Wolf Season

August 14, 2017
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and their impact on the lives of three families in a small upstate New York town are the focus of the gripping new novel from Benedict (Sand Queen). At the center is Rin Drummond—a deeply damaged war widow and an Iraq veteran with crippling PTSD—along with her illegally-kept trio of wolves and remarkable blind nine-year-old daughter, Juney. The wolves’ existence intrigues Tariq Jassim, who escaped Iraq with his mother after a bomb blew off his leg; Flanner McAllister, whose father is a Marine deployed overseas; and Flanner’s mother, Beth, who worries about the growing distance between her and her son but worries more about the threat Rin’s wolves pose to her family’s safety. Early on, it is hinted that the wolves Rin protects and Beth fears will cause a showdown. Tariq and Juney form a very sweet and innocent friendship and Rin grudgingly accepts him into her pack Flanner becomes increasingly hostile and scornful of Beth for being weak, a progression Benedict skillfully sets up. A low level of dread builds slowly, drawing readers toward the inevitable climactic clash, though Benedict’s memorable and complicated characterization is the true highlight.

August 1, 2017
Three women struggle to heal after the trauma of war.Novelist and award-winning journalist Benedict (Sand Queen, 2011, etc.) continues her focus on the Iraq War, the theme of her previous novel, in a bleak, affecting tale set in a cheerless town in upstate New York. The story begins in August, when the air is sticky, the sky ominous, and a life-changing hurricane is about to arrive. "It smells wrong," 9-year-old Juney says. Juney, who's blind, is the daughter of Rin Drummond, a single mother who served in Iraq, where her husband was killed. As a sergeant, she was called Dragon Drummond, "tough as boot leather and mean as a rattrap," qualities now intensified by rage. Surrounding her home with fences and barbed wire, she arms herself with rifles, M4 carbines, and an ample supply of ammunition; and she raises three wolves, wild creatures with an instinct for self-protection like her own. At the local Veterans Affairs hospital, Rin encounters Naema, who was a medical student in Sand Queen and now is a pediatrician. Naema has a facial scar from shrapnel, surface evidence of deep emotional wounds: her husband, because he was an interpreter for the American Army, was "atomized into a cloud of blood" by a bomb that also took off half the leg of her young son, Tariq. After fleeing from Iraq and spending years as a refugee, Naema sees her work for the VA as an effort "to undo the war" by healing children hurt "by this terrible inhumanity." The novel's third protagonist is Beth, the wife of a Marine who has served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, leaving Beth to raise their rebellious son by herself. Lonely, Beth turns to drink to numb her pain; the war infuses every moment of these women's lives. Benedict creates a tender friendship between Tariq and Juney; although they, too, are victims of war, they have emerged as loving, intuitive, and wise. Their kindness toward one another is a rare glimmer of light in a desolate landscape. The "very long reach of war" transcends generations.

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September 15, 2017
Benedict's (Sand Queen, 2011) compelling seventh novel follows the intersecting lives of families affected by the physical and emotional trauma of war. Iraq War veteran Rin lives in rural New York with her young daughter, Juney. Intensely wary of outsiders and fiercely protective of Juney and their property, Rin illegally keeps a trio of wolves. These animals have become legendary in the community, rousing the curiosity of two boys, Tariq and Flanner, who trespass on Rin's compound to find the wolves. Their encounter indelibly affects their relationships and, indirectly, those of their respective parents. Flanner's mother, Beth, fights her inner demons as she struggles to connect with her increasingly distant son while her husband is deployed. Tariq's mother, Naema, is recovering from a serious injury, which reveals a harrowing past as well as her internal conflicts as an Iraqi refugee. Eventually, their disparate worlds collide, and Benedict's characters are forced to confront the ruthless forces of human nature. Benedict doesn't shy away from her characters' very different faults as they grasp for courage and resilience during their dark times.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

Starred review from September 15, 2017

The latest from award winner Benedict (The Lonely Soldier) offers an unflinching look at three women whose war-torn lives intersect after a hurricane devastates their small town in upstate New York. Iraq War veteran Rin, discharged with PTSD after her soldier husband is killed, retreats with her blind daughter Juney to his family farm, where she keeps three wolves raised from pups. Widowed doctor Naema, who first appeared in the author's Sand Queen, works at the clinic where Rin takes Juney. Naema, whose husband was a U.S. interpreter in Iraq, grieves with her wounded son Tariq, whose memories of the battle include a prosthetic leg. Naema further suffers life-threatening injuries during the storm. With son Flanner, Beth awaits the return of her husband from Afghanistan, only to find him violent and abusive. When Flanner lies about Rin's wolves, Beth reports her to the authorities. With his mother recovering and Flanner no longer a friend, Tariq finds solace with Juney and Rin. As tensions rise, even more explosive events occur, turning all of their lives upside down. VERDICT In a book that deserves the widest attention, Benedict "follows the war home," engaging readers with an insightful story right up until the gut-wrenching conclusion.--Donna Bettencourt, Mesa Cty. P.L., Grand Junction, CO

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