Having read and enjoyed Chris Butler's "Flight of the Ravens" I bought the kindle edition of this earlier work.
It tells of a series of unexplained power surges which are investigated by a sinister government agency. Gradually it emerges that these events coincide with the appearance of a mysterious and traumatised man, Joe, who is helped by Kate, a young woman herself trying to deal with a devastating bereavement.
As the plot develops we learn that Joe is from the future, a future where the world has become entirely ordered and city based. Wildlife has been almost eliminated from the Earth and animals, ordinary to us, are rare in Joe's world. Butler subtly and touchingly shows us this in Joe's attention to every stray cat or dog he sees and his delight in going to London Zoo. In fact the full cast of characters, good, bad and middling are convincingly drawn and we warm especially to Joe and Kate as they try to deal with their problems of past, present and future. The plot is satisfying in SF terms and the bitter-sweet ending quietly moving.