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The best-selling author of The River returns with a vibrant, lyrical novel about an enforcement ranger in Yellowstone National Park who likes wolves better than most people. When a clandestine range war threatens his closest friend, he must shake off his own losses and act swiftly to discover the truth and stay alive.
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. When Ren, hiking through the backcountry on his day off, encounters a tall man with a dog and a gun chasing a small black bear up a hill, his hackles are raised. But what begins as an investigation into the background of a local poacher soon opens into something far murkier: A shattered windshield, a series of red ribbons tied to traps, the discovery of a frightening conspiracy, and a story of heroism gone awry.
Populated by a cast of extraordinary characters-famous scientists, tattooed bartenders, wildlife guides in slick Airstreams-and bursting with unexpected humor and grace, Peter Heller masterfully unveils a portrait of the American west where our very human impulses-for greed, love, family, and community-play out amidst the stunning beauty of the natural world.
✰ On Sale Now Where Books are Sold ✰
AN INDIE NEXT PICK FOR AUGUST 2023
"Chosen by independent booksellers across the country as a recommended read"
“The opening pages of...The Last Ranger will make you want to become a better human. Heller’s style...is Hemingway with the machismo scoured out of it. He can linger romantically on Yellowstone’s atmosphere....But his observations and dialogue are typically as clipped as Papa’s. Still, his tension within the natural setting is more psychologically nuanced.”
“Heller writes in lean, descriptive, contemplative prose that often reflects a spirit of solitude…Ren, like his literary creator, is a philosopher at heart; you get the feeling he’d do just fine hanging with Thoreau at Walden Pond…The thrills of The Last Ranger...should resonate with any thoughtful reader who considers the human relationship to the world that was here before we arrived, and, hopefully, will be here after we shuffle off this mortal coil.”
“Heller’s best books…have a lickety-split pace and archetypal characters whose behavior makes sense to us partly because he keeps them mysterious, forcing us to fill in their motivations....Throughout the novel there’s a sense that good and evil aren’t as easy to separate as we’d like to believe. Maybe Heller’s point is that the ‘good guys’ are the mountains and the streams and the ‘bad guys’ are all the people who think those things were put here for us.”
“When describing wildlife and landscapes, he deploys the precision and cadence of Ernest Hemingway...Heller’s swift...thriller reminds us that humans are the most successful predators-but not the only predators.”
“A good story that’s intertwined like leaves afloat in a river with the current of Heller’s descriptive powers....Filled with Heller’s lush writing, The Last Ranger is a simple but powerful story.”
“Heller offers an immersive story of a dedicated Yellowstone park ranger and the threats he faces down....Strong characterizations, a vivid sense of place, enough wolf lore to fill several NatGeo specials, and a Boy Scout Handbook’s worth of wood-crafting tips. Fans of fiction about the outdoors are well served.”
“Peter Heller’s adventurous novel centers on a Yellowstone National Park ranger with a poet’s heart and a troubled past. The ranger’s endeavors to solve mysteries, keep the peace, and safeguard a cherished friend are reverence in action. Heller’s lyrical prose captures gorgeous natural landscapes, captivating wildlife facts, wolf folklore, and a vibrant community of characters.”
“Fast-paced, elegantly written....Along with evocative descriptions of Yellowstone’s stunning beauty, Heller efficiently creates a small cast of fully realized characters ... Life and death in nature are close companions in a fast-moving and lyrical story.”
Peter Heller
NYT Bestselling Author
National Bestselling Author
Reading the West Book Award Winner
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Literary Fiction
Narrative Nonfiction
Research Driven Nonfiction
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