The Loop

Written by Nicholas Evans

Narrated by Stephen Lang

A pack of wolves makes a sudden savage return to the Rocky Mountain ranching town of Hope, Montana, where a century earlier they were slaughtered by the thousands. Now shielded by law as an endangered species, they reawaken an ancient hatred that will tear a family, and ultimately the town, apart.

At the center of the storm is Helen Ross, a twenty-nine-year-old wolf biologist sent alone into this remote and hostile place to protect the wolves from those who seek to destroy them. The Loop charts her struggle, and her dangerous love affair with the son of her most powerful opponent, the brutal and charismatic rancher Buck Calder.

A haunting exploration of man's conflict with nature and the wild within himself, an epic story of deadly passions and redemptive love set against the grandeur of the American West, The Loop is destined to capture the hearts and imaginations of readers everywhere.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Jul 5, 2000
• ISBN: 9780553750737

Nicholas Evans

Nicholas Evans studied law at Oxford University after a year in Africa, teaching English with Voluntary Service Overseas. He then worked as a journalist, film producer and screenwriter, before writing five bestselling novels. The Horse Whisperer, his first book, was made into a movie directed by Robert Redford. He lives in the southwest of England with his wife, singer-songwriter Charlotte Gordon Cumming.

Reviews for The Loop

[dara85 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really did not think I would like this as much as I did.

[LadyCotillalectoraLagartijaplatea · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Precious, read the synopsis and you will have a review. (Translated from Spanish)

[marilib_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Good nove, mediocre translation

[Nines65 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Through the Fire has a peculiar structure because the author shifts the focus of the story first onto some characters and then onto others, making you feel a bit lost as a reader by deviating from the norm. However, I loved the whole, and I found the succession completely justified, considering the unfolding of the story. (Translated from Spanish)

[livelylady · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Conservationist vs. hunter is the theme of this Montana based novel. When local cattlemen find members of their herd killed by what appears to be wolves, a wolf tracker is hired to come and live in the woods and try to tag and track the wolves, to see if they are the culprits. The personalities of the locals conflict in living and in letting live, nature and the wolves. And one outspoken anti-wolf rancher's son, falls in love with the female wolf tracker. The author obviously did lots of research and it sounds from the descriptions of the scenery and the wildlife, that he is very familiar with that about what he wrote...even if it was listed as fiction. Very good, and I thought even better than his first book, THE HORSE WHISPERER.

[jayne_charles_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a masterclass in making wolf ecology sexy. It had loads more drama, loads more characters and loads more interest than the blurb on the back cover suggested, but I suspected that would be the case. Stuffed with real life interest and not-quite-perfect relationships, as well as a made-for-film bear sequence, it fairly whirls past while proving quite educational on the side. I mean, who knew that the best way to tell what a wolf has eaten is to put its poo through a washing machine? After all, you never know when that sort of information might come in handy.

[stevedore_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Initially I sympathised with both the language and views of the Englishman, Parrot. I found the Frenchman, Olivier,irritating and affected. But, interestingly, as the book continued, my sympathies switched. I guess I must have become more aristocratic as I was reading? Normally I'm a political junkie, but this time I guess I found the two love stories more interesting than all the stuff about the political differences between France and America, and the nature of class in society.

[mikedraper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In Hope, Montana, wolves are making their presence known in a land where they were hunted almost to extinction.

The wolves are killing the animals of local ranchers and the ranchers, led by Buck Calder, would like to exterminate them but they are a protected species.

Helen Ross, a wolf biologist, is sent to Hope to tag and protect the wolves. She's given a cabin in the mountains to work out of and has a lonely existence having come from a broken relationship.

She meets Buck's son, Luke, an eighteen-year-old who also feels protective about the wolves. They form a romantic relationship.

Luke had been under his father's rules and it's a good character development to see him mature to his own person who knows what he wants.

Both sides of the conflict are well described, the ranchers who are having some of their valuable livestock killed and the preservationists who feel this is where wolves once lived and should be back in their natural habitat.

[storyb_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Loop, The Smoke Jumper and The Horse Whisperer were all good reads.
I do wish Nicholas Evans wrote more books.
The Loop captures nature in all its strength and vulnerability. The landscapes too are breath-taking and the human drama sits emotionally but tactfully against these elements of beauty and survival.