Fiction Pick of the Week: The Signal

The Signal by Ron Carlson 2009

When asked to read a book “outside my comfort zone”, The Signal caught my eye, admittedly because at first glance it was a relatively short novel. Who knew so much could be packed into 192 pages? Well worth the stretch!

Mack descends from a long line of proud Wyoming ranchers. And in an effort to keep the family’s magnificent farm from bankruptcy and foreclosure he’s been led into a life of crime. Eventually, his choices catch up with him, landing him in jail and distancing him even further from his wife, Vonnie. Out of pity (or perhaps some remnant of love), Vonnie agrees to one last trip with Mack: upon his release, they’ll embark together on their annual ritual of backpacking through the Wyoming wilderness to fish, camp and rediscover each other.

But nothing is as it seems, and through simple dialogue and exquisitely eerie description Mack’s true motive is eventually revealed: hired by a friend, he is attempting to receive a signal and to retrieve something fallen from the sky; a signal that will lead the couple into something far darker than the woods they inhabit.

A great adventure with an intriguing twist. And at under 200 pages, highly recommended for the “literary commitment-phobe”!