I am one third
through The Loop, by Nicholas Evans, author of The Horse
Whisperer.
Coincidentally, Evans died last week of a heart attack at age 72.
Charlie King, managing director of Little, Brown Book Group said:
"Nicholas Evans was a masterful storyteller and one of the most successful, best-loved novelists of his generation. His era-defining bestseller The Horse Whisperer and his four subsequent novels, The Loop, The Smoke Jumper, The Divide and the Brave, have been enjoyed by millions of readers around the world. Little, Brown is extremely proud to be Nick’s publisher – he will be greatly missed, but his words will live on for years to come."
A neighbor recommended The Loop when she heard I was writing about wolves and though this novel has a much more expansive plot and several more point-of-view characters than the novel I'm writing, it's interesting to see how we cover the same
ground.
According to the publisher:
The Loop
opens as a pack of wolves makes a sudden return to the Rocky Mountains ranching town of Hope, Montana, where a century ago, they were slaughtered by the thousands. Now shielded by law as endangered species, they reawaken an ancient hatred that will tear a family and, ultimately, the town apart.
At the center of the storm is Helen Ross, a 29-year-old wolf biologist sent alone into this remote and hostile place to protect the wolves from those who seek to destroy them. The Loop charIts her struggle and her dangerous love affair with the son of her most powerful opponent, the brutal and charismatic rancher
Buck Calder.
At once a haunting exploration of man’s conflict with nature and the wild within himself and a sweeping story of deadly passions and redemptive love, The Loop is
destined to capture the hearts and imaginations of readers everywhere.
Author Nicholas Evans said of his book:
Again, for me The Loop was never really an animal story. It’s about a pack of wolves returning to a place where they had been cruelly hunted to extinction and how their return sets aflame old
hatreds. In a way it’s a fable about racism: how ignorance breeds fear and hatred and, ultimately, violence.
When I finish these two novels, I'll let you know
what I think. I'd love to hear what you've been reading!
