“Everyone remembered the night Brandon Vanderkool flew
across the Crawfords’ snowfield and tackled the Prince and
Princess of Nowhere.”

Dyslexic, awkwardly tall and probably suffering from mild
autism, Brandon Vanderkool reluctantly patrols the border between
America and Canada. He’d rather be helping his father with
the family dairy farm, but Norm Vanderkool wants more for his son.
So Brandon has returned home to Blaine, Washington, as the
BP’s newest rookie. Through either dumb luck, a well-working
sixth sense, or some high degree of shrewdness, he reels in drug
dealers, people smugglers, prostitutes, suspected terrorists, and
all sorts of illegal contraband. He just can’t help it.
Suddenly, he’s the town hero, and his fame starts to spread
beyond Blaine.

Brandon’s success astounds everyone, especially his
father. Things at the dairy haven’t been going so well
lately, and while Brandon’s mother seems to be flirting with
Alzheimer’s, his father is teetering on the edge of financial
collapse, and fighting a breakout of embarrassment at his
son’s peculiarities. You see, Brandon is completely
mesmerized by birds. All birds. In fact, he tries to mimic them
whenever possible with wing flapping, nest building or feather
studies.

In order to battle nerves, Norm retreats into the comfort of his
long-drawn-out boat-building project. Only now, the boat is
becoming more of a money pit, and Norm’s hopes for finishing
it while his wife can still enjoy it with him are starting to fade.
When several of his cows take sick, it feels like the last straw.
But land perched on the border has a value to some inscrutable
people. Norm learns that a simple arrangement whereby his land can
be used during the night, no questions asked, can be quite
lucrative. Easy money. Just how bad does Norm’s luck have to
get before he jumps at the chance?

Further feeding his frustration is his neighbor, retired
Canadian professor Wayne Rousseau, a maddening fellow who jumps the
ditch between countries just to come over and harass Norm. And he
knows which buttons to push for greatest effect. However, Norm has
a few zingers, too. Wayne’s daughter, Madeline, is skirting
the dark side of business on the border. Norm isn’t sure
quite what that business is exactly, but Madeline hasn’t been
looking too healthy lately and there’s no way that her
lifestyle could be supported by her job at the local nursery.
Unfortunately, Brandon has become obsessed with Madeline, an
interest that isn’t mutual.

These are just some of the stories in BORDER SONGS. Other Blaine
residents have their stories, too, creating a bustling hive of
activity. There’s no great mystery to this book --- just a
slice of life in a small border town, with people confronted by
problems they must find ways to fix. In Brandon Vanderkool, author
Jim Lynch (THE HIGHEST TIDE) has given us a delightfully memorable
character. Brandon’s dogged fascination with birds, his
innocent approach to each new day, and his staunchly loyal
attitudes are refreshing in these days of cynicism, where rude is
the new cool, and there is escalating competition to elicit the
most shock from readers.

BORDER SONGS is no fluff piece, either. It confronts important
contemporary issues, exposes some of our solutions as giant wastes
of money, and shows how one person really can make a difference.
Besides, it is a darned good read.