The Loop - Softcover

One-third the length of its unabridged brother, this shortened version of The Loop by Nicholas Evans (The Horse Whisperer) is intended for people on the go. As read by Stephen Lang (Tombstone, A Few Good Men), the story clips right along, satisfied to concentrate on the plot's dramatic high notes. Thanks to Evans's impressive storytelling talents, it remains an interesting listen.

Using the controversial reintroduction of wolves into the American West as its catalyst, Evans pits a powerful Montana rancher against a struggling wolf pack, the wildlife agents mandated to protect the animals and, ultimately, recalcitrant members of his own family. "Luke could taste blood starting, salty and metallic, inside his mouth. He stared at his father, who stood glaring at him, his massive chest heaving and his neck flushed with anger."

Evans has loaded the characters with haunting secrets and hidden agendas, creating a deeply textured story of compelling plot lines that form a circle of love, hate, trust, and suspicion. The use of music to elevate the already heightened drama is perhaps overdone, but Lang's narration is quite good, keeping pace with a story that moves. (Running time: 5.5 hours, four cassettes) --George Laney

hor of The Horse Whisperer comes the phenomenal #1 New York Times bestseller, an extraordinary new novel of love, family, and man's struggle with the wild.

A pack of wolves makes a sudden savage return to the Rocky Mountain ranching town of Hope, Montana, where a century earlier they were slaughtered by the thousands. Biologist Helen Ross has come to Hope from the East, fleeing a life in shambles, determined to save the wolves from those who seek to destroy them. But an ancient hatred awaits her in Hope, a hatred that will tear a family and ultimately the community apart. And soon Helen is at the center of the storm, by loving the wrong man, by defying the wrong man . . . by daring to lead a town out of the violent darkness of its past. . . .

Visit the Nicholas Evans Web site at http://www.nicholasevans.com