The Bird Saviors

by William J. Cobb Narrated by Tom Stechschulte

Overview

Having received an abundance of critical acclaim for his previous novels, award-winning author William J. Cobb adds to his already impressive reputation with this superbly crafted dystopian novel. Ruby Cole sees her Colorado town struck by a dust storm and blanketed in pink snow. With the world slipping into turmoil, Ruby's father presents her with a terrible choice: abandon her child or marry a man who is twice her age. Steadfast, Ruby refuses either option, setting in motion an unsettling series of events.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

“Bill Cobb's The Bird Saviors is a stark modern-day Old Testament story in which the evil that men do is barely balanced by the good that a few manage to achieve. It's a gritty harrowing story set in a dust-blown Colorado town that seems filled with vivid characters. Cobb's expert story-telling compels us forward scene by scene to a final satisfying redemption.” –Kent Haruf, author of Plainsong


"A novel told with an unexpected and appealing warmth; the characters in The Bird Saviors become increasingly memorable, page by page, and the story pulled me in without hullabaloo or fuss— this is good, confident storytelling." —Aimee Bender

“Weaving a biblical motif with social, political, economic, and environmental undertones, he does a yeoman’s job of bringing together complex themes in a touching and memorable tale that readers won’t soon forget. It’s Cobb’s prose, in particular, that breathes life into this tumultuous terrain, his every sentence dulcet in the discordance. . .To say The Bird Saviors is “amazing” is also to shortchange Cobb. For his is a timeless story of love and redemption, a classic tale of good vs. evil, and a can’t-miss page-turner that leaves readers wanting more.” –Foreword Magazine

Library Journal

In a grim, dystopian American West, bird populations, which are being blamed for a virulent avian flu epidemic, are being shot to extinction. Oil shortages play havoc with the economy, stretching the divide between rich and poor. The weather is bizarre, with persistent drought and dust storms. Scariest of all: these events don't seem to be occurring that far in the future. On the fringes of Pueblo, CO, characters' lives and misadventures intersect. These characters include Ruby, an unwed teen mother whose fundamentalist Mormon father considers selling her off to a polygamist pawn shop owner; a handsome but shady Native American living off the grid; a city traffic cop who patrols on horseback, plus a few assorted criminals. Ruby's interest in birds leads her to a job as research assistant to an ornithologist who's mourning the deaths of his own wife and child to the flu. VERDICT A powerful but disturbing read. Beyond building a sense of dread and panic, Cobb (Goodnight, Texas) gets inside the heads of people down on their luck in a disintegrating world.—Reba Leiding, James Madison Univ. Libs., Harrisonburg, VA

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171027681
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	06/12/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged

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