Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Protagonist archetypes
Themes
Synopsis
It's the largest oil spill in a crashed supertanker in San Francisco Bay. Desperate to avert environmental damage―and a PR disaster―the multinational oil company releases an untested "designer microbe" to break up the spill. An "oil-eating" microbe, designed to consume anything made of oil, gasoline, synthetic fabrics, and of course plastic. What the company doesn't realize is that their microbe propagates through the air. But when every car in the Bay Area turns up with an empty gas tank, they begin to suspect something is terribly wrong. And when, in just a few days, every piece of plastic in the world has dissolved, it's too late...
Tags
Is Ill Wind appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 13 and up.
This techno-thriller depicts a global catastrophe caused by corporate negligence, featuring the collapse of modern civilization as plastic disintegrates worldwide. Expect mass casualties, societal breakdown, and moderate disaster-related violence but no graphic content.
What to know going in
This book has moderate violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include death, mass death, and plague/epidemic (see the full list above).
Publisher ages reflect reading level; our rating reflects content maturity — they can differ.
Who'll love this
Teens interested in realistic 'what if' disaster scenarios will find this scientific catastrophe gripping and terrifyingly plausible.