Zodiac: An Eco-Thriller (1988) is Neal Stephenson

Neal Stephenson

Neal Town Stephenson is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction.Difficult to categorize, his novels have been variously referred to as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk...

's second novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

, which tells the story of an environmentalist

Environmentalist

An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...

, Sangamon Taylor, uncovering a conspiracy involving industrialist polluters

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...

 in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 Harbor

Boston Harbor

Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeast.-History:...

. The "Zodiac" of the title refers to the brand

Zodiac Group

Zodiac, which became Zodiac Aerospace in 2007, is a French corporation, specialized in the production and development of on-board systems, safety systems and cabin interiors...

 of inflatable motor boats

Rigid-hulled inflatable boat

A rigid-hulled inflatable boat, or rigid-inflatable boat is a light-weight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a solid, shaped hull and flexible tubes at the gunwale. The design is stable and seaworthy...

 the hero uses to get around the city efficiently. His opponents attempt to frame him as an ecoterrorist.

The protagonist is inspired by environmental chemist Marco Kaltofen. Taylor is a recreational user of nitrous oxide

Nitrous oxide

Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas or sweet air, is a chemical compound with the formula . It is an oxide of nitrogen. At room temperature, it is a colorless non-flammable gas, with a slightly sweet odor and taste. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic...

, justifying his choice of drug by the eponymous Sangamon's Principle: "the simpler the molecule, the better the drug".

Much of the plot concerns Boston Harbor's Spectacle Island which at the time of publication was almost entirely composed of garbage

Waste

Waste is unwanted or useless materials. In biology, waste is any of the many unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms, metabolic waste; such as urea, sweat or feces. Litter is waste which has been disposed of improperly...

. In the story it is frequented by drugged-out and reputedly Satanic

Satanism

Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...

 groupies of the "two-umlaut

Heavy metal umlaut

A metal umlaut is a diaeresis that is sometimes used gratuitously or decoratively over letters in the names of hard rock or heavy metal bands—for example those of Mötley Crüe and Motörhead...

" heavy metal music

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 band, Pöyzen Böyzen, who are too intoxicated with angel dust

Phencyclidine

Phencyclidine , commonly initialized as PCP and known colloquially as angel dust, is a recreational dissociative drug...

 to realize they are poisoning themselves with the toxic waste

Toxic waste

Toxic waste is waste material that can cause death or injury to living creatures. It spreads quite easily and can contaminate lakes and rivers. The term is often used interchangeably with “hazardous waste”, or discarded material that can pose a long-term risk to health or environment.Toxic waste...

that was dumped there.

Release details

• 1988, USA, Atlantic Monthly Press (ISBN 0-87113-181-1), Pub date ? May 1988, paperback (First edition)
• 1988, UK, Bloomsbury (ISBN 0-7475-0262-5), Pub date ? October 1988, paperback
• 1995, USA, Spectra Books (ISBN 0-553-57386-1), Pub date ? June 1995, paperback
• 1997, USA, Signet Books (ISBN 0-451-45588-6), Pub date 29 May 1997, paperback
• 1997, UK, Penguin Books (ISBN 0-14-027038-8), Pub date 7 August 1997, paperback
• 2001, UK, Arrow Books (ISBN 0-09-941552-6), Pub date 24 May 2001, paperback
• 2002, France, Denoël (ISBN 2-207-25264-7), Pub date 4 September 2002, paperback