Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton’s third novel is part thriller and part cautionary tale. Birnam Wood(taken from Macbeth) is the name of a “guerrilla” gardening group in New Zealand that grows fruits and vegetables on lands that are not their. They also often use supplies that belong to others. Mina Bunting is the mastermind behind this concept. The American billionaire Robert Lemoine offers Mira thousand of dollars if the group will farm land that he has recently acquired. Tony, a self-made reporter who recently left Birnam Wood, thinks the proposal sounds fishy and believes Lemoine should not be trusted. He tries to uncover what is really going on.

This is another book that takes a while to get into but is worth the effort. Birnam Wood is not an easy read. There are several subplots that don’t come together right away, but for me the tense, frightening ending made the whole novel worthwhile.