This spellbinding tale, filled with engaging characters, heroes and villains alike, confronts the land-use crisis in America.With chilling affect, this story foreshadows the look and feel of the mid-21st-century given the continued loss of land to commercial and residential development.
In Murrin’s fictional America, the federal government enacts radical legislation in an attempt to control land-use practices, resulting in a political landscape that is unrecognizable.Local power brokers quickly learn to manipulate the new system, outlawing dissension groups while continuing to devour open space at an alarming rate.However, despite being driven underground, the tiny Land Preservation Society (LPS) remains determined to save as many acres as they can.
Aided by the courageous and beautiful Tamara Hopkins, Professor Tom Sanders picks up the torch for Andy Cemanski, the aging warrior who has fueled the preservation fight for decades.Sanders leads the LPS council’s efforts to sway public opinion by exposing the shady practices of greedy developers and their corrupt political partners.Their mission sees Tamara turning heads at the county land auction and outbidding John Gardner, a well-connected construction mogul.But then, the council embarks on a journey they never imagined when Tamara parleys an alliance with a sworn enemy.
The LPS have vilified dashing development mogul Arthur Flemming; however, his newly-formed ideas for curbing construction projects prove too tempting for Tamara to resist.Flemming fans a rumor that an ancient Native American burial ground lies beneath Gardner’s prized Meador Farms property. The land is situated in one of Ogle County’s last pastoral settings, and Flemming convinces Tamara that the burial ground rumor has potential for squashing Gardner’s development plans.However, Flemming’s sincerity toward helping the LPS remains in question and threatens to tear the council apart.
In the meantime, Tom Sanders makes shocking discoveries surrounding dubious land transactions involving, among others, Nathan Coulter, the county’s most powerful government official.But the LPS council soon learns that their ruthless adversaries will stop at nothing to thwart their investigations, and Tom, Tamara and Andy become embroiled in a lethal game of cat and mouse.
The council endures crushing blows, and their future hangs in doubt before finally receiving another break.When Tamara confronts Flemming regarding his true intentions, he feels compelled to demonstrate that he is a changed man by dropping the ultimate bombshell on Nathan Coulter.He knows intimate details about the politician’s dirty secrets, which if revealed just might be enough to allow the reform party to unseat the reigning County Clerk.But alas, Coulter’s evil empire is more powerful than even their worst nightmare, and as Tom Sanders struggles to keep the LPS together he pins his last hope on holding the line at Meador Farms.Tom is in for the race of his life, as he desperately tries to save his beloved property before the LPS is completely destroyed and the entire county is paved over.
REVIEW FROM MIDWEST BOOK REVIEWS: FORTY ACRES is a compelling novel foreshadowing the growing loss of land to commercial and residential development in an America where the federal government enacts radical legislation to control land-use practices. The result is a political landscape that has local authorities and power brokers manipulating land acquisition and use, the outlawing of opposing opinion, and the despoiling of agricultural and rural lands for short-term profits. That's the setting in which we find Professor Tom Sanders, aided by the beautiful Tamara Hopkins, leading the struggling Land Preservation Society in an effort to sway public opinion by exposing greedy developers and their corrupt political allies. But the local political authority targets Sanders and his associates even while they try to save Meador Farms (rumored to be an ancient Native American burial ground) from the despoilers of corporate development. The stakes are nothing short of life and death. "Forty Acres" is a compelling novel from author Gerard Murrin that could be ripped from today's headlines and will grip the reader's total attention from first page to last with its deftly drawn and memorable characters and involving land-use crisis story line.
REVIEWS:
The stakes are nothing short of life and death., October 3, 2006
"Forty Acres" is a compelling novel foreshadowing the growing loss of land to commercial and residential development in an America where the federal government enacts radical legislation to control land-use practices. The result is a political landscape that has local authorities and power brokers manipulating land acquisition and use, the outlawing of opposing opinion, and the despoiling of agricultural and rural lands for short-term profits. That's the setting in which we find Professor Tom Sanders, aided by the beautiful Tamara Hopkins, leading the struggling Land Preservation Society in an effort to sway public opinion by exposing greedy developers and their corrupt political allies. But the local political authority targets Sanders and his associates even while they try to save Meador Farms (rumored to be an ancient Native American burial ground) from the despoilers of corporate development. The stakes are nothing short of life and death. "Forty Acres" is a compelling novel from author Gerard Murrin that could be ripped from today's headlines and will grip the reader's total attention from first page to last with its deftly drawn and memorable characters and involving land-use crisis story line.
