The Work of Wolves by Kent Meyers (2004, Harvest Books. ISBN978-0-15-603123-4)
I picked up this novel in a nice little bookstore in Hill City, SD when I was on vacation in the Black Hills. Other than the bookstore, Hill City has little to offer a visitor after 5:00pm on a week night. Even restaurants seem to shut down once the work day is over. Any way, I love finding local fiction when I am out and about and The Work of Wolves intrigued me. I wasn’t disappointed.
Ostensibly the story of horse trainer Carson Fielding (a teenager at the beginning of the story who buys his first horse from a wealthy neighbor) and Carson’s later interactions with his father, his mother, the neighbor, and the bleak South Dakota landscape they all share, the book contains three primary subplots: Carson’s story, which involves Carson returning to the rich man’s ranch to train horses and teach the rancher’s young wife to ride (amongst other things); the story of a German exchange student’s discovery of family secrets as he accompanies Carson and two Sioux warriors on a quest; and the awakening of Earl Walks Alone to his Lakota culture during that same quest (rescuing the horses Carson trained).
Meyers, who teaches writing at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, draws us into a world of fictional characters set, not in the easily appreciated landscape of the Black Hills, but in the bleak desolation of the adjacent Badlands.This modern fable is filled with Native mysticism, young love and tension. My only criticism of the book is that, at times, Meyers’ lets his obvious gift for expressive narrative get in the way of the story by overly describing (rather than letting the reader discover) the inner machinations of his characters. I also thought that the German student’s subplot was out of place in the context of the main story, but would have made for a fine novella or novel in its own right had it been more fully developed. Still, a good read full of vibrant dialogue, characters and settings. 4 stars out of 5.
