I didn't think I would enjoy any Waller books after the classic "Bridges of Madison County" but I was wrong. This story is in the same vein as Bridges but more exciting rather than romantic. The main character is a loner with a well defined personality and I pictured Tommy Lee Jones as I read the story. The native american character brings to mind the writings of Tony Hillerman with that vague air of mystery surrounding the ceremonies. It is well worth the read -- enjoyable.
Among the windswept plains and Sioux reservations of South Dakota exists the all but deserted town of Salamander, pop. 042. Carlisle McMillan, a young drifter from Ca with a Stanford degree and duel passions for carpentry and solitude, finds it as good a place as any to pull off the highway to settle into. For a small town it has seen it's fair share of controversy. A number of unexplained deaths have occurred on nearby Wolf Butte, a rugged and beautiful place once occuped by the Sioux and still considered sacred ground. The residents are certain that a kind of black magic is to blame. When Carlisle buys an abandoned house and a few acres of property just east of Wolf Butte the townsfolk think that he's crazy. He is determined to restore the house and in the process meets a wild, gorgeous, enigmatic woman named Susannah.
