Loop (School & Library Binding)

Author Nicholas Evans has done an outstanding job of putting both his heart and mind into a story of how nature can get in the way of man's endeavors ... and vice versa. He demonstrates his ability to keep several sub-plots (involving romance, suspense, struggle) going at once, and to connect them in the reader's mind without impeding the flow of the story. His characterizations are quite strong, and I found myself figuring out very quickly who was to be liked, and who wasn't. Even the animals had personalities. Though I'm not in the top tier of nature enthusiasts, I thoroughly enjoyed reading and learning about the environment of wolves, the toil of ranchers and trappers, and how simple--and hard--life can be in beautiful Montana (I've visited; it's gorgeous).

Overall, I found "The Loop" (named after a trap for catching wolves) to be very well-paced (no slow chapters) and captivating. The evolving story line really kept me turning the pages, and even though the ending unwound just a little too fast for my taste, I'd recommend this book to anyone desiring a solid, satisfying novel.

Although I enjoyed learning a little bit about the life of the wolves, I'm afraid I found this book predictable and unsophisticated. It was a major flaw that not a single sympathetic character was on the side of the ranchers, who I believe have equally as legitimate a claim as the naturalists. Instead, the father, Buck Calder, is presented as the voice of the ranchers, and he's made out to be a phony, narcissitic, insecure, philandering man who intimidates his sensitive son and props up his ego by hitting on attractive women. Even when he makes reasonable arguments for the ranchers, you dislike him so much that you take them to be motivated by his need to seem important. Evans even goes so far as to create a thinly drawn character who has dedicated his life to killing wolves and yet, in the end, decides that what he's done is wrong for reasons that, if they were ever going to have an impact, should have convinced him years before we met him. It seems to me that if you're going to write a book about this subject, you should make an effort to present both sides of the complex issue fairly. (As much as I believe in protecting wildlife, it seems to me most of us would resent it if the government told us that we couldn't defend ourselves against something that directly threatened our hard-earned livelihood even when we're on our own property. The issue is not as simple as Big Bad Greedy People vs Good-Hearted Altruistic People.)

Although I liked Helen and Luke, I wasn't completely convinced by Evans' portrayal of Helen as she gets over her failed relationship. There were some other somewhat interesting characters, though they weren't as multidimensional as I'd have liked. In general, people underwent what are in real life difficult transformations simply by waking up one day and suddenly realizing the right thing to do. On the whole, the book was an easy read, a nice break from some of the more demanding books I've been reading, but not one I'd recommend.

The small western town of Hope, Montana thrives on the cattle ranchers that inhabit the area. When wolf biologist, Helen Ross comes to town due to claims of wolves attacking children and cattle, she almost gets more than she bargained for. Buck Calder proves to be a worthwhile adversary as she struggles to prove the innocence of the wolves and keep the town from shooting them all. With a population of about 519 wolf haters, it's not an easy task convincing these people the motives behind the actions of these animals.

This is an excellent book and a seamless read. The slow beginning is a clever disguise for a fast-paced riveting novel that you won't be able to put down until you finish it. This is definitely a book that will make you laugh and cry alternately every moment until the very end.