An uplifting read that informs, enlightens and satisfies.
In addressing both man against nature and the nature of man, Ness’s novel raises challenging questions about the balance between hunting for sport and hunting for survival.
Survival of the fittest plays out with personalities and past regrets in sharp relief, as hunter and hunted confront unforgiving nature in the remote Yukon. The story skillfully weaves together the lives of seemingly disparate individuals into a conflict-ridden tapestry of self-discovery. The principal storyline centers on high-profile eco-warrior Hannah Weinberg. Her mission: to confront and raise public awareness of the wealthy trophy hunters who scour the remote Yukon Mountains in search of grizzly bears. The titular figurehead of a save-the-bears group called Grizzly Watch, Hannah meets her perceived nemesis in Dan MacKay, an unemployed, half-Indian moose hunter who lives in a small First Nation community. Dan runs into a lost Hannah while hunting moose on the Macmillan River. Elsewhere, Dan’s attorney, Susan Field, is driven by conscience rather than cash to uncover the truth about Dan’s ex-wife, Tara, and her suspicious pedophile boyfriend, Gary. Seems Gary has taken an interest in Dan’s preteen daughter, Starla. Another intersecting storyline revolves around Hannah’s husband, David Hellman. Rich and powerful, he cheats on Hannah, but when she’s reported missing, David swings into action and hires Yukon mountain experts to accompany him on the search. At times, details in the supporting storylines run too deep and risk overwhelming the central story. Thinning them a bit in favor of the Dan–Hannah relationship, and how their initially opposing views slowly begin to dovetail, could improve the novel’s focus. Adding an extra dimension to the narrative are the internal dialogues of several animals. Raz, Dan’s loyal, well-trained hunting dog, expresses his own feelings and insight about “his Dan” and the new girl, Hannah. Raz eventually becomes indispensable to both the hunt and Dan’s survival. There’s also a “talkative” raven who provides some whimsical observations about human “bobbleheads” and their strange habits, and several moose express their feelings and various sexual pangs. Finally, there’s the heartbreaking struggle of a gut-shot bear, lumbering through the forest to find relief from the pain that accompanies his every step. Richly detailed and generously storied with characters both sympathetic and loathsome, this is the action-adventure novel for wilderness enthusiasts.
An uplifting read that informs, enlightens and satisfies.Pub Date: June 26, 2012
ISBN: 978-1467966511
Page Count: 366
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A nostalgic, authentic novel that charms with its vintage hue.
Brown’s debut novel recounts how a young woman’s murder affects the lives of childhood friends.
In the early-20th century, three adolescent boys—Nickels, Kurt and Charlie—are the most loyal of chums. They each face their share of hardships, but none so difficult as Nickels’ father’s imprisonment for a murder he didn’t commit. The man was a father to all three boys; Charlie’s dad is a hapless drunk, and Kurt lost his father at a young age to pneumonia. Life goes on, inside and outside prison walls, until the friends learn that revenge against the real killer is in sight. The account is narrated by Nicky’s granddaughter, who gathered the information from her family. This approach adds a sense of authenticity and casts the tale as a recollection. Characters seem to arrive already defined, as they would in memory. The three boys are the indisputable heroes, and the villains are blatantly evil—Russell Cantrell, a rich lawyer who’s introduced as he accuses someone else for a crime he committed (he’s only 13 at the time), and his assistant/chauffeur, Voigt, whose hands are dirty almost from the get-go. The murder is incidental to the narrative, and the murderer’s identity is never really in question. Still, a generous amount of suspense comes with the revelation of the victim’s name and the exact date and location of the murder. The novel recreates an era as it follow the boys’ lives from World War I through their adulthood and into the Great Depression. Several issues faced by the characters are still relevant today, such as corruption and bigotry—Nicky and his Polish family are often vulgarly called “Polacks.” But it is the portrayal of real-world history—the height of Prohibition, the early days of cinema—that makes the book such a gem.
A nostalgic, authentic novel that charms with its vintage hue.Pub Date: May 11, 2012
ISBN: 978-0985439118
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Woodchuck Publishers
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A thought-provoking thriller.
In Folsom’s novel, the Saudis and the Americans team up to thwart Iran’s attempt to build a nuclear bomb.
What will happen if Iran successfully develops a nuclear warhead? This question, which usually vexes presidential candidates and U.N. diplomats, drives Folsom’s fast-paced follow-up to his previous novel (The Pareto Spread, 2006). As scientists in Iran drive relentlessly toward completion of the nuclear technology that will give them a bomb, powerful figures in the U.S. and the Middle East fear that the Iranians’ pursuit will set off an arms race that will throw the Arab world into chaos and endanger global stability. Hoping to avert catastrophe, members of the Saudi royal family risk it all on “Peaceful Eagle,” a dangerous gambit that will deliver either peace or destruction. A Cold War-era bomb lies hundreds of feet below the ground in North Carolina, and the Saudis contract with the New Democratic Right—a semi-covert American paramilitary group—to extract the warhead. If necessary, the Saudis plan to detonate the device preemptively in Iran, scuttling the country’s nuclear ambitions and avoiding all-out war. Meanwhile, Robert Faircloth, an NDR operative, is working his way through the Middle East in an effort to contact the Iranian mullahs, warn them of the impending danger and resolve the crisis diplomatically. The tension mounts as these figures and others race to a startling conclusion. Folsom’s novel is full of satisfying twists and intrigues; Tom Clancy would be proud. Further, the author is clearly conversant in international politics, Arab cultural norms and the intricacies of global religion. His knowledge lends his novel a realistic look and feel, and his expansive familiarity with current events gives it an up-to-the-minute realism. Best of all, while his plot moves forward at breakneck speed, he never sacrifices character development for pace. All of his major players are fully realized people, not just pawns in an international chess match.
A thought-provoking thriller.Pub Date: May 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-1469966342
Page Count: 274
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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