11/16/2020

In Dalton’s stirring debut, an entomologist follows the path of the pine beetle from the Rockies to her New Hampshire hometown where the beetles are destroying the trees, leaving them ripe for forest fires. Cadie Kessler is confident she can wake up others in academia to the imminent devastation from the beetles’ new migration patterns due to climate change. Cadie’s research is interrupted when she receives a text from her estranged childhood friend, Daniela Garcia, warning her the brush clearing launched by Cadie led to the discovery of a dead body that had been buried in the woods 27 years earlier, an unsolved case Cadie and Daniela secretly know a few things about. Dalton slowly teases out the details of who did the killing, who was killed, and why the children helped cover it up in flashbacks involving the girls’ childhood friendship with Garrett Tierney, now deputy police chief, and Daniela’s undocumented Salvadoran parents, who harbor a secret that puts their entire family at risk. While the withholding of information occasionally frustrates, Dalton does a good job describing the danger and intrigue from the children’s point of view. Contemporary ecological and immigration issues compound the well-paced mystery, making for a taut novel that builds suspense to the very end. (Jan.)

Waiting for the Night Song is not just a coming of age story, but several coming of age stories. It’s a novel about how time passes and how time stands still, ties that bind and ties that constrict, place and our place in the world, what keeps us together and what keeps us apart, all of which is to say that Julie Carrick Dalton has written a novel of elegant contradiction, intimately explored, beautifully woven together.” —Laurie Frankel, New York Times bestselling author of One Two Three

“Julie Carrick Dalton’s deftly constructed, urgent yet slow-burning debut novel reads like a warning from the frontlines of our rapidly deteriorating natural world.” —Omar El Akkad, American War

“Both a timely and timeless literary mystery, Waiting for the Night Song is as seductive as it is smart, blending the allure of Julie Dalton’s beloved rural New Hampshire setting with the dark undercurrents of a community’s racial divisions and betrayals. This is a story of love, of home, of friendship and family, of a childhood’s innocence and an adult’s comeuppance, all of which are in the line of fire in this beauty of a page turner.” —Michelle Hoover, award-winning author of Bottomland and The Quickening.

“Human nature clashes with Mother Nature in this riveting and heartbreaking coming of age story— gorgeously written, and wonderfully told. With its combination of powerful themes and intensely immersive setting, fans of Delia Owens will swoon to find their new favorite author. A phenomenal debut!” —Hank Phillippi Ryan, award-winning author of The First to Lie

“Dalton writes masterfully of human relationship and the fraught relationship humanity has with ecology…put it on your lists NOW.” —Michael Zapata, author of The Lost Book of Adana Moreau

“I marvel when I come across a book that is at once timely and timeless…It’s a novel that burns–figuratively and literally–with sharp prose and uncommon wisdom. Do yourself a favor and have a look for yourself.” —Peter Geye, award-winning author of Wintering

“Waiting for the Night Song is a beautiful book that is also a hell of a read. Complex characters, unforgettable setting, taut storyline, big ideas.” —Ashley Shelby, author of South Pole Station

“Smart and searingly passionate, Dalton’s absorbing mystery debut explores many timely issues including global warming, female friendships, childhood secrets, and the lengths we take to protect them — Waiting For The Night Song is an illuminating snapshot of nature, betrayal and sacrifices set in the evocative New Hampshire wilderness.” —Kim Michele Richardson, award-winning author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

“A killer, gorgeous debut that tackles love, racism and even climate change. Waiting for the Night Song will break your heart, leave you breathless and wanting more.” —Rachel Barenbaum, bestselling author of A Bend in the Stars

“Dalton weaves the vagaries of friendship, the wonder of the natural world, and the power of truth to create a powerful and unforgettable story.” —Erica Ferencik, bestselling author of The River at Night and Into the Jungle

“Dalton’s debut is a story of friendship, family, and the consequences of acting out of fear, especially when those actions are performed to protect those we love. The storytelling is made even more vivid by the way the novel practically breathes the woods of New Hampshire.” —Booklist

“Stirring...a taut novel that builds suspense to the very end.” —Publishers Weekly

“Dalton writes thoughtfully and poetically about a place clearly close to her own New Hampshire–based heart. Cadie and Daniela’s interrupted friendship forms the core of the novel, and Dalton captures that best-friend bond so intensely forged in youth. Through vivid and emotional imagery, Waiting for the Night Song speaks to the power that a place and its people can have over your life.” —BookPage

08/01/2020

Returning home at the request of childhood friend Daniela, forestry researcher Cadie Kessler must face down the dark secret that split them apart one summer long ago. Meanwhile, drought, foreclosure, and wildfires rule the countryside, with tension between locals and displaced migrant farm workers resulting. Prolific award-winning journalist Dalton has won awards for early versions of this debut, and the 150,000-copy first printing bespeaks publisher confidence.

Narrator Barrie Kreinik sensitively delivers the many themes that wend through this audiobook, including friendship, family, secrets, lies, and climate change and its effects on woodlands. When they were girls, Daniela Garcia and Cadie Kessler were best friends, but a violent event and subsequent cover-up ended their bond. Twenty-five years later, Cadie, now an environmentalist, receives a call from Daniela regarding those long-held secrets, which now threaten to upend both their lives. As the story jumps between the past and present. Kreinik’s relaxed pace allows listeners to enjoy the vivid descriptions of the rural New Hampshire forest where the girls grew up. S.E.G. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine