The Word is Out
A Great Fracking Read
Posted in In the Press by People's Press on October 20, 2011
A Great Fracking Read
Think Banned Thoughts – Oct. 20, 2011
Mark Stevens does a few things extremely well. First – he cares about his characters. You can feel his love for them in every sentence. Little nuggets like knowing exactly what brand of jeans Allison Coil loves above all other material possessions (Cruel Girl), his playful, sexy sense of humor as he toys with Allison, dangling the ever so hot and hunky Colin in front of her while frustrating her every attempt to take him to bed.
Mark entangles you in the character, life and thoughts of Allison Coil. You want to follow her to the end of the line. Not just to find out “who done it,”,but to see if she saves the Roan and the Flat Tops from the greed that values a quick buck over eternal beauty and serenity.
And that is the other thing Mark does right – he makes you care about the Roan and the Flat Tops. He describes them in ways that make you ache to see them. Not in vast, sweeping exposition, but again, in tiny well placed gems: “These were mountains without the machismo.” And, “The Grand Canyon would have laughed at this cliff. The Matterhorn, being Swiss, would have scoffed politely. But it was a cliff, not quite sheer but a steep wedge of thick limestone that jutted up and leaned back from the forest floor.”
I love Mark’s sense of humor, his sense of playfulness. Even as the world he is writing goes to hell in a handbasket, he gives us something to laugh about before plunging us back into the gloom and intrigue.
The final thing that Mark does right is that he layers intrigue on intrigue, layer on layer.
As the novel unfolds we realize just how many forces are at play in the small town of Meeker and neighboring Glenwood Springs. The vast entanglements weave a web around you and pull you in. It’s a battle between greed and goodness that rings familiar and true, there is far more at stake here than one man’s life.
Allison’s not alone in her quest for justice. She has her hunky co-guide, Colin, both assisting her investigation and distracting her from it with the delicious thoughts the sight of his tan, taut body puts in her head. She has her best friend and neighbor Trudy who has been roped into another battle for the Roan in the shape of organic food and locavorism. And then there’s Devo, a mysterious de-evolutionist who has taken going back to the land a little too far, living alone in the woods on squirrel meat and bugs to prove to his YouTube fans that it can be done.
Buried by the Roan is one part Carl Hiaasen enviro-thriller, one part Erin Brockovich tough bitch on a mission, and one part Mark Stevens careful attention to detail and subtle wit.
It’s a winning combination that carried me through the book and left me thankful that I bought Antler Dust this year when I had the chance. It’s time to start at the beginning and read more about this kick-ass chick, Allison Coil, and her beloved Roan Valley.
Whether you dig the mystery genre or not, these are fun books that entertain you while still making you think. And, in case you didn’t know, I like things that make me think.
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