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The Signal: A Novel
by Ron Carlson
| List Price: |
$25.95 |
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$14.66 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
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$11.29 (43%) |
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Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Adult
ISBN13: 9780670021000
Condition: NEW
Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
A beautifully written and suspenseful tale of love and peril by an award-winning writer
Backpacking into the Wind River Mountains on their tenth annual trip, Mack and his wife, Vonnie, find the magnificent woods and stunning mountains of Wyoming full of ghosts and danger. Mack comes from a long line of ranchers, and his dedication to keeping the family land has led him into penury and a life of crime. Vonnie is a fiercely intelligent, headstrong girl who came west for love, only to have it stolen from her bit by bit.
They've made this trip to say goodbye to each other, but as they navigate the trails they know so well, they come to understand the true nature of their wounds. And Mack has one more secret: he is trying to receive a signal and retrieve something that has fallen from the sky. It is a beacon that will lead them into a wood far darker than they've ever imagined. Ron Carlson's love for the mountains and his mastery of fiction radiate in the pages of this thrilling, fast-paced love story.
| Customer Reviews: |
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| Wants to be a movie . . . |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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Carlson is a fine writer; he does wonderful things with words. Avoids cliches like the plague, you might say. His male characters (cf. "Five Skies") are often both tough and tender - vulnerable after lives that have taken bad turns. Such is the main character, Mack, in this novel about a young man's last annual fishing trip with his now ex-wife.
The plot, however, strains credibility. And that may be because "The Signal" wants too much to be a movie. The romance, the building of suspense, the travelogue setting of lakes, mountains, and forest, and the perilous circumstances that have you racing through the last pages make it a candidate for a Hollywood treatment. Did I say there's a poignant denouement that can easily get tweaked into a full-on happy one for a movie audience?
If all that's OK with you, you may well like this book. Beautifully written and heart-stopping in a lot of ways. Could get you hooked on Carlson, if you aren't already, and that's not a bad thing.
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| Fine, spare writing |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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A reward for those who know the woods and mountains. Descriptions that let you pause and savor the beauty. An added element of peril finds the measure of the man and woman looking for second chances.
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| The Signal |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
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After reading this novel, I was wondering why Carlson wrote this book, the ending was nothing to brag about and most of the book was boring. Once I finished the book, I though, why was it written in the first place?
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| Love of the mountains |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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In effect this short novel is a paean to the wild mountains and outdoors, all else is secondary and if ignored really makes it a better book. Mark a troubled man who grew up on a ranch made into one of the guest ranches that have been created to save the failing ranches. Mark resorts to some very shady activities to make money after his father's death. He wants to save his ranch but feels he cannot do what his father did in being a welcoming presence to guests.
The main body deals with a trip into the wild wildness of the mountains with his ex wife, a trip they have taken before. He is also seeking a drone that he has been hired to find and hopefully it will finance the saving of his ranch with the money earned. Not enough is explained, so that plot almost becomes secondary, especially since they also become hunted by some poachers they run across. To have them run from that but also hunted because of the drone is an exercise in irrationality.
The beauty and worth of the story is in the love of the country, the mountains and the outdoors - with descriptions so wonderful and complete you can smell and feel their presence - that makes it a book worth reading.
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| Seeking Redemption |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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The wide open ranges and mountains of Wyoming provide a broad tableau for this thriller, as does the development of character of Mack, the protagonist, from his early boyhood on his father's ranch where he helped with guests and chores through to his adulthood. It also depicts the difficulties of keeping the ranch in the family, as taxes and other costs erode finances and cash is always tight.
Among the guests is Vonnie, a young girl who Mack eventually marries. Each September they go up the mountains hiking and fishing from one lake to another. But as financial pressures begin to weigh on Mack, he starts drinking and taking on shady jobs in an effort to raise money. Finally Vonnie leaves and Mack really goes off the deep end, smashing her new boyfriend's windshield and landing him in jail. When she visits him in the hoosegow, they make a date for one last September trip, which develops into one hell of an experience.
The novel is short but deep, written with a fine hand. The nature descriptions are quite beautiful. The tension slowly builds as Mack and Vonnie embark on a harrowing excursion. And the question is raised whether or not redemption is always possible. Recommended.
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