Promise of the Wolves

The story is set at a time when humans had not yet established themselves as the dominant creatures on earth and illustrates many commonalities between the social structure of humans and wolves. Justine Eyre is sympathetic to Kaala, who is trying to maintain her place at the fringe of the wolf pack and from whose point of view the story is told. Eyre deftly expresses the curiosity of the youngsters, who are sometimes tempted to move into forbidden areas. Her comfort and facility with these younger characters comes through clearly. On the other hand, the elders, particularly the males, sound a bit flat in their sternness, and the oldest sound quite feeble. J.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

March 10, 2008
The debut of former Jossey-Bass senior editor Hayes is a crackling foray into a dangerous past, the first of a projected trilogy. On Wide Valley plain 14,000 years ago, wolf Kaala is born into the Swift River pack—a half-breed outcast with Outsider blood. As she grows into adulthood, the spirited pup continues to come into conflict with pack leader Ruuqo. She also sneaks off to be with humans, who are encroaching on wolf territory and who often drive the wolves from their kills. Fraternization is strictly forbidden, but as Kaala’s mother has foreseen in dreams, it may also be the key to saving every wolf and human in the valley. Hayes’s remarkable fluency when writing in Kaala’s voice is immediately absorbing. The mythologies of the societies she invents are underdeveloped, but the relationships between the human characters and the wolf characters are keenly felt, and the conflicts sharply imagined. Hayes’s keen interpretations of wolf behavior, senses and sensibilities will enchant paranormal fans and animal lovers alike.