ECONOGAL

A Solitude of Wolverines stood out on the new checkout table at the library. Since the Alice Henderson novel was released in 2020, one of the librarians must have discovered this author with a passion for nature. And now I have as well.

Protagonist Alex Carter is a wildlife biologist escaping Boston civilization to study wolverines on a land preserve in rural Montana. Locals greet her with mixed reactions ranging from friendly interest to outright hostility. Fiercely independent, Alex is unaware of the great danger she faces.

Both in the novel and in real life, wolverines are not commonly spotted animals in the lower 48 states. Henderson, a real-life surveyor of endangered species utilizes her character of Alex to share detailed information about the habits and habitats of wolverines. Lengthy descriptions are spread throughout the book as a backdrop of the action-suspense novel.

The story follows Alex as she places live camera traps on various parts of the mountain. One camera pictures an injured man.  Then Alex comes across the individual. He is incoherent and needs help. But he disappears before she can call out a search and rescue team. Unfortunately, Alex then becomes the target. Pitting training learned from her deceased military Mom, Alex fights fer her own survival as well as the survival of others; both people and animals.

This is the first of the Alex Carter series begun in 2020. Spring of 2026 is the most recent release with Storm Warning. From what I can tell, all the books feature animals under threat from encroaching civilization and climate change. Will Henderson continue to share abundant biological information in subsequent books in the series? I will need to read another to find out. Merging scientific information with an action suspense format can be quite tricky.

Towards the latter third of the book, the action suspense takes over the long descriptions of the habits of wolverines. Overall, this was a good book, but not an easy escape into fiction. Furthermore, Henderson does not shy away from political opinion. Quite an interesting approach. Look for A Solitude of Wolverines at your local library.