A Solitude of Wolverines

September 21, 2020
Idealistic biologist Alex Carter, the heroine of this middling series launch from Henderson (the Skyfire Saga), did an environmental study in Boston that thwarted plans to turn a tract of wetlands into commercial real estate. At the dedication ceremony for the nature preserve that was established instead, a man who lost money as a result is about to shoot Carter when an unknown sniper blows his head off. Traumatized by the violence, Carter leaps at a job offer to study wolverines in Montana on land donated to the Land Trust for Wildlife Conservation. After she arrives, someone leaves a note on her windshield warning her off, and someone else almost drives her off the road. She has apparently become the target of those who object to land being used to benefit animals rather than people. The stakes rise when Carter finds a badly injured man in the woods who disappears before she can return with help. A plot that strains credulity is matched by characters who lack depth. Readers interested in conservation-themed thrillers will be better served by the novels of Jon McGoran. Agent: Alex Slater, Trident Media Group.

October 30, 2020

Henderson moves from science fiction ("Skyfire Saga" and "Supernatural" series) to crime fiction with a title where wilderness collides with wanton greed and murder. A gunman almost kills conservation biologist Alex Carter for supporting a wildlife habitat in Boston, where Alex has reluctantly lived a city life. When her former professor at UC Berkeley contacts her to study wolverines at a protected land trust in Montana, she jumps at the chance. Upon her arrival at her new home--an abandoned ski resort reminiscent of TheShining--it's clear the residents in the area don't want her there. One leaves a threatening note on her windshield, and someone tries to run her off the road. But Alex is hard to scare. Dangerous things continue to happen and when she spots a bizarre creature deep in the forest, she's convinced something sinister is in play. Someone is trying to kill her, but who and why? Not sure whom she can trust, Alex's survival skills are put to the ultimate test against men with high-powered rifles hunting her in a blizzard. VERDICT Fans of ecological fiction will enjoy the juxtaposition of the natural environment with the best and worst of human nature in this exciting backwoods thriller. --K.L. Romo, Duncanville, TX

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