Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Genre: Sci Fi/Fantasy
Format: ALC
Narrator: John Pirhalla
Length: 12 hrs 50 mins
No. of Pages: 368
Date of Publication: June 23, 2026
My Rating: 4 Stars
DESCRIPTION:
Philip Marlowe meets Redwall in this superior adult noir tale, where all the characters are animals, fighting for survival in the city underneath the humans.
In the solar cities of the future, the humans relax in the sun and the animals work in the shadows. Genetically engineered Little Helpers, serving humanity—unseen, unheard.
Meet Skotch. Racoon, P.I.—Yours for a few buttons as long as the job isn't too illegal, whatever that means.
A mouse has gone missing. Normally this wouldn't raise any hackles, nor any alarms, but this mouse has something that everyone seems to want, though nobody appears particularly eager to say what that something is.
The fee is good—perhaps too good. Certainly not something Skotch can easily turn down.
If only Skotch can work out where the mouse is hiding, what he's hiding, and why his secrets are upsetting a lot of animals caught up in the Green City wars.
In the solar cities of the future, the humans relax in the sun and the animals work in the shadows. Genetically engineered Little Helpers, serving humanity—unseen, unheard.
Meet Skotch. Racoon, P.I.—Yours for a few buttons as long as the job isn't too illegal, whatever that means.
A mouse has gone missing. Normally this wouldn't raise any hackles, nor any alarms, but this mouse has something that everyone seems to want, though nobody appears particularly eager to say what that something is.
The fee is good—perhaps too good. Certainly not something Skotch can easily turn down.
If only Skotch can work out where the mouse is hiding, what he's hiding, and why his secrets are upsetting a lot of animals caught up in the Green City wars.
MY THOUGHTS:
Green City Wars was a surprise hit for me. Only having briefly read the synopsis, I first was a little shocked that all of the characters are animals. So I waited a day or two and went back to the book. This time I was able to fully immerse myself in that futuristic little world, a world where justice is paramount. This made the underground world where these animals reside a very unique type of story for me.
In charge at the present time is Skotch, Raccoon PI. Skotch and the other little animals are genetically engineered creatures that do work for the humans, but always must remain in the shadows. One of them, a mouse, has gone missing, and Skotch takes the case.
There is more going on than the mystery of the missing mouse. It appears that the mouse is holding onto something that the others may want, yet none of them want to tell Skotch exactly what that is. Skotch still takes the case because the fee is just too good to resist. So where is the mouse hiding? Will the secrets he is hiding upset the balance the animals are trying to maintain, especially since some of them are involved now in the Green City wars?
This futuristic story captivated me so much that I easily forgot that all the protagonists were animals. The expertly narrated book really brought the animals to life. It was very easy to see which protagonist was speaking thanks to the excellent narration., Humor woven throughout the story and a cleverly handled mystery made Green City Wars a thoroughly engaging book that was impossible to put down.
Many thanks to Macmillan Audio and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
