24 January 2017

Eye-Opening & Compelling | A Harvest of Thorns by Corban Addison

ABOUT THE BOOK

A beloved American corporation with an explosive secret.
A disgraced former journalist looking for redemption.
A corporate executive with nothing left to lose.

In Dhaka, Bangladesh, a garment factory burns to the ground, claiming the lives of hundreds of workers, mostly young women. Amid the rubble, a bystander captures a heart-stopping photograph—a teenage girl lying in the dirt, her body broken by a multi-story fall, and over her mouth a mask of fabric bearing the label of one of America’s largest retailers, Presto Omnishops Corporation.

Eight thousand miles away at Presto’s headquarters in Virginia, Cameron Alexander, the company’s long-time general counsel, watches the media coverage in horror, wondering if the damage can be contained. When the photo goes viral, fanning the flames of a decades old controversy about sweatshops, labor rights, and the ethics of globalization, he launches an investigation into the disaster that will reach further than he could ever imagine—and threaten everything he has left in the world.

A year later in Washington DC, Joshua Griswold, a disgraced former journalist from the Washington Post, receives an anonymous summons from a corporate whistleblower who offers him confidential information about Presto and the fire. For Griswold, the challenge of exposing Presto’s culpability is irresistible, as is the chance, however slight, at redemption. Deploying his old journalistic skills, he builds a historic case against Presto, setting the stage for a war in the courtroom and in the media that Griswold is determined to win—both to salvage his reputation and to provoke a revolution in Presto’s boardroom that could transform the fashion industry across the globe.

“This exposé of the underbelly of the international fashion industry is disturbing, moving, and thoroughly engrossing.” —Phillip Margolin, New York Times bestselling author of Violent Crimes


MY REVIEW

From beginning to end, A Harvest of Thorns shares a compelling narrative as it peeks at the heartbreaking, behind-the-scenes reality of the clothing industry. Its fire scenario is based on recent real-life events, so the controversy the characters face addresses relevant and thought-provoking issues of social justice. With characters offering legal and journalistic points of view, it’s an eye-opening, informative, and well-told novel. I enjoyed both the drama of the plot and the awareness it inspires. I recommend it.

★★★★

Thanks to BookLook Bloggers, I received a complimentary copy of A Harvest of Thorns and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.

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