As the Wolf Loves Winter (Hemlock County Series)

by David Poyer

Overview

"A grim, moving thriller" -- Kirkus Reviews "Rich character development, corporate deception and plot twists are blended together to create a great book by a master storyteller. Those interested in Pennsylvania's energy resources and the current drilling activity in the Marcellus Shale will be fascinated." - Cheryl Bazzoui, WPSU Penn State Radio In the old days wolves roamed remote, mysterious Hemlock County, Pennsylvania. Then the great hemlocks, the virgin forests, and at last the very earth itself were raped and left to die. Now these deserted hills are being haunted by new atrocities, seemingly linked to a bonanza of natural gas. What beast or man is leaving frozen, mangled bodies in the woods? Three unlikely heroes will set out to find the answer: W.T. "Racks" Halvorsen, retired oilfield worker and ex-hunter; Becky Benning, twelve-year-old who knows only she can save her dying brother . . . with magic; and Leah Friedman, a New York physician who suspects the truth behind the killings. Their search is eerily shadowed by that of the Silver Wolf, whose reintroduced pack, deep in the Wilderness, is threatened once more by mankind's ferocity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781937997403
Publisher:	Northampton House
Publication date:	01/25/2014
Series:	Hemlock County Series , #3
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

DAVID POYER grew up in the hills of Western Pennsylvania. Millions of copies of his thirty-plus books are in print, and his novels have been translated into Japanese, Dutch, and Italian. His most enduring body of work, however, may be his Hemlock County series, set in a Faulknerian Western Pennsylvania. They are The Dead of Winter, Winter in the Heart, As the Wolf Loves Winter, and Thunder on the Mountain. Poyer teaches in the Creative Writing Program at Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

What People are Saying About This

Stephen Coonts

Heart-stopping suspense, rip-roaring adventure, really nasty villains, greed, slavery -- Poyer swirls it all together and bakes it into one great pail.

Editorial Reviews

A grim, moving thriller from the prolific Poyer (The Only Thing to Fear, 1995, etc.), who here returns to the aptly named Hemlock County.

Hemlock, in a forgotten corner of Pennsylvania, is sinking back into wilderness after a century of rapacious exploitation. The coal, oil, and gas deposits that once fueled the economy are gone, leaving poisoned landscapes and a dwindling, embittered population. Among them is W.T. "Racks" Halvorsen, a legendary hunter. In Poyer's earlier Hemlock County novel, Winter in the Heart (1993), the elderly Halvorsen figured as one of a group who turned to violence to stop a local businessman from illegally dumping quantities of toxic waste in the county. This time out, Halvorsen is on his own as he deals with an equally lethal conspiracy. Walking in the woods, he comes upon two men methodically beating a third to death. They flee with the body, but Halvorsen, angered by what he has seen, looking for anything that will dissolve some of the grief he still feels for his wife's death three years ago, tries to track them down. His search leads him into the heart of a supposedly uninhabited wilderness area, where he finds a kidnapped girl and an ambitious plot to steal quantities of natural gas. Rescuing the girl, he flees deeper into the wilderness to elude the killers. Poyer hits his stride with Halvorsen's ingenious and convincing use of wilderness skills to outwit his pursuers in a long midwinter duel that's tense, vivid, and believable. Both Halvorsen and the resilient girl he has rescued are complex, convincing figures. And the outcome is satisfying without seeming either forced or melodramatic.

A subtle, highly original blend of eco-thriller and novel of character. Halvorsen, bitter, almost overcome by age and regret, very much a man of an earlier time, lingers in the mind.

Kirkus Reviews

"A grim, moving thriller from police Poyer...A subtle, highly original blend of eco-thriller and novel of character."--Kirkus Reviews

"A magnificent wintry climax involving the wolves, Halvorsen, and a brave twelve-year old girl won't be forgotten soon by anyone who appreciates superb storytelling and characterization."--Publishers Weekly

"Heart-stopping suspense, rip-roaring adventure, really nasty villains, greed, slavery--Poyer swirls it all together and bakes it into one great tale."--Stephen Coonts

From the Publisher