Endangered Solitude

About the Book

For years the Mike and Rusty Osborn have relished the solitude of their home in the foothills adjacent to a uniquely beautiful parcel of land known as Meadow Mesa. Then the long-time owner of the Mesa tells them that he is selling and they will have a new neighbor -- a developer.

The developer turns out to be a real scoundrel that will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He also is a smooth talker very adept at misleading others to gain their cooperation.

The developer is very aware that environmentalist groups pay close attention to what goes on in pristine areas like Meadow Mesa. He knows he needs to be extremely careful to avoid any confrontation with them. However he was not aware of the lengths to which they would go to achieve their goals. It takes him a while to realize he was up against an environmental group that prefers to operate in the shadows in order to hide their real motives.

The Osborns are caught in the middle of the conflict between the developer and the environmentalists. They are forced to draw heavily on their determination and resourcefulness to survive the battle between the competing parties.

About the Author

Al was born in Iowa and grew up in a small town in central Illinois. After graduating from the University of Illinois with an engineering degree, he and his wife moved to California to work at the NavyÕs research, development, and test facility at China Lake, and incidentally, to learn to ski!

The majority of his career was centered in performing and managing weapons effectiveness studies for the Navy. That involved presenting the best analytical data available in the writing of reports, and assuring that a primary focus was always to eliminate the ÒfictionÓ that tries to sneak into them. He is now retired and enjoys golf and other outdoor activities.

Endangered Solitude is AlÕs first attempt at writing a novel where fiction is the primary focus. Writing the book was inspired by simple curiosity about writing fiction and how it compares with technical writing. In addition, there were several actual events that served as fodder for feeding the curiosity about fictional dialog. One thing led to another and eventually there was a completed manuscript.