TreeVolution

What if the natural resources we manage began to manage themselves? . . . And then us?

Reports of peculiar tree assaults are trickling into the governor’s office in Olympia, Washington: a maple kicks a dog about to relieve itself, a ficus spanks a leaf-yanking child, a yew slaps a woman locking up her bike to its trunk. Young staffer Tamia Bennett prepares to watch her career trajectory fizzle when she’s put in charge of tracking these urban legends from loopy constituents. But as documented arbor assaults become violent and widespread, Tamia and retired botanist Dr. Barbara Block discover that these genetically modified trees are developing deadly plans. Miles away on the Palalla Nation, Charlie Meninick is in charge of protecting his tribe’s old-growth trees from timber poachers. He’s recovering from a tumultuous past and looking for peace and healing in the forest. After an accident on patrol, however, what he finds are two dead poachers and no other witnesses to convince troopers that the trees acted in self-defense. Tree attacks escalate, people panic, and forests begin to burn. Tamia and Charlie’s paths converge as they uncover who engineered the trees and why. With fire engulfing Washington State, a genetic mutation spreading through the Pacific Northwest, and someone intent on a cover-up, Tamia and Charlie must determine which is actually the bigger threat: the newly awakening trees, or the powerful people now bent on destroying them.

TreeVolution is a speculative fiction adventure featuring secret experiments, corporate machinations, and a little eco-payback. It explores the role of technology in conservation, the debate around genetically modified organisms, and potential abuses of technology in the age of surveillance.