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Starred review from March 11, 2002
Griffith (The Blue Room; Slow River) opens her latest on the roof of a cabin in a North Carolina mountaintop forest, moving from a wide focus on a primordial wilderness to acute closeups of particular delicious sights and smells. Even before we learn the barest details about tall, blonde, singular Aud ("rhymes with shroud") Torvingen, we are seduced by her awareness, competence and her relish for the physical details of life. We learn that she has slipped off to this forest to rebuild an old cabin because she is grieving profoundly for her lover, Julia, who died in a hail of bullets. An old friend unexpectedly shows up asking for help tracking down his fiancée, who has gone missing in Manhattan, and the deft way Aud secures the cabin and travels (stopping outside of town to stow her pick-up truck and slip into an elegant Eileen Fisher outfit) reveals that this is a woman with a very sharp edge. Once Aud, a former Atlanta police officer, finds her friend's lover in a loft downtown, the action kicks into high gear and we are taken inside a character who is as brutal as she is sensitive, as wildly and exuberantly violent as she is bereaved. Yet as Griffith is enthralling us with each utterly convincing yet surprising turn, she also allows Aud to move forward emotionally. What makes Griffith's work especially satisfying and exciting is the way her extraordinary protagonist demolishes false human boundaries just as surely as she demolishes bad people. Aud is hugely complex and unique, and Griffith deserves a huge following. (Apr. 16)Forecast:This has the potential to be a breakout book for Griffith, winner of the Nebula Award, the James Tiptree Jr. Award and five Lambda Awards. She already has a solid fan base, but handselling to adventurous readers (who will instantly be hooked) could take her to the next level.