Tomás is a Nubian goat living the good life with the other goats and sheep at Rodriguez Ranch. His best friends are the mighty Rocky, the comedic Gordie, and his true love Penny. Their privileged life changes abruptly the night the coyotes sing, when they must hastily embark on a most arduous journey. They eventually meet up with the goats of Jackson Goat Ranch, who have a hard life with primitive living conditions and regular trailer rides to vegetation management jobs. To the Jacksons, goats are strictly business commodities and nothing more so the goats have no names, only numbers tagged to their ears.
Tomás and friends adjust to their new life with the Jackson goats, making friends but also arch enemies. On a beautiful sunny day, the goats nibble on invasive weeds and plants along the Rex River levee below Ol' Hemhuck Dam, which is a ticking time bomb. The dam has a latent defect that's gone undetected for years, until young engineering prodigy Megan Riley makes an alarming discovery and alerts her superiors, the five old men on the Ol' Hemhuck Water District Board of Directors. Her warning goes unheeded though, because of a competing need for limited maintenance funds, and a catastrophic dam failure becomes inevitable. Who will survive the ensuing maelstrom? Only the lucky will survive!
Bruce Shaffer has written feature magazine stories and sports articles for publications near his adopted hometown of Folsom, California. As a civil engineer, he authored many water resources documents during his 26-year career. Now retired, Bruce enjoys tapping into his life experiences and creativity to compose works of non-fiction and fiction. He lives happily with his wonderful wife, a playful dog, and a defiant cat, and has two awesome grown sons in Northern California.
