HOLD ON, GERONIMO

The cast is off, but his right hand won't move; then to his horror, Lance ""Geronimo"" Ducharme learns that the injury he sustained in Let It Go (1986) may leave permanent damage. Lance tries to conceal the news, but can't fool his fiery cousin Kat, ""all claws and curiosity."" Though doctors give him a chance of recovery, he is filled with self-pity, bitterly contemplating a future with his two major interests (ranch work and art) closed to him. Then an air crash leaves Lance stranded, with Kat and friend Red, in the Canadian wilderness; his dexterity, or lack of it, means the difference between life and death. Unfortunately, Lance isn't a convincing character: despite continual self-analysis, he has difficulty controlling what he does or says, and his irrational antipathy toward Kat is insufficiently motivated. His story lacks focus; begun as a problem novel, its sudden, belated shift to a survival adventure is jarring. Still, though flawed, it moves quickly and has a hint of romance in its last scene; by the time the teen-agers are rescued, Lance has begun to heal, and various relationships are on the mend. Readers may be enticed into looking up the first book.