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PLEASURE OF BELIEVING

A first novel, pitting environmentalists against ranchers, that's suspenseful, wonderfully written, and remarkably free of didacticism. The Uncle John Ranch, comprising some of the best grassland in Wyoming, has passed through three generations of the Shea family, landing in the custody of Roberta, now in her late 40s. Disillusioned with ``the war ranchers wage against wildlife,'' she's transformed the ranch into a raptor rehabilitation facility. Though Roberta is sharply at odds with an ethic that values human survival over avian, she's grudgingly tolerated by nearby ranchers, whose connections to the Shea family run deep. Carl Drummond, a longtime neighbor, discovers that two of his sheep have been slaughtered by coyotes, and he recklessly poisons the carcasses to fend off predators and protect his livelihood. But when two poisoned eagles are found, victims of a ``collateral kill,'' an outraged Roberta is determined to find the culprit. The sad outcome is both inevitable and gripping. Meanwhile, an array of auxiliary characters are skillfully developed: Roberta's husband, Glen, a politician who once managed the Uncle John and now rues its alteration; Muirie, Roberta's 23-year-old niece, who arrives from California hoping to take control of her own life; Sherman, the local veterinarian, who shares Roberta's passion but struggles with her over the ethics of animal euthanasia; and Flo, Carl's wife, an amateur painter who unintentionally implicates her husband. Only the outside media, faulted for stereotyping this insular community, are themselves portrayed stereotypically. Even the recuperating birds have personalities and important roles to play. Pointed as they are, the conflicts on the animate side of this ecosystem are nearly eclipsed by the raw power of the inanimate world—the fearsome western weather and the intoxicating geography. Altogether, a debut informed by a palpable love of land and open spaces. (Author tour)

Pub Date: April 4, 1997

ISBN: 1-56947-085-5

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Soho

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1997

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THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.

"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

Pub Date: June 15, 1951

ISBN: 0316769177

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951

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MAGIC HOUR

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.

Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Pub Date: March 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-345-46752-3

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005

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