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"It ain't left or right. It's up and down. You're either up or you're down.
That's all there is to it. OK?"
SNOW MAN is a study of the militia movement in modern America, in microcosm. In the
author's Foreword, she explains this book as the "DNA" of a larger and lengthier
upcoming novel. SNOW MAN is a novel marked by a short, clipped sentence structure; short,
choppy words and minuscule chapters rush the book to its conclusion.
Kristy Creighton arrives at her parents' vintage home in Boston to reflect upon her life
as an unmarried member of collegiate academia. What she discovers in the stable is a
reality that clashes with her entire political upbringing. A gravely wounded Robert
Drummond, member of the revolutionist militia movement, is hiding in the building. He has
just murdered Senator Kip Davies, and Kristy's father, also a Senator, is next on his
list. When Connie Creighton, Kristy's artist mother, comes home to a bizarre scene --- a
critically wounded fugitive being doctored by a local veterinarian and cared for by her
own daughter --- her penchant for the extraordinary soon entangles her in this desperate
situation.
While minor characters enliven the action, the real meat of the story is the relationship
among Connie, Kristy, and Robert Drummond, who will forever change the lives of these two
women with his intrusion into their home. Drummond is a man who has lost trust, and Kristy
finds in him a passion for life that she feels she has misplaced in her own life. They are
attracted by their philosophical differences and their attempts to understand one another.
SNOW MAN is a riveting story because it projects certain truisms of today's world, while
examining the malcontent population that detests the United States government's policies.
Chute's attention to detail enhances the setting, and passion for the ideal is a strength
the author portrays well through straightforward dialogue.
This here-and-now, present tense novel encircles the reader and challenges them to examine
their own philosophies.
--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad (gigstadjudy@hotmail.com)
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