Eagle Creek (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780595679102)

Veteran Florida cattle rancher Jack Grant has no intention of selling his land to the Empire Development Company. He is the lone holdout against a tide of support for their massive retirement community project that would put his 2,000-acre Eagle Creek ranch out of business.

Grant fears that the new development will lead to tiny lots with matchbox houses, the drying up of Eagle Creek, decimation of the deer and turkey population, and choked roads and overcrowded schools. In the struggle, Grant stands alone, even emotionally abandoned by his young wife, who wishes for an urban life far from the solitude of the ranch. As tempers flare, families divide, and friends become enemies, the question still remains: how much growth is justifiable?

Eagle Creek peers into today's headlines, mirroring the constant conflict between landowners, developers, regulators, and conservationists-who all have different definitions of "progress."