The Animals: A Novel

An Amazon Best Book of the Month for March 2015: Bill Reed runs an animal sanctuary in northern Idaho. He keeps to himself mostly, dating the local veterinarian and caring for the animals who have come to the refuge over the past twenty five years. But his past is catching up to him. His old friend Rick has been released from prison, and Rick has an axe to grind. Moving gracefully between different periods in Bill s life, author Christian Kiefer weaves a trenchant, profound literary novel that practically wills people to care about its characters. One of those characters is Majer, a blind grizzly bear and longtime denizen of the sanctuary. As Reed s past closes in on him, and the sanctuary becomes something wholly different, Majer too will play a part. The Animals is a novel of action and emotion, style and substance, and I am looking forward to whatever Kiefer produces next. Chris Schluep