the day you are sold you owe the Corp everything.

Charles Thatcher is a mere cog in the corporate wheel, he is a Mid-Con, which is pretty much equal to the middle class. His job is in perception, where he finds news stories that may damage the reputation of the Corp and rewrite them to make the Corp look better, and when he can make the corp money he looks even better. For example when a toy injures a child and may make the corp lose money because of a flaw that could injure more, Charles rewrites the story in which it now appears as though the child was intentionally misusing the toy so his parents could sue the corp, the corp then sues the family and gains more money.

In this dystopian future, anyone who goes against the corp is brought to justice in one of many ways. The most popular is public hangings which are broadcast on television much like today's reality shows. The audience cheers as the traitors to the Corp are hanged. Another form is simple reclamation, this reminded me a lot of "Soylent Green," in that the person that committed the crime is so low on the rankings that there would be no profit in airing their death that their bodies are simply boiled down to their basics and rendered into soap. Yes, it a pretty dismal future.

Charles' future is changed when he runs across a story of a woman who uses a means to capture water from the air and clean it for personal use. The problem is that the Corp already provides water for the public and she is therefore stealing from the corp. She turns out to be an heiress to a major European Corp and has shifted her allegiances and seeks to bring back the Leviathan of Government. Charles turns her story and rewrites it to get more money for the Corp. But he can't seem to let the idea of the Water Thief out of his head.

Charles' wife leaves him, which turns out to be a corporate move for the both of them, marriage in this world is no longer based on love or procreation but rather how this can make money for the parties involved. A perfect example of the lack of love is that in a super excited state, the wife gives Charles a gift of a porn magazine, telling him he should get some pleasure out of that.

Charles then begins to track down the history of this Water Thief, and finds a whole movement to bring back government. This movement claims that through their misappropriations all the corps will be failing soon. Charles then must make a decision as to which story to believe, the fall of the Corps or that they are too big to fail. Charles decision is his own, but he's fallen in love with a woman in the movement of the LowCons, and his future seems to be no longer his own.

Nicholas Lamar Soutter, weaves a tale of the near future that not only offers us today a bit of a warning, but he also offers up the idea of what we can do to avoid this all in the subtext of this book that will soon become a classic. I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs a good rebuttal to Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged." This would also be a nice addition to anyone's bookshelf that is a fan of "1984," "A Brave New World," "The Hunger Games," or "The Running Man." Out of those books just mentioned, this one is actually less future and more now.

Ever since H.G.Wells wrote When the Sleeper Wakes, dystopian societies have been a favorite subject amongst authors and readers alike. Twentieth century's writers painted vivid pictures of multitide of such societies and they let our imagination run wild.

After Battle Royale of Koushun Takami in 1999, the standard of dystopian literature took a deep plunge. With the release of the The Hunger Games trilogy, the quality of such works reached an all time low. The success of such books also make us wonder whether we are going through 'The Twilight' of dystopian fiction.

The Water Thief by Nicholas Lamar Soutter is a fresh relief. The plot is simple, and it takes us through the monotonous life of Charles Thatcher, an employee of a corporate giant, which controls almost every business. Every aspect of life is measured in 'caps' (or money), which warns us of a near future when clean water and air will be charged. Charles meets a woman, and she helps him to see through the corruption and greed, and makes him think of a free life. The culmination of the events is quite unexpected, and also difficult to guess. I would say that it was quite a cliffhanger.

But the distintive aspect of this book is the themes of business, corruption, greed, freedom and human life, which is explained quite in detail by the author. It can get quite complicated at sometimes, and I had to turn back the pages and read again. But this aspect of the book is what makes it stand out amongst such similar works.

Like I said before, the ending is quite unexpected. After watching Inception, I left the theatre with a heavy heart, trying to guess whether it was all a dream or reality. Similarly, when I reached the last page in my Kindle, I swiped it many times trying to find whether I had missed any pages. It's quite an ending, and I had a go for a short drive around the city to calm my mind.

To sum up, this is one of the best dystopian novel I have ever read. If you are fan of Battle Royale, The Running Man, I am Legend (movie), 28 Days Later (movie), this is a must read. If you are one of the 'those' fans of The Hunger Games, then read this book to understand what is really meant by a dystopian work of fiction. If Hunger Games lies at 'The Twilight' spectrum of the genre, then The Water Thief inches closer to 'The Dracula' spectrum.

More 2084 than 1984, Nicholas Lamar Soutter's The Water Thief is set in a near-future dystopia where corporations have taken over from government, perception is more important than truth, and usurping a legitimate businesses right to regulate water might result in a death sentence--all for the common good of course. Socialism and big government are equally scorned as failed enterprises of the past. Human sympathy is the folly of the weak. And "futures" are sold, freedoms willingly traded off in the name of deregulation.

Charles Thatcher is a regular man keeping his head down and his nose to the grindstone as he slaves towards his next promotion. At the back of his mind he's sure there must be more to life. Then a chance accident sets him investigating where that "more" might be found. Likeably inept, honest, intelligent, and curious, Charles soon finds himself in over his head, falling in love and falling out of favor.

