Peak oil thriller hits German best-seller list

A peak oil thriller from a popular German novelist has hit the best-seller lists. The 750-page novel is written in a style like that of Michael Crichton’s techno-thrillers, and covers many of the themes discussed in the peak oil community.

Ausgebrannt (“Burned Out” in English) was published in February and reached #7 on the Spiegel best-seller list (it’s now #10).
The Story

Imagine if a litre of premium fuel were to cost over 4 Euros. A nightmare? Yes, but it would only be the beginning. Because the Age of Oil won’t end with the last barrel. It will end as soon as more oil is used than can be produced. And this moment is closer than most suspect. The problem: Nobody has a plan for what happens next.

Like everyone else, Markus Westermann knows nothing of all this when he finally makes it to the USA, hoping for a career that will fulfill all his dreams.

When he becomes acquainted with Karl Walter Block, Markus sees his chance. The petroleum engineer tells him that there’s enough oil for a thousand years lying dormant in the depths of the earth – and that only he knows how to find it. Block only needs a competent business partner. Someone like Markus.

Only too readily the world believes the promises of the two. After the first successes, the talk is of a Renaissance of the Oil Age. But the promise is deceptive.

When in Saudi Arabia the largest oil field of the world runs dry and the Saudis risk everything to hush up the frightening truth, unrest comes — and not only to the Mideast.

Mankind suddenly confronts its greatest challenge. The beginning of the end of the world as we know it. Only Markus is convinced that he is able to turn the situation around.

Energy Bulletin