Author Peter Heller returns to The Bookworm of Edwards Aug. 3

On Thursday, Aug. 3, the Bookworm is excited to welcome back to the Eagle Valley the fan-favorite, best-selling outdoor thriller author, Peter Heller, and celebrate the release of his newest novel, “The Last Ranger.” Heller’s new book is a vibrant, lyrical novel about an enforcement ranger in Yellowstone National Park who likes wolves better than most people, but when a clandestine range war threatens his friend, he must act quickly to discover the truth and stay alive.

“The Last Ranger” is another outdoor survival thriller, this time set in Yellowstone National Park, a familiar location to Heller. “I spent a few weeks over the last couple of falls in Yellowstone, in the Lamar Valley, fishing,” Heller remembers. “My wife, Kim, and I camped in mid-September when the aspens were beginning to turn, and hiked up the creeks and fished for these gorgeous cutthroat. We often bumped into a black bear on the way up the trail, and fished with bison grazing beside the stream. If we were out early and the first light was washing into the valley, we sometimes heard wolves singing out the fading stars. It’s very moving.”

Heller focuses on bringing that wildness to the pages of his novels and listening to his characters, unlike many other authors, who focus more on plot. “Truthfully, I don’t really care about plot; I came up as a poet and that’s what I love most, the music of the language and the flow of images,” Heller says. “When I’m writing, I’m on the edge of my seat as much as the reader. I’ll sit back in the coffee shop, heart pounding, shaking my head, and murmur to my character, ‘Why the heck did you do that? That is going to seriously mess with your life.’ … And I never plot my novels, I just sit down and begin with a first line, whose music I love, and let it rip. And within a few pages I bump into what’s really on my heart — the things that are of utmost concern, or that I really want to be close to.”

Now, Heller’s colorful characters, like tattooed bartenders, famous scientists, and airstream-driving wildlife guides, don’t necessarily come to him out of thin air, there are several in “The Last Ranger” that are inspired by real people he’s encountered. “Many of the park employees and the townspeople of Cooke City are very loosely based on real people,” Heller says. “I love to play with overlaying fiction and non-fiction. And some of what happens to Ren has happened to me.”

Not only do Ren and Heller have similar life experiences, they also share an interest in land use rights, like many Coloradans. “The issues that have concerned me most, that I’ve been chewing over for years, always inform the novels,” Heller states. “I’ve been living in Colorado for a long time, both in very rural counties and in the city. Land use, public versus private rights, who gets to use the land and how, is maybe the most nettlesome issue in the American West. I guess at some point I needed to write about it.”

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Nature is clearly very important to Heller, and he hopes that readers will learn what Heller thinks is the purpose of life from the wolves featured in his new novel, like the main character, Ren. “I think the nut of the book is what the wolves have to teach my protagonist,” Heller reflects. “It’s strange to say, but it’s something about faith. About loving another, and the world, against all odds. I get goosebumps saying it. I guess I think that is our most important mission on earth.”