Published by Liveright, 7 Oct 2014.
ISBN: 978-0871406675
I started to read this dark, poetic novel and was
first of all blown away by the lyrical style of writing, not something I
normally expect from a crime novel, then enthralled by the intricacies of the
claustrophobic plot. Set in the dark and
isolated wastes of the Alaskan tundra, the village of Keelut is surrounded by
frozen mountains, home to herds of starving wolves. Two children have already been snatched by
the predators; when a third is taken, his mother, Medora Stone, contacts
Russell Core, a wolf-expert, for help in avenging the loss of her son by
finding and killing the wolves responsible.
Core takes on the challenge, partly to appease his own
guilt for earlier transgressions. The people of Keelut do not welcome his
appearance, nor does Medora, a fiercely troubled woman, though we do not
discover the dark secret which lies at the heart of her troubles until the end
of the book. Her husband, Vernon,
serving in the desert war, comes home to find his son dead, and a savagely
brutal trail of reprisal begins.
The body count is high. Man is revealed as a worse predator than
Wolf, often killing for the sake of it, whereas the animal kills only out of
necessity. The characters are enigmatic
to the point of unfathomability. There
is nothing in the least bit warm and fuzzy about this bleak and highly unusual
little novel, and I would guarantee that you have never read anything quite
like it before, though comparisons have been made with Cormac McCarthy.
Taut, brutal and compelling … read it.
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Reviewer: Susan Moody
William Giraldi is author of the novels Busy Monsters
and Hold the Dark. He is an editor
for the journal AGNI at Boston University, and
lives in Boston with his wife and sons.
Susan Moody was born and brought up in Oxford. She
has published over 30 crime and suspense novels, including the Penny Wanawake
series and the Cassandra Swann bridge series. She is a past Chairman of
the British Crime Writers' Association, a member of the Detection Club, a past
Writer-in-Residence at the University of Tasmania and a past President of the
International Association of Crime Writers. She divides her time between
south-west France and south-east Kent. Nominated for the CWA short
story award. Nominated for the RNA's award.
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