The Good Listener - by Andrew Black (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

About the Book

The Good Listener is a bold, new, fiction book about a plan among the animal leaders of the world, who meet at a barn in Los Angeles and develop a plan to end to the world-wide destruction and suffering caused by human beings: the animals have realized that the devastation is almost irreversible and that the animals have one last chance to stop the humans before a mass extinction of the animal kingdom begins.

The animals agree to infect a young couple with a special seed obtained from the tar pits, secretly creating a hybrid-child, The Good Listener, a human baby with certain plant and animal characteristics which help the child communicate with every living thing on the earth. While The Good Listener has no eyes, ears, mouth, nor nostrils, it can breathe, see, and hear through its green skin, and is neither male nor female.

Insects, birds and animals all come to see the wonderous child, while grasses, trees and plants bloom as the child walks past. The animals hope that The Good Listener will convince the people of the world that they must change their ways before the humans are left in a world with no plants or animals, but the government seizes the child for evaluation after it is seen in public.

With The Good Listener's help, the animals of the sea create a tsunami, attacking Los Angeles; and while the predators of the land attack humans in the city, the rest of the animals flee to the high mountains beginning a new life away from humans. At the same time, the plants release a new type of pollen, which is nutritious to birds and insects, but is flammable, and is also noxious and toxic to humans.

To save themselves, the humans must develop a plan respecting, accommodating and incorporating all of the plants, insects, fish and animals of the world, or the humans will become extinct instead of the plants or the animals.

The book is an adventure story comprised of numerous animals, several humans and the hybrid-child. The book contains a pre-quill embedded within the storyline, as well as an open-end, allowing a sequel. In addition, several of the animal characters have such unique personalities allowing the development of one or more independent prequel storylines. Alan, the king of the ants and Frank, the lord of the flies, are central figures in the book and likely deserve their own background stories. Finally, the main character, the hybrid-child, is unique and fascinating, creating a never-before seen opportunity to develop a multi-book line of sequels.