🏆Winner of the Global Book Award 2026 & Manhattan Book Awards 🏆

ABOUT THE BOOK

A grieving mother. A poisoned wilderness. A billion-dollar secret.

In the remote wilderness of Oregon, archaeologist Jennifer Russo makes two discoveries that change her life forever: an ancient cave filled with prehistoric remains, and a nearby pond choked with toxic yellow vapors. When a man posing as a sheriff warns her to stay silent, Jen realizes she has uncovered something powerful that people will kill to protect.

Still shattered by the death of her infant daughter, Jen returns home hoping for comfort. Instead, she finds betrayal. Her husband, an environmental attorney, is working for oil tycoon Abdul Hammed Dillinger, whose refinery produces petcoke, a toxic byproduct poisoning land, air, and oceans worldwide.

When Jen Clean Air, water, and truth become matters of survival, she joins Antheia, a network of young activists led by Brian Adakai. Together, they uncover illegal dumping, corporate corruption, and a conspiracy stretching across continents. Their search leads to murder, kidnapping, and a final confrontation aboard Dillinger’s cargo ship where the fate of a whistleblower, and of the truth itself, hangs in the balance.

From the emotional depth of Where the Crawdads Sing to the urgency of Erin Brockovich, Antheia in the Thorns is a gripping environmental thriller about grief, courage, and the cost of speaking out.

Kirkus Reviews:
"A fiction-filled, well-plotted yarn of industry vs. nature. The narrative sets up a delightfully conflict-heavy premise: How can Jen fight for the natural world while her husband works for someone who actively seeks to destroy it? Readers will be sufficiently engaged by the central conflict to stick around to see how the (petcoke) dust settles."

Antheia in the Thorns is the second book in the Rightfully Mine series.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marilynne Eichinger is an anthropology graduate of Boston University with a master’s degree in psychology from Michigan State University. She served as the founding president of Impression 5 Science Museum and the president of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

Her novel The Water Factor received the Firebird International Award for Best Dystopian Fiction, a Literary Titan Gold Medal, and a New York Book Festival Award. Her nonfiction works include the award-winning Lives of Museum Junkies and Over the Peanut Fence.

She continues to write stories that explore environmental justice, human rights, and the courage of ordinary people. She is currently working on Kingdom of Greed, the third book in the Rightfully Mine series.