Border Songs - Tapa dura

'A masterwork, and Jim Lynch, for my money, is our best new storyteller since Larry McMurtry: deeply in touch with the natural world, the absurdities of our era, and the hearts and minds of his unforgettable and endlessly surprising characters' Howard Frank Mosher Praise for The Highest Tide '***** This novel is so very special. If you reach the last page without having laughed out loud, felt tears well up or at least once sat back in wonder at the extraordinary descriptions of the sea and its creatures, then you may, quite simply, be inhuman' Independent on Sunday 'Original and appealing Even the most hard-hearted readers will finish this book wishing they had their own bay to explore' Matt Thorne, Sunday Telegraph 'The Highest Tide is one of the best novels it has been my pleasure to read for many a day. It is lyrical, moving, funny and breathtakingly well-written' Susan Hill, Spectator

Six-foot-eight and severely dyslexic, Brandon Vanderkool has always had an unusual perspective. He knows the mating calls of all the local owls, and can feel a flock of swans taking off before the sound reaches him. But he finds human feelings harder to read - especially lately. His father has got him a job with the Border Patrol, a reluctant and miscellaneous outfit that polices the often invisible frontier between the United States and Canada. What used to be a sleepy hinterland of farms, with foreign neighbours saluting each other ironically over a shallow ditch, suddenly appears to have become the frontline of an escalating war on drugs and terror. As CCTV cameras sprout up all over the forest, previously law-abiding farmers find themselves increasingly tempted to turn a blind eye. And Brandon, on his excursions to spot red-tailed hawks and solo tree swallows, seems to be accidentally stumbling upon every illegal immigrant and bud trafficker in the area. Closer to home, Brandon's father is dealing with diseased dairy cows, his mother battles encroaching dementia, and their Canadian neighbour's daughter Madeline turns her gardening skills toward the cannabis underworld. And overseeing everything is a mysterious masseuse who seems to know everybody's secrets Filled with eccentric characters and unique histories, Border Songs is that rare delight: a gently satirical portrait, an extraordinary love story and a celebration of the coincidental and the miraculous.