Set in the present, "Barren" tells the story of a world spiraling into chaos as a plague unseen since the disappearance of the ancient Mayan and Aztec civilizations is resurrected and thrust upon an unsuspecting and far more crowded planet. 'The Calamity' has rendered all female mammalian life suddenly sterile, and women around the world begin to lose their unborn babies! Yvonne Balfour, a newlywed in middle-America, is in her doctor's office when the first tragic calls come in. The rivers of India run red with the blood of the miscarried and stillborn, while Beijing's Peoples Hospital is inundated with panic-stricken patients. Orphans everywhere vanish almost overnight as the black-market for children explodes to exploit this newly finite resource. Dr. Robert Keener, Director of the Centers For Disease Control, races to find the cause - and hopefully a cure - for The Calamity, using every resource at his disposal, including a brilliant young doctor of paleobotany, Emmanuel James. Cultures and nations are shaken to their cores, and Asia is engulfed in war for control of what is now the most valuable resource on Earth: people. High above the smoke-smeared globe, Humanity's last hope may well reside in the two female astronauts aboard the International Space Station who are unaware they have become the most coveted objects in the world. "Barren" explores a worldwide conflict - Russia invading Ukraine and other former Soviet republics; India confronted by both Pakistan and communist China; Iran striking out to remake the Persian Empire; Venezuela attacking its neighbors in South America - as the most valuable resource on Earth becomes people.