Six years into the worst drought in history, fresh oranges go for $10 each, and food is scarce. Just when Californians think things can't get worse, their last lifeline, the California Aqueduct, is held hostage, creating more havoc than a Richter 7. Scott Acosta, a plant biologist and the son of a Mexican farm worker, spends twenty hours a day in the most advanced greenhouse in America. Scott, who is deaf and hears with a cochlear implant, has bioengineered a miracle plant that can save California from starvation. He has reversed photosynthesis. That's right. His plants produce water. Brenton Ecco, Scott's former college roommate, is willing to do almost anything to stop Scott. Brenton, the son of the CEO of Ag-Gen, the nation's richest and most successful Agri-business, is the charismatic leader of the Friends of the Environment, an organization dead set against genetically modified Frankenfoods like Scott's miracle plant. When the head of the California Water Board dies mysteriously while golfing on the brown, the Health Department and California Highway Patrol investigate. Doctor Andie Andrews, the Public Health Director, is now back in Scott's life for the first time since his tragic accident. To avoid more deaths, the Aqueduct Directors in Sacramento are faced with a "China Syndrome" decision-allow the potentially deadly water to flow or shut off the entire water supply. Either way, Californians face catastrophe unless Scott and Andie can figure out what's really going on. From the drying marshes of the Sacramento Delta to the wind parched Tehachapi Mountains, California's survival is in the hands of a farm worker's deaf son, an overzealous environmentalist, a troubled highway patrolman, a gluttonous land speculator, and a single mom.
About the Author: Although it is 10 p.m., and Paul Bernstein, M.D., has spent four hours in surgery, his evening is not over. Bernstein will go home, sit down at his computer, and spend the next two hours working on his latest novel. This is just a glimpse of the energy and dedication this graduate of UCSD School of Medicine pours into his twin passions: providing the best possible care for his patients as Medical Director of the largest Medical Group in San Diego, and sharing great stories through his fiction. These passions came together when Bernstein published Courage to Heal, a historical novel telling the true story of Dr. Sidney Garfield, who along with industrialist Henry Kaiser, who created the first health maintenance organization and forever changed American medicine. Bernstein's love of history fueled his desire to tell Garfield's story. In fact, Bernstein was a history major when he attended UCLA, but chose a medical career because of his passion to help others. "I was in the medical school's second graduating class, and it was an exciting time to be at UCSD," Bernstein recalls. "They had just brought in world renowned scientific and medical experts to start the school and our class was so small, we worked with them on a one-on-one basis. Bernstein began writing fiction a two decades ago. After years of taking classes, joining writers' groups and spending countless hours at his craft, Bernstein's "Courage to Heal" was published to strong reviews and several awards. His last novel, Flashblind, also won awards in the New York, Southern California, San Diego, and San Francisco book festivals. ForeWord Magazine reviewed it as "a first rate medical thriller that has it all: action, intrigue, suspense, and even a bit of romance. Solid characterization, believable dialogue, and a healthy dose of realism drive this medical drama." In addition to having served as the Chairman of the Head and Neck Division of the American Cancer Society, he has appeared regularly on ABC, NBC, CBS, and cable as a medical expert.