Season Of The Snake Book

One of the Best Books for Reading Groups, Kirkus Reviews

Years after the tragic death of her first husband, Nance Able remarries and begins a new life in the West with Ned, a school principal whose quiet charm lulls her to contentment. A scientist tracking rattlesnakes in the wilderness of Hells Canyon, Idaho, Nance courts natural dangers, believing that conquering such risks will protect her from further grief. But at home, she is unaware that her husband's secret proclivities are emerging. When Nance's younger, errant sister Meredith moves to town, Ned can no longer suppress the terrifying mysteries of his past, and the sisters must find together the strength to survive his love.

Library Journal

Snakes figure prominently in this follow-up to Winter Range, which won a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award. Nance is a herpetologist studying rattler migration along the Snake River in Idaho and Washington. A snake is also a treacherous, insidious person, and it is readily apparent that Nance's charming but staid school principal second husband, Ned, is hiding some major psychological dysfunction. When Nance's reckless younger sister Meredith moves nearby, Ned's careful equilibrium teeters, and his behavior becomes increasingly erratic and violent, like a snake whose nest has been disturbed. Meredith has a history of abusive relationships, and Nance secretly blames her for inadvertently causing the death of Nance's first love. The tension between the sisters is palpable, and it's only when Ned turns on Nance that she is able to feel empathy for Meredith. Ned's back story lacks depth, but vivid scenery and a tangible impression of ominous menace will appeal to fans of literary psychological suspense. For Northwest fiction collections.-Christine Perkins, Burlington P.L., WA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.