The author uses dialog very effectively to build his future world, and introduces much food for thought about the present in the process. "Manage perception, and you create reality" is an interesting idea as an American election approaches. Arguments about capitalism and socialism, the failure of religion, the desire of the poor to cut levies on the rich in the vain hope they might one day be the rich... "We knew the sounds, the grammar and vocabulary, but the words all had different meanings."

The plot is dark and Orwellian, with society split and ruled by lies, mankind turned into willing fodder for the corporate machine. Orwellian too is the feeling of stark plausibility and helpless dismay. The Water Thief is a scarily plausible dystopian tale filled with warnings for the present and thought-provoking analysis of political and corporate greed.

Disclosure: I met the author on Gather and was pleased to be asked to read and review this novel.

Truthout recommended this book before the Kindle edition was available. I wrote down the title and patiently waited. I am glad I did. The book has a great plot with excellent pacing. The world he creates is believable and the analogy to our own world is close enough to give one pause. It is especially interesting that it is a thinking book, as others have pointed out, and he doesn't wimp out. The book is radical. I almost gave it four stars for the rambling monologues in the middle of the book (it's one flaw), but decided that the book is memorable enough that those flaws become smaller over time. The increasingly fast paced plot becomes complicated in the second half of the book, and I just couldn't imagine how he was going to pull off a great ending, but then he does. The end of the book keeps you guessing until its satisfying conclusion. Enjoyable, quick, smart read.

Absolutely riveting. Good story line, easy read, fun easter eggs, and will get your blood pumping at least once. This book raises a lot of important questions... where we're heading as a society, what our values are, and how far we're willing to follow the invisible hand of the market. Personally, I think the society portrayed in this book is a real possibility. We haven't evolved past anything, we have the potential to be our worst possible selves in a world where compassion is like a venereal disease and greed is not only good, but God.
I think this should be a must-read for everyone no matter your politics or your personal preferences

Nicholas Lamar Soutter's The Water Thief is a book that doesn't inquire about the evils of socialism, but the evil of complete absence of socialist ideals and institutions. It takes place in a dystopia which would prove to be a nightmare for Jane Addams and those of the early 20th century Progressive Party of American politics (not to mention some of those involved in the much more recent Occupy Wall Street movement); yet a world which could certainly be argued as more of a welcoming dream to many of today's politicians. Though this may seem to be a bit of a misstep at the hands of the reviewer simply because the world of The Water Thief is of a post-government era in which the rule of capitalism runs freely - CEO's hold all the power and government is discussed as an ancient relic, discarded because of its claimed inherent ineffectiveness - it must be kept in mind that many of our politicians are, indeed, much more savvy in the practices of business than those of writing legislature.

The existential dilemma of dirty hands is brought down to an individual basis and twisted to be involuntarily imposed on those in the ranking class society which Soutter created. By being born into the lower grade, one is built into the less apologetic ideals of social Darwinism and must prove with a complicit coldness toward fellow humans that he or she is worthy of the ordained respect of the higher grade. Thus, trust comes with much complication - if any genuine nature at all - and expression is always second guessed to be a mere show which is only put forth in the hopes of producing some sort of personal gain. At least this intellectual questioning of the status quo becomes a central dilemma for the main character, Charles Thatcher. His inner critic proves a pungent voice as he meanders through his days of working for his corporation (forgive my phrasing, for he is actually the property of the corporation for whom he works); is provided with advice from the capitalistically twisted mind of his successful mentor; and learns of an entire counterculture among those in the lowest class grade who speak in regard of the days when Government, that old peculiar antiquity, reigned over the people.

Of course, Mr. Soutter's main character is a human that - like many decent folks - is pondering and seeking ways in which we may all be a little bit more satisfied as a societal whole than we currently are: "A prisoner may have all the time in the world, but nothing to do with it. A colleague might be able to afford almost anything, but spend all his time acquiring and defending his wealth".

From the first page The Water Thief drops you into an amazing future society where people's lives are treated like stock options to be traded, sold and even discarded by the almighty corporation without emotion or pity. A reality that becomes all the more terrifying as Soutter's detailed descriptions and thought provoking dialogue make you realize just how easily this world could become our future.

A fast moving story riddled with quick witted humor and memorable characters, The Water Thief is an engrossing, enjoyable read that will keep you thinking and may even change the way you look at current events.

The Water Thief is packed full of no-holds-barred social and political commentary. Soutter identifies everything that is wrong with capitalism and what happens when the free market runs rampant. Plus, it's a great story that keeps you guessing to the very end. This is not for a casual reader -- it's a thinking book that raises questions and then dares to answer them and dares you to to say it's wrong.

In "the Water Thief," Charles Thatcher may not be as pure in heart as Don Quixote, but he begins to sense something important is missing in his life and he sets out to find it. Throw in a mysterious woman being sought for stealing rainwater, and this becomes a thrilling ride to find out whether Charles can find what he thinks he's seeking.

The Water Thief is packed full of no-holds-barred social and political commentary. Soutter identifies everything that is wrong with capitalism and what happens when the free market runs rampant. Plus, it's a great story that keeps you guessing to the very end. This is not for a casual reader -- it's a thinking book that raises questions and then dares to answer them and dares you to to say it's wrong.