Here’s an exciting wilderness read similar to the Nevada Barr books. In HOLLOW BEASTS by Alisa Lynn Valdes, the central character is a game warden, who seems to be pretty low down the chain of authority. Jodi Luna, in the first of a series sharing her name, doesn’t dwell on her work in academia, but we gather she was passed over for tenure, so chose a career change. I’m not sure how much of a pay drop she would have taken, but widowed and raising a teen daughter, she has to work.
The scenic northern New Mexico area provides plenty of work for a game warden, with poachers, illegal traps, and overfishing. Jodi is raising her daughter Mila to be an outdoorswoman and self-reliant, though I did find her too strong at fourteen, a time when young people are still conditioned to obey adults. Jodi meets new deputy Ashley Romero, another Latina woman, and joins the general squadroom atmosphere. Jodi may have been a poet and college lecturer, but I didn't like that she gave a mouthy poacher a lecture on the history of the southwestern states and populations. This seems like showing off, generally a bad idea around wise guys. Maybe her students had to listen, so she got the habit.
The bad guys in this case are really bad. They are bullies, the usual ignorant kind who take out their ire on women, on anyone they see as being smaller, weaker, or different from them. Their leader, General Zeb, who speaks on a video channel, preaches against immigrants from Mexico. In a nice touch, we meet a young couple who make a living from vlogging and Instagramming their travels. If only everyone stuck to photography. Instead, General Zeb decides to abduct young women. He and his men are armed and camouflaged in the woods.
Jodi gives us a sardonic look at some of the politics around immigration and endangered wildlife. If I had been asked to let someone drive past with an endangered animal dead in the truck, supposedly for the good of the state, I’d have shot out their tyres. I’m not happy with Jodi. But overall, it’s great to have another woman hero in the field, one with a horse and a dog and a love of wildlife. Someone else I can follow through her adventures, and I hope to see her win a few times more. Alisa Lynn Valdes has the next book ready, BLOOD MOUNTAIN. Looks like another good one. HOLLOW BEASTS introduces the characters and landscape and is a sizzling action read for fans of outdoor thrillers.
After a long stint in academia, Jodi Luna leaves Boston for the wilds of New Mexico to start a new life as a game warden. Jodi is no stranger to the wilderness; her family has lived here for generations. Determined to protect her homeland, she nabs a poacher in her first week on the job.
But when he retaliates by stalking Jodi and her teenage daughter, a cat and mouse game leads Jodi to a white supremacist group deep in the mountains. She learns that new recruits are kidnapping women of color to prove their mettle to the organization’s leader.
When the local sheriff refuses to assist, Jodi joins up with young deputy Ashley Romero. Together, they set out to take down a terrorist network that will test not just their skills as investigators but also their knowledge of the land and commitment to its people.
But will Jodi’s fierce resolve to protect the voiceless put her loved ones in harm’s way?
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