Crawfish Mountain

Starred review from July 16, 2007
Wells follows his Catahoula Bayou trilogy with this entertaining novel about imperiled Louisiana wetlands. Tom Huff, regional vice president of Standard of Texas Oil Company—“Big Tex” in fictional Chacahoula Parish—wants to route a pipeline through the treasured tract of bayou that Justin Pitre inherited from his grandfather. With the help of Juke Charpentier—a bully with a Big Tex expense account—Huff will do anything to gain access to Justin’s land. Compounding the threat are U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plans to dredge a shipping channel and Huff’s secret, illegal dumping of toxic waste in the bayou. Drawn into the center of this morass is Gov. Joe T. Evangeline, who, two years after his wife’s death, is having a hard time keeping up his bon vivant image. Julie Galjour, a smart and attractive attorney with the Department of Environmental Conservation, however, is determined to persuade the Guv to make the right decisions—and also, perhaps, to draw him out of his malaise. The plot’s many wild turns and feel-good ending may remind readers of Carl Hiaasen’s novels. Wells is a native of southern Louisiana, and his love of Cajun culture and its patois, food and ties to the landscape shines throughout.

Starred review from October 1, 2007
Wells ("Logan's Storm"), a native of the Louisiana bayous, is a writer with a purpose, and although his purpose may be transparent, his message is clear and his story is a gem. When Justin Pitre inherited Crawfish Mountain, a 500-acre tract of beautiful bayou wetland, he vowed to maintain it in its pristine condition. However, Tom Huff, regional vice president of Standard of Texas Oil Company, is determined to run a pipeline through the land, and uses threats, intimidation, and political clout to get his way. As Justin and his wife, Grace, plot a strategy to save their land, which takes an unplanned turn toward revenge, some of Huff's activitiesillegal dumping of toxic waste, bribery of state officials, and plans for cutting a shipping channel through the bayouscome to light. What evolves is a battle of good and evil, with the governor, a cadre of state and local officials, environmentalists, and private citizens getting involved. A serious tale told in a rollicking style, with large doses of humor, irony, intrigue, and a wonderful sense of time and place, Well's latest novel is a sure winner. Highly recommended.Thomas L. Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2007
Bribery, affairs, blackmail, secret crawfish-boil recipesand thats just what the governors been up to. Wells farce is a lightweight take on heavyweight topics of coastal erosion, political hucksterism, and corporate greed in the backwaters of southern Louisiana. Good ol Cajun folks land is being threatened by corrupt oil execs whod like to run pipelines and shipping canals through prime redfishing territory and then dump their barrels of leftover industrial muck into the swamps to save a greasy buck. Muddy payola schemes, twisting plotlines, and saltily endearing characters abound, but the charming, easily misled rogue of a governor and his possible redemption at the hands of his embattled constituents becomes the focal point of the story. The political and corporate machinations that would make this hit a little harder could more aptly be called shenanigans here, but its great fun to root against the Boss Hoggish villains, and Wells lively take on life on the bayou is precocious without succumbing to affectation. A fine bet to please those whose primary concerns are fishin, lovin, and laughin, and maybe in that order.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)