Oxygen Debt

What if your next breath came with interest? In a smoke-dimmed Denver where oxygen is rationed by algorithm, analyst Avery Cole keeps two ledgers: the city's—and her father's. When a buried clause hints that communities who lower peak demand can halt compounding oxygen debt, Avery joins organizer Maya Rutherford, ER physician Dr. Lin West, principled "gravity" Serena Caldwell, and recovering financier Elliot Harper to attempt the most unspectacular heist imaginable: make the math tell the truth. Their tool kit isn't heroics—it's boring miracles: algae tubes on bingo-hall walls, commons run like kitchens, witness sensors on library roofs, footnotes that bite, and a Smogline stitched from neighbors. But markets have a kill-switch, and a hedge fund has appetite. As the city races to hit the fabled twelve percent—and a midnight "hinge" decides whether debt pauses or spikes—Avery must convince power to show its work in courtrooms, ballrooms, and boiler rooms. Oxygen Debt is a near-future civic thriller where hope is procedural, risk is personal, and redemption looks like maintenance done well. It's a story of found community and audited mercy—of people who choose receipts over rhetoric and build a commons sturdy enough to outlast election cycles. When the final switch flips, the surprise isn't fireworks; it's a dividend that proves survival can be shared, not sold. Cinematic and humane, this novel blends legal suspense, systems thinking, and heart-deep characters into a narrative that insists change doesn't require saints—just neighbors who keep the fans humming. If you crave climate fiction that refuses despair and rewards craft, this book will leave you breathing easier—and ready to help.