The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah

Put this on your summer reading list! I just finished The Great Alone, an epic tale of survival set in the rugged and unforgiving wilderness of 1970’s Alaska. This is only the second book I’ve read by this author, the first being The Nightingale, a captivating story of two sisters who help save lives during World War II. This book was likewise fascinating, and I’m looking forward now to adding all of Hannah’s books (she has many) to my list of must-reads.

Leni Allbright comes to Alaska the same way many people do: in search of a better life. Leni’s father is a Vietnam veteran, returning home with PTSD and a dream of finding a fresh start. One of his dead Army buddies wills him a piece of land in Kaneq, Alaska, and so the family heads north in a dilapidated van with very little money and even less idea of what they’re getting into. Ernt, Leni’s dad, is volatile and tempermental. His stormy relationship with Cora, the mother, is a source of anguish for Leni, who just wants somewhere she can belong.

Immediately the kind, colorful people of Kaneq embrace the Allbrights. Not only do they assist in the cleanup of their critter-filled cabin, they help them prepare for winter. It’s a serious business, since winter lasts eight months and only the toughest survive. Planting vegetables, raising goats, and learning to hunt are only a few of the tasks the Allbrights must learn before they’re ready to face their first winter in the tough Alaskan wilderness.

The story focuses on Leni and her blossoming relationship with Matthew Walker, one of the few boys in the small settlement. Their friendship is sweet—a nice contrast to the ugliness we see going on between some of the adults. The worst of these is Leni’s dad, who aligns himself with the hard-headed conspiracy theorists in the town. He becomes an outspoken advocate against tourism and change in Kaneq.

Over the years, as Ernt grows more and more abusive and irrational, he succeeds in alienating everyone who once helped his family. Leni finds herself at odds between the boy she loves and the father who wants to tear them apart. As another winter descends on Alaska and the Allbright’s tiny home is once more blanketed in snow, their fragile family begins to fracture. When things finally come to a head, Leni and her mother must finally learn what it truly means to survive.

This is a beautifully written tale of love and loss in the wilds of Alaska. Not only does it lay bare a once-forgotten corner of our planet, but it also explores the dark and hidden recesses of the human mind. Man’s struggle against nature, as clearly depicted in the book’s pages, is provoking. But it pales in comparison to the real crux of the novel: man’s struggle against himself.

Review: Stephen King's The Outsider

I just finished reading Stephen King’s The Outsider, the latest novel in a line of heart-stopping thrillers from the master of horror. This book only came out a few short weeks ago and I was lucky enough to get ahold of a copy. Although this isn’t my favorite King novel, the story’s setup is masterful and I found myself captivated by main character Terry Maitland’s dilemma of mistaken identity and small-town injustice. When Coach Maitland is suddenly arrested for the murder of a young boy—one of the former members of his tight-knit baseball team—the entire community is outraged. After all, baseball is a big deal in Flint City and Maitland is well-loved, something of a local legend. But as the case builds against Maitland, the townspeople begin to turn on him.

Told from Detective Ralph Anderson’s point of view, the story progresses rapidly. Anderson is a decent guy, friends with Maitland and his wife, but the numerous eyewitnesses are too convincing to ignore. When DNA and fingerprint evidence clearly points to Maitland, even Anderson feels vindicated by the very public arrest made at the ball field in front of nearly sixteen hundred fans. It would seem to be an open-and-shut case.

The twist comes when Maitland’s side of the story comes out. His alibi is ironclad. As Detective Anderson begins to flounder with new doubts about the case, the wheels of justice have already begun to turn. Maitland stews in jail, his reputation growing more tarnished by the hour, unable to defend himself against the powerful evidence. The district attorney is out for blood. Maitland’s wife can’t even leave the house without incurring the wrath of her neighbors and harassment by the press.

And that’s when things really heat up.

In true King fashion, the second half of the book takes on a supernatural twist that grows darker by the page. A sinister entity moves through the town, taking what it wants, playing mind games with the citizens of Flint City. Anderson and Maitland—along with the few others they’ve convinced—risk their careers, and ultimately their lives, to investigate the evil that lurks in the town’s darkest corners. The last few chapters proceed at breakneck speed, hurtling the reader to a highly satisfying conclusion.

Stephen King has always been one of my favorite authors, and this book definitely delivers. The characters he develops are fully fleshed-out and sympathetic, even the bad ones. His plots are intricately woven and masterfully conveyed. Despite the “horror” label most of his books garner, they’re not only about blood and gore. If that was the case, he wouldn’t have such a loyal base of readers. King seems to have hit upon a winning formula for success: he woos us gently at first, building the tension bit by tiny bit. The worlds he creates are vividly real. The protagonists are complex, likeable, and more than a little bit flawed. Silently we root for them. Then, when the really bad stuff finally happens--which it always does-- we're fully on board, one-hundred percent, biting our nails down to the nubs and staying up long past midnight to reach our destination: the final page. And when we do, it’s always with more than a tinge of regret that the ride is over so soon.

THE GIRL FROM COLDRIVER finally up on Amazon!

I'm so excited to finally share with you my new book, THE GIRL FROM COLDRIVER, up on Amazon this week! This is a 285 page YA contemporary fantasy, a coming-of-age story in the same vein as Cassandra Clare's City of Bones and Kami Garcia's Beautiful Creatures. Here's a brief synopsis:

When city boy Drew comes to small-town Coldriver to live with his Gran, the most exciting thing he can hope for is to finally play center on the high school basketball team.  Instead he discovers that Coldriver isn’t like anywhere else on earth.  Ruled by the ley lines that intersect the town and the magical power of the arts, the people of Coldriver hold to a different set of values.  In this twisted reality statues come to life, music can literally blow your socks off, ballet is king, and a mere poem can kill. 

                                                              

Against this strange and unexpected backdrop, Drew meets Cadence.  At first she seems like the perfect all-American girl.  She’s gorgeous, smart—she even plays violin in the school orchestra—and they seem to click perfectly.  But when Drew discovers that Cady is next in line for the matriarchal power of the clan that rules the town, he is drawn swiftly into a labyrinth of danger.  Someone’s trying to kill Cady, and now it looks like they’re after him, too.  

Together with his new best friend and basketball sidekick, Banjo, Drew goes on a quest to discover what’s really going on in Coldriver.  Spurred by his own weird dreams about a long-dead Russian girl and a glowing green stone, Drew finds himself in a race against the clock to save Cady.  Unless he can discover a way to reverse the magic, Cady’s fate as the next Matushka on the sundown of her seventeenth birthday will be sealed.  And with a cast of crazy Stepanov relatives all vying for Cady’s birthright, Drew is afraid she might not survive that long.  The only way out is to realize his own connection to the town and the power of the ley. 

Get yours on Amazon today! If you like it, I'd love a review!