Page Count:  544

Author:  Nicholas Evans

Publisher:  Dell

ISBN:  0-440-22462-4

Category:  Fiction

Genre:  Drama/Modern Western

Dove's (Personal) Review:  Very charming! Not quite as good as Evan's other book "The Horse Whisperer," but still a pretty good read!
     In the beginning, we meet Helen Ross... a very lost woman. Her relationship with her family is fragile, and her relationships with men are worse. She's currently living in New York, searching for the meaning of life. In college, she was studying to be a biologist, but for many reasons, her studies took the back-burner position. She regrets giving it up, but hopes to one day get back to it. She really misses the field work.
     A pack of nine wolves has swarmed into the little town of Hope, Montana, their dining preference being the local rancher's cattle. This, of course, infuriates the cowboys, Buck Calder in particular, one of Hope's largest brand-holders. His cattle are high quality, pure-bred Black Angus, a breed known for fetching the highest prices at auction. He's a hard working, cow-throwing, family man. When he's not ranching, he's busy being a husband, father, grandfather... he's also got a reputation as a lady's man around town. Monogamy is not one of his beliefs.
     While out in the pastures, he discovers a dead cow. After examining the carcass, he suspects wolves are the killers, based solely on the bite-radius. He contacts Dan Prior, the local Wild-life/Game Warden to report his findings.
     Wolves have been pretty scarce in this area for almost a hundred years. This well-known fact makes it difficult for Dan to believe this cow was taken down by a wolf. He calls the partner (and ex-lover) he used to work with who's currently living in New York, to ask for her assistance. Helen immediately accepts his offer and flies out to Montana to help.
     Once there, Dan shows her the ropes, gets her set up in a rickety old cabin out in the woods, then gives her a tour of the town, introducing her to some of the folks. Their first assignment, of course, is the Calder ranch. Upon meeting Buck, Helen automatically realizes what a headache he'll be.
     Then we meet Luke, Buck's [remaining] son. Luke loves wolves, and has been secretly studying them in his spare time. This creates an interesting sub-plot in the story. Luke and Helen soon become romantically involved, even though they both know they have many obstacles in their way. His age, for one -- he's only eighteen. She's almost thirty. The second being his father's hatred for wolves. The third obstacle is the fact that Luke suffers with a stuttering speach impediment, that's hindered him in the past in the world of dating. Another one they also have to face is Dan's jealousy. When Helen hit town, Dan was hoping things would pick up between them, where they'd left off years before. Anyway, you get the picture...
     Another sub-plot involves one of Buck's "on the side" lady-friends, Ruth. Ruth owns a local gift shop in town. The store is suffering financially, forcing Ruth to hunt for a business partner to buy her out, so she's not forced to close down. The partner she finds is Buck's wife, Eleanor, LOL! Buck is not thrilled with this situation at all.
     The fight for the wolves lives continues... people end up in jail, some wolves are killed while some are saved, someone gets killed, someone dies naturally, and another is shot (but, thankfully, he survives). There's tons of action crammed into these 544 pages. Lots of stuff happening all the time!
     For the Drama fans out there, this book is definitely for you! For the Romantics out there, you'll also find this book appealing! For the Western lovers out there... even though this takes place on a ranch, and has many cows in it, LOL, I wouldn't call this book a Western. It's definitely got the proper "ranching" elements, so you might enjoy it. It's hard to say.
     In general, if you can keep all the characters straight in your mind (there are quite a few), then it's definitely a great book. If you can't handle more than five or ten characters at once, then you might want to stay away from this one, and save yourself the confusion.
     I enjoyed it. From beginning to end. Eventually, all the sub-plots come full-circle at the end... it was a very gratifying novel.
     No GOLD-STAR, but it deserves TWO-THUMBS-UP!!!!