Wolf Harlander, born in 1958 in Nuremberg, Germany, studied journalism, politics and economics at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. After a traineeship at a daily newspaper and training at the German School of Journalism, he worked for daily newspapers, radio, television and as an editor for the business magazines Capital and Wirtschaftswoche.
For his thriller “42 Grad” (“42 Degrees”), Harlander was awarded the Stuttgart Crime Thriller Prize and the MIMI, the Audience Award of the German Book Trade – since then he has been known for gripping thrillers on major ecological and social issues. He now lives as an author in Munich.
I am involved with the Climate Fiction Writers Europe because no one else can convey the important topic of the environment and climate better than fiction writers.
Germany is enjoying the new millennium summer. Continuous sunshine means packed outdoor swimming pools. Only hydrologist Julius Denner and IT specialist Elsa Forsberg warn that the heat will intensify in the short term. No one takes them seriously until the first rivers dry up, forest fires get out of control, and nuclear power plants have to be taken offline. In Berlin and Brussels, crisis summit follows crisis summit. All over Europe, water refugees set out in search of the world’s most important resource. While civilization threatens to collapse around them, Julius and Elsa desperately try to stop the catastrophe—and in doing so find themselves in the crosshairs of powers pursuing their own interests…
A frighteningly realistic climate thriller on a topic that couldn’t be more topical – thoroughly researched and thrillingly told!
Awarded the MIMI – the German Book Trade’s Crime Fiction Prize – and the Stuttgart Business Crime Fiction Prize 2021.
While a shipping accident causes a massive environmental disaster and news about the effects of the plastic crisis keeps the world in suspense, a child is fighting for her life at Hamburg University Hospital. Little Zoe cannot break down the microplastics in her blood, and a malignant carcinoma is growing in her liver. She will die from the plastic.
Zoe’s aunt Melissa is a journalist, currently deep in her research on Cyaclean, a company that wants to solve the global plastic problem with a groundbreaking innovation—their approach is impressive. And Melissa is making contacts that give her hope: maybe there is one last chance to save her niece.
But then Zoe disappears. While tons of colorful plastic particles wash up on Mediterranean beaches and the German foreign intelligence service, BND, is on the trail of sinister machinations of international proportions, Melissa must risk everything to find the child. Because Zoe’s time is running out…
The sun beats down on the eternal ice. It is hot. Jagged glaciers tower into the blue sky. Again and again, gigantic ice giants crash into the sea, causing the land to tremble. The Arctic is melting. And it is happening at breakneck speed.
When the young Inuk Nanoq Egede finds countless animals that have died in agony in the ice, he is stunned. German scientist Dr. Hanna Jordan confirms that these animals did not die naturally. Nanoq’s people are in grave danger. A catastrophe is looming that surpasses anything previously feared.
Nelson Carius and Diana Winkels from the BND also travel to the Arctic, which has long been at the center of bitter global struggles. The greed for profit and power brings dangerous opponents onto the scene who will stop at nothing. The trail leads right into the secret machinations of influential powers. Until the eternal ice becomes the scene of a battle in which it is not only Hanna and Nanoq who are fighting for their lives.
In the middle of the holiday season, the internet collapses across Europe. Planes can no longer land, doctors can no longer operate, and traffic descends into chaos. Soon, all communication channels are cut off. The whole of Europe is in a state of emergency, people are panicking, and supplies are collapsing. Nelson Carius, an investigator with the German foreign intelligence service BND, suspects a highly complex computer virus is behind the internet outages. A trail leads him to IT expert Daniel Faber from Munich, an upstanding family man. While the whole country struggles against the chaos, Daniel must not only save his family, but also prove his innocence…
When fiction meets reality: Harlander creates a scenario that experts consider highly probable: a total Internet failure that would bring our civilization to its knees.