Christofferson (Buffalo Medicine
) expounds on the glories of Yellowstone National Park in this uneven mystery. A judge freshly escaped from a bad marriage in Seattle, Annie Peacock is fighting a painful withdrawal from anti-depressants and has a tendency to play by the book. Her clashes with park ranger Will McCarroll over protection of bison have turned initial hostility into active dislike and distrust, but they reluctantly combine forces against poachers who are shooting wolves in defiance of federal law. When Annie's elderly mother is kidnapped, ostensibly to intimidate Annie into backing away from tough sentencing of poachers, she turns to the weather-beaten ranger as the one person she can trust. Christofferson's love of the wild shines through, but the heartstring-tugging moments come at the expense of plot and pace. (July)
