Wind River

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 30 JUNE 2008

Morrisey's sixth novel begins in a promising way with convincing, vivid descriptions of his young protagonist, first in the back country of Wyoming, and then in Iraq. The attention to detail suggests that the reader is in expert hands. But several more chapters in, the book devolves into a plodding and superficial treatment of two presumably scarred souls seeking redemption in the mountains near Wyoming's Wind River. Much of the novel is a dissertation on wilderness camping and fly fishing, which seems designed more to showcase the author's considerable knowledge of these subjects than to drive a narrative. The inevitable revelation of past secrets doesn't start until two-thirds of the way in, and then spills forth in a single rush of confession, followed by an equally hurried and predictably convenient ending. Even readers who might appreciate the slow-paced exploration of beautiful country will be disappointed in the book's hasty, shallow reflections on confession. Good and evil are carefully contained on separate sides of the track, with no question as to which characters belong where, and therefore little drama in their redemptive moments.