Awakening.

Awakening

S. J. Bolton

Minotaur Books

175 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10010

9780312381141 $25.95 www.minotaurbooks.com 212-674-5151/646-307-5560

The little English village on the Devon/Dorset border where Dr. Clare Benning lives and works as a wildlife veterinary surgeon is suddenly overrun with snakes, or so it seems. First a man is brought to hospital suffering from snakebite poisoning; then a snake appears in the crib of an infant. Other incidents are found to have occurred, all within a few days. Clare thinks: "People didn't die of snake bite in quiet English villages. They didn't wake up to find poisonous tropical snakes in their houses. And they certainly didn't come back from the dead." Snakes happen to be Clare's area of expertise, and she is called upon for assistance, and her "quiet, orderly life [goes into] meltdown."

Somewhat dysfunctional [to call her existence solitary would be a gross understatement, and all made clear to the reader in due course], one could almost say Clare identified with the snakes, saying of herself: "I'd had it with human contact. I was slithering away, through the undergrowth, away from the noise and vibrations, seeking solitude and safety." Unexpectedly, there is a romantic connection hinted at, the object of which says to Clare: "You really don't do the human race, do you? . . . You should give your own species a chance, you know." And then there is the possible presence of ghosts; or rather, one ghost. Rather than testing my suspension of disbelief, as I expected, this element of the book only intrigued me further. A malevolence is being visited upon the villagers, but why? The author speaks of "our willingness to mistreat those weaker than ourselves," that "given a legitimate reason to be cruel, how often do we jump at it?"

The pacing of this book frequently left me literally holding my breath. In the process, I learned more than I ever thought I wanted to know about reptile aficionados and herpetology, e.g., the various ways specific kinds of snakes strike and bite and the precise manner in which snake venom kills its victims, varying with the type and species of the particular snake. Who knew? All fascinating, to be sure, albeit rather grim stuff. This is a very well-written, suspenseful and definitely different book, and is recommended.

Gloria Feit

Reviewer