Jan Smolders

Birds Sing Before Sunrise Jan Smolders

In a deserted area high in the Peruvian Andes, machete swinging thugs drag California engineer Frank Anderson out of a Jeep, beat him savagely, and leave him for dead. Four days later, masked men kidnap his wife, Joanna, who has rushed to his side in the hospital. The lives of their two little daughters are also in jeopardy. Frank is not just an unlucky run-of-the-mill tourist robbed for his money. He leads the installation of a solar project launched by an American oil company at a copper mine in the Peruvian mountains. Frank harbors a gnawing suspicion that he might be a tool of oilmen in his own company who want to create a façade of openness to solar energy. But as his list of suspects grows to include diesel tanker drivers, tribal leaders, and politicians, Frank soon realizes that the entire oil supply chain, stretching from the Peruvian mine to the corporate offices of Peruvian and American companies, appears suspicious. He must find the culprits before it is too late. Birds Sing before Sunrise is the compelling tale of drama in the Peruvian Andes as solar pioneers battle the money and power of big oil, placing the lives of an American couple and their children directly in the crossfire.