The five council members of the Land Preservation Society (LPS) find themselves embroiled in thwarting political corruption in the office of the County Clerk. As a result of the enactment of a federal law, a County Designation Plan put zoning laws under individual counties through the County Clerk. As a result of this plan the County Clerk has become the most powerful man in the county. This absorbing novel uncovers a politician turned criminal in his lust for power, and land developers turned ruthless as a result of their greed. Jerry Murrin has created another powerful action-suspense novel filled with clandestine meetings, political intrigue, murder, threats, conflict, and romance. Murrin's characters are true to life, authentic, and colorful. I found myself drawn to Tom Sanders and his other council members in their mission to preserve integrity in land use and zoning. The author's love of nature comes through in his writing. He describes a pastoral setting that helps the reader step back in time to a gentler era. "The hillside was dotted with majestic hardwoods spaced far enough apart to have allowed sheep to forage on lazy summer afternoons." "Forty Acres" is absorbing and timely as the question of environment, preservation of natural resources, and land use take on a new enormity of importance and crisis in American politics. Murrin has used a compelling fictional story as a platform to deliver a profound and important message to politicians, educators, and every American citizen. Highly recommended, a great read.
Book Review:Forty Acres: A gripping tale of the loss of land to developers by Susan Johnson, Copy Editor for THE ROCK RIVER TIMES in Rockford, IL
How hard should one fight for an ideal? How much is it worth to save land from being swallowed up by unscrupulous developers whose only motivation is the profit they can make? What if things start to get dangerous?
In a gripping tale that quickly grabs your interest, Gerard Murrin’s Forty Acres (ISBN: 1-931741-74-3, $22.95, Robert D. Reed Publishers) weaves a story of crisis and intrigue, set in a seemingly not-too-distant future, where heroes and villains abound. But, as is true in real life, not all the characters reveal all their facets immediately. Some are mysterious enough to keep you guessing. Just whose side is Arthur Flemming really on? Is Tamara a selfless heroine, or is she being taken in by a manipulator?
The locale is Ogle County, Illinois, but all the rules have been changed. As the summary states, “... this story foreshadows the look and feel of the mid-21st century given the continued loss of land to commercial and residential development. In Murrin’s fictional America, the federal government enacts radical legislation in an attempt to control land-use practices, resulting in a political landscape that is unrecognizable. Local power brokers quickly learn to manipulate the new system, outlawing dissension groups while continuing to devour open space at an alarming rate.”
Get acquainted with the dedicated members of the tiny Land Preservation Society, who in their efforts to stop the behemoth of unrestrained developers, have been forced underground. Like the first-century Christians in the catacombs, they seek to spread their message of preservation while attempting to survive being annihilated by the greedy Caesars of the government-land development alliance.
Meet people like Professor Tom Sanders, a tireless researcher, president of the LPS; beautiful and courageous Tamara Hopkins; aging activist Andy Cemanski, whose heart is in the right place but sometimes acts too rashly for the good of the cause; and their opponents, devious County Clerk Nathan Coulter and John Gardner of the Gardner Development Company. Then there’s the wild card, Arthur Flemming. Where does he fit into this scenario? It all comes together at Meador Farms, the crucial battleground where the LPS makes a desperate last stand.
Murrin successfully combines his message of the need for rural land conservation with all the twists and turns of a Sherlock Holmes detective story. This one’s a real page-turner!
Forty Acres is available from Robert D. Reed Publishers, P.O. Box 1992, Bandon, OR 97411, phone (541) 347-9882, fax (541) 347-9883; or e-mail 4bobreed@msn.com. Web site: www.rdrpublishers.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Gerard (“Jerry”) Murrin also authored Jackson Choice (2005), a human-interest story that explores the unexpected relationships and internal struggles a small town restaurateur experiences after he moves from the city. Jerry Murrin’s love of the outdoors led him to question land use, or misuse, in America and inspired him to write FORTY ACRES. He lives with his wife Tracy, and between them they have five teenagers. Jerry’s fulltime career is as a financial officer for a company outside of Chicago.
Hard Cover: $22.95 plus $3.50 shipping and handling.
The stakes are nothing short of life and death., October 3, 2006