Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Independence Public Library | FICTION - POYER | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
In the old days there were wolves in Hemlock County, Pennsylvania. Then came trapping, timber, oil, and gas, and everything changed. The earth was raped and left to die, and the scars would always remain - on the dark hills, and in the hearts of those who live there. Now these almost deserted hills of western Pennsylvania are being haunted by new atrocities - what beast or man is leaving frozen, mangled bodies in the woods? Three unlikely heroes will be embroiled in the mystery surrounding these grisly incidents: Racks Halvorsen, retired oil-field worker and ex-hunter; Becky Benning, a twelve-year-old who knows only she can save her dying brother - with magic; and Leah Friedman, a New York doctor who suspects the truth behind the killings. What terrible secret lies hidden in these woods, that someone is willing to kill to preserve it?
Summary
Poyer's saga of Hemlock County explores the land where coal yielded to oil, the heart of American industrial power. This multi-volume work is also the life story of a powerful character, William Halvorsen, a tough working man who lives in the shadow of Thunder Oil. The book includes As the Wolf Loves Winter and Winter of the Heart.
Author Notes
David Poyer, 1949 - Writer David Poyer was born in DuBois, Pennsylvania, in 1949, and grew up in the towns of Brockway, Emlenton, and Bradford in western Pennsylvania. He graduated from high school and then attended the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, graduating in 1971. He received a master's degree from George Washington University.
Poyer's active and reserve service have included sea duty in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Arctic, Caribbean, and Pacific and shore duty at the Pentagon, as well as other commands. He has served on the USS Bowen, Comphibron Eight, USS Charleston, USS Antrim, Surface Warfare Development Group, U.S. Atlantic Command and as Captain for the U.S. Naval Reserve at Joint Forces Command. Poyer has taught or lectured at Annapolis, Flagler College, University of Pittsburgh, Old Dominion University, the Armed Forces Staff College, and the University of North Florida. He's been a guest on PBS's "Writer to Writer" series and on Voice of America.
Poyer has written the Navy novels "The Med," "The Gulf," "The Circle," "The Passage," and "Tomahawk." He has also written the historical thriller "The Only Thing to Fear" and the comic novel of Annapolis "The Return of Philo T. McGiffin." "Thunder on the Mountain" is a historical novel set in 1936; and set in the Pennsylvania hills, are the titles "The Dead of Winter," "Winter in the Heart" and "As the Wolf Loves Winter."
(Bowker Author Biography)
David Poyer, 1949 - Writer David Poyer was born in DuBois, Pennsylvania, in 1949, and grew up in the towns of Brockway, Emlenton, and Bradford in western Pennsylvania. He graduated from high school and then attended the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, graduating in 1971. He received a master's degree from George Washington University.
Poyer's active and reserve service have included sea duty in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Arctic, Caribbean, and Pacific and shore duty at the Pentagon, as well as other commands. He has served on the USS Bowen, Comphibron Eight, USS Charleston, USS Antrim, Surface Warfare Development Group, U.S. Atlantic Command and as Captain for the U.S. Naval Reserve at Joint Forces Command. Poyer has taught or lectured at Annapolis, Flagler College, University of Pittsburgh, Old Dominion University, the Armed Forces Staff College, and the University of North Florida. He's been a guest on PBS's "Writer to Writer" series and on Voice of America.
Poyer has written the Navy novels "The Med," "The Gulf," "The Circle," "The Passage," and "Tomahawk." He has also written the historical thriller "The Only Thing to Fear" and the comic novel of Annapolis "The Return of Philo T. McGiffin." "Thunder on the Mountain" is a historical novel set in 1936; and set in the Pennsylvania hills, are the titles "The Dead of Winter," "Winter in the Heart" and "As the Wolf Loves Winter."
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
W.T. "Racks" Halvorsen, the elderly hero of Poyer's memorable Winter in the Heart (1993), has been released from prison for blowing up a bridge in a fight against environmental polluters. Still grieving for the wife he accidentally killed in the battle, he retreats to the woods he knows and lovesand immediately witnesses a murder. Reluctantly, he allows himself to get tangled up in a huge conspiracy that involves corrupt big business, clandestine gas drillers and a secret Asian workforce driven by killers. Counterpointed to the sustained suspense in this wholly involving thriller are numerous well-evoked scenes of wolfpacks watching and circling the human protagonists. Wolves are often considered vicious predators, but in this scenario it's the humans who are truly feral and dangerous. A magnificent wintery climax involving the wolves, Halvorsen and a brave 12-year-old girl won't be forgotten soon by anyone who appreciates superb storytelling and characterization. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
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.
Library Journal Review
W. T. "Racks" Halvorsen is back, fresh from his appearance as the crusty retired oil driller in Winter in the Heart (Tor, 1993), and he's still fighting corruption in the oil business. After witnessing a brutal murder in the woods, Racks decides to investigate. But he finds more than he bargained for hidden in the Pennsylvania wildernessillegal gas wells operated by the murderers and owned by his unethical former employers, Thunder Oil. He also finds 12-year-old Becky, who stumbled on the secret operation and is now being held captive. How to rescue Becky and expose the company without being killed? With a pack of wolves acting as their unlikely allies, Racks and Becky undertake a harrowing escape through the icy woods. Although some of Poyer's plot developments are a bit far-fetched, this absorbing thriller is still a page-turner. Recommended for general fiction collections.Rebecca House Stankowski, Purdue Univ. Lib., Hammond, Ind. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.