Gingerbread EconomyIntroduction In early 2004 Lee McGeorge's debut novel, Gingerbread Economy, was released by Speartip publishing and quickly established a cult following. The middle part of an expected trilogy it follows a group of former drug dealers and business leaders after a catastrophic world recession wipes out most western governments and their systems for law and order. The survivors of this land have huddled into communities of which one has powered ahead with a radical new currency based on the drug LSD. Click here to read a preview of the opening chapter About the story Using LSD as money (or gingerbread as it is named after its iconic design) a new system of economics and governance places this new leadership into the limelight as saviours; but as the people begin to organise towards a calmer society, the difficulties and violence of the near past are only superficially buried. It takes only a small chain of events to send the town spiralling out of control and a violent situation to snowball into a white-knuckle battle for survival. Despite the emphasis the story places on greed, power, and the inevitable selfish and self-destructive nature of humanity, the book is rated more for its superbly executed action sequences than its underlying moral message. 
To a large extent this is thanks to how Lee breaks literary conventions by building the narrative in distinct layers that initially seem wildly at odds with one another. As these layers begin to merge and converge the reader can see the consequences of the action long before the characters, and as the stakes raise and the effects intensify, the book takes on a breakneck dynamic that sends the story thundering towards a climax that the reader can foresee with both dread and excitement.
It is this combination of blistering storytelling pace, unstoppable violence, and all too believable human characters in a fantastically realised drug-fuelled society that has helped give the book its cult status. 
Audio clips and photographsAfter planning the story for over a decade, Lee moved to Romania to write the book in 2002. The environment and experience of living in Transylvania, as well as recollections of his childhood home town of Hartlepool merged with the ideas to create the uniqueness of the Gingerbread landscape. Click here for audio clips of an interview where Lee explains the details of the location, the setting, and the influences that helped turn twelve years of ideas into Gingerbread Economy. Alternatively, click here to view a photographic gallery of influences and personal pictures along with insightful comments from Lee. 
Special features of this websiteIf you have read the novel, clicking on special features will take you to a library of bonus material to accompany the book, these include:
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