The Bird Saviors by William J. Cobb, Paperback | Indigo Chapters

Set in the stark landscape of the desert Southwest in some very near future, a young unwed mother must find her way in a world damaged by a ravaging bird flu epidemic and drought, and in which the social fabric and economic structures seems on the verge of falling apart. When a dust storm engulfs her Colorado town and pink snow blankets the streets, a heartbreaking decision faces Ruby Cole, a girl who counts birds: She must abandon her baby or give in to her father, whom she nicknames Lord God, and marry a man more than twice her age who already has two wives. She chooses to run, which sets in motion an interlocking series of actions and reactions, upending the lives of an equestrian police officer, pawnshop riffraff, a disabled war vet, Nuisance Animal destroyers, and a grieving ornithologist - a field biologist studies the decline of bird populations. All the while, a growing criminal enterprise moves from cattle rustling to kidnapping to hijacking fuel tankers and murder as events spin out of control. | The Bird Saviors by William J. Cobb, Paperback | Indigo Chapters