Popular Fiction | Book Chatter

The Last Ranger
By Peter Heller
Vintage, July 2024, 304 pp.

The Short of It:

There needs to be a new genre to categorize Heller’s work. It’s outdoorsy, environmentally aware, and somehow a mystery all at the same time. In other words, a lot to love.

The Rest of It:

Officer Ren Hopper is an enforcement ranger with the National Park Service, tasked with duties both mundane and thrilling: Breaking up fights at campgrounds, saving clueless tourists from moose attacks, and attempting to broker an uneasy peace between the wealthy vacationers who tromp through the park with cameras, and the residents of hardscrabble Cooke City who want to carve out a meaningful living. ~ the publisher

Ren’s exposure to wealthy vacationers puts a damper on an otherwise perfect job. Being outside and getting to work in such a beautiful place is the thing of dreams, but as good as that is, when the wildlife, mainly the wolves and local bears are targeted for their pelts, Ren finds himself in a range war. The animals are protected to a degree but when they cross boundaries, as animals do, their lives are not guaranteed and hunters looking to profit off those expensive pelts suddenly become the hunted.

When one of Ren’s closest friends, a scientist studying the wolf pack, finds herself targeted by a local hunter, Ren vows to protect her. Especially since Ren already lost the love of his life to a terminal illness. Can he afford to lose someone close to him again?

Ren is the kind of guy you want in your corner. He’s rugged, but also tender in all the right places. Reasonable, until he’s not. He loves hard and protects his people, the best way he can. I really enjoyed my time with Ren and this rambunctious cast of characters. The Last Ranger possesses the charm of a small town but the looming threat of the outside world and with it, the reminder that at any second all can be lost.

The Last Ranger is a treat for anyone who appreciates the beauty of wide, open land. It’s a little bit of a mystery and there is a little love tossed in there too but I would not call this a romance by any means unless you consider this a love letter to nature and all it contains.

Highly recommend.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Gliff
By Ali Smith
Pantheon, 9780593701560, Feb 2025, 288 pp.

The Short of It:

Thought-provoking. A tad terrifying given our current times.

The Rest of It:

An uncertain near-future. A story of new boundaries drawn between people daily. A not-very brave new world.

Add two children. And a horse. ~ the publisher

You know when you pick up a book because you just finished one and you want to keep the momentum going? Gliff was that book for me. I had seen it around. I had absolutely no idea what it was about but it was readily available from the library so I tucked in and fell right into it.

What an odd read.

Gliff -an unexpected view of something startling

Two children. Their parents, no longer around. Are they alive? I think yes, but somewhere else, or possibly living in another time. The children, Briar and Rose quietly fight for their survival as boundary markers, men who walk around marking boundaries around structures, make things disappear.

Living in abandoned structures and existing on canned sustenance, they make an adventure of their current situation. Briar, slightly older than Rose, turns every task into a simple yet critical need, gently hiding how dangerous the situation actually is.

People are desperate and there are bad people. Briar is constantly on the lookout assessing things in order to keep them safe.

Enter the horse.

In one of the abandoned dwellings that they take refuge in, Rose befriends a boy across the way who has a horse. Rose wants to own this horse. It’s not feasible to own a horse in their particular situation but Rose is obsessed with what will become of the horse if she doesn’t step in to save him.

As meager as their means are, they hand over what they have and walk the horse over to their temporary home. They keep him inside, for fear of people seeing him. Realizing how temporary the situation is, Briar heads out, looking for something. Not knowing quite what she’s looking for, she runs into a strange woman.

This woman knows where all the cameras are and which areas of the neighborhood are unseen due to vantage point. She tells Briar about the underground, literally a world living beneath them that is unseen and not monitored. People work there and then return to life after boundaries.

What transpires is not a revolution per se, but an understanding that things must be done in order to live, and escape. Does a better world exist elsewhere? Will Briar be able to reach it given what she knows?

This was a fascinating read. Nothing is spelled out for the reader. You digest it and decide what is going on. If you are the type who needs everything to be clearly wrapped up by that last page, then this might not be for you. I found it to be quite good. Dystopian reads just hit different in these times we are living in.

I recommend this one.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Chatting with friends about books and life…