For fans of Denis Johnson and Peter Matthiessen, a literary thriller from one of the most exciting new voices in American fiction.

Bill Reed manages a wildlife sanctuary in rural Idaho, caring for injured animals—raptors, a wolf, and his beloved bear, Majer, among them—that are unable to survive in the wild. Seemingly rid of his troubled past, Bill hopes to marry the local veterinarian and live a quiet life together, the promise of which is threatened when a childhood friend is released from prison. Suddenly forced to confront the secrets of his criminal youth, Bill battles fiercely to preserve the shelter that protects these wounded animals and to keep hidden his turbulent, even dangerous, history. Alternating between past and present, Christian Kiefer contrasts the wreckage of Bill’s crime-ridden years in Reno, Nevada, with the elusive promise of a peaceful future. In finely sculpted prose imaginatively at odds with the harsh, volatile world Kiefer evokes, The Animals builds powerfully toward the revelation of Bill’s defining betrayal—and the drastic lengths Bill goes to in order to escape the consequences.

ADVANCE PRAISE:
“A rare young stylist, with an abundance of vivid, engrossing stories in his brain; Christian Kiefer is a genuine find.” – Richard Ford

“In THE ANIMALS, Christian Kiefer has created an unusual and compelling amalgam of noir classic--a man’s past comes back to haunt him—and the lyrical extended metaphor in the form of the North Idaho Animal Rescue, where his main character finds refuge and purpose. This tough-minded thriller weaves a hot red thread through an introspective, sensuous landscape, a meditation on instinct, memory and the nature of friendship between species and between men.” – Janet Fitch, Author of White Oleander and Paint It Black

“Kiefer creates a wilderness for us in these pages with as sure a hand as any god. All of life's hardest questions are put to us with such confidence we do not see the hand at work. The Animals is beyond a pleasure to read.” – Tupelo Hassman, author of Girlchild

Christian Kiefer earned his Ph.D. in American literature from the University of California, Davis, and is on the English faculty of American River College in Sacramento. He is an active poet, songwriter, and recording artist, and lives in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Northern California with his wife and six sons.

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kontakt:

Piotr Wawrzeńczyk

piotr@literatura.com.pl