The Loop

The author, a maestro of mush, writes novels in which the hero, fatally wrong for the heroine in the world's uncaring eyes, tenderly kisses tears from the corners of her mouth. Always tears; always mouth corners. So it was in The Horse Whisperer, and so it is in The Loop, a wolf opera set among haters of government and the Endangered Species Act in darkest Montana. She, this time out, is a wolf biologist, luscious but a doddering 29; he is a very young 18, the sensitive son of a bull-witted rancher. The kid learns fast: "He felt that her life was but the smallest flame that might be snuffed out if he were to let go of her," the author advises. The advice here is, Buy Kleenex stock.

--By John Skow