Rating: 
Summary: Circle of Life / Circle of Death
Review: I started out by borrowing the audiobook from the library, for me to listen to on trips to and from work. But after a day, I was hooked! No way was I going to ration myself to ten minutes in the morning and ten minutes in the afternoon!I went back and checked out the book, and a day later it was all gone. The book hooks you right from the start with a dramatic opening episode. I was on the edge of my car seat and sat in the garage for a few minutes after I'd arrived back home to hear how it turned out. The book builds up to a complex and tense situation, where characters are balanced off against each other. The climax is satisfying, dramatic, and nicely resolved. And in between opening and resolution, you learn about modern (and ancient) Montana, wolves, bureaucracy and small-town community life. I think the point is neatly made that, just as wolves are part of a web of life, so too are humans and there are all sorts of groups and niches, all struggling against each other - and sometimes co-operating. I think we've all met someone like the big, brash, bright, bold, bullying Buck Calder. He strides through the novel and turns up where the other main character Helen Ross least expects him. Helen is everything Buck isn't. City-bred, female, sensitive, and devoted to keeping wolves alive in the wild. Buck isn't. As a rancher, he wants them all dead. In between is Luke, Buck's son, torn by conflicting loyalties and emotions. Poor Luke! You'll have to read the book to find out what happens to Luke, but it's pretty dramatic - that's all I'll say. I enjoyed this book immensely. The setting, the characters and the plot are colourful, realistic and interesting. The title, like his other books, is a play on words, and there is an undercurrent of philosophy running through it, just enough to make you think. I'll be reading his other books shortly. And I won't bother with the audiobook versions - I'll be wanting something I can take to bed and cuddle up with for hours at a time!
Rating: 
Summary: Loved it!!!!!!!
Review: I have yet to read the book, but I did listen to it. My family checked it out of the library, so we could listen to it on the way to Colorado. We started it in the early morning when we left, and finished it half way back to Arizona, where we started. It was a wonderful story. It entertained us the whole trip. It never got boring. I would suggest it to anyone who likes books that have a little love story, enemies, adventure, suspense, and friendship. It is a five star book all the way. I think it was a great story to listen to on the road, and is just as fun to listen to at home while trying to relax, or cook, or are on the computer, or are even reading another book.
Rating:
Summary: Superb writing!
Review: In the small town of Hope, life for many has always had something to do with ranching. The cattle industry in this tiny place is the largest source of income. The "downtown" portion contains a few spots to get a meal, and a gift shop, as well as a few other little spots along the way. All of this make it a seemingly quiet and peaceful place to live. Until one day, the wolves enter the picture. Buck Calder is not known to keep his cool well, but he is known to be a powerful rancher, who can and does get just about what ever else he wants. His enemy- the wolves. They ruin his stock, and if given the chance to get rid of the creatures he didn't want in the area in the first place, he'll take it. So when his grandson is almost attacked by a wolf, and saved by the dog, Calder uses this to get media attention on the wolves, and call to action the wolf biologists. Enter Helen, Dan, and Bill, three wolf biologists who enter a race against time and nature to spare the creatures they worked so hard to bring back from extinction. The story entangles, love, affairs, and trust. A truly captivating and exciting tale. Nicholas Evans does a wonderful job writing a tale that draws the readers in, and attaches them to the characters.
Rating:
Summary: The Best book of the Millinium
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read. If you like a book about wolves and romance, this is one of them I would recommend you to read.
Rating:
Summary: The Cypriot Loop 2001
Review: This is a book that I had been on the look out for, for quite a while. When I came across it on a book stand in Cyprus I was surprised to say the least.
This book made my holiday for me - It just takes you away to, as it says, Big Sky Country.
Nicholas Evans is an extremely descriptive writer and this book has it all - breath taking, tear jerking. This story is awesome.
A recommended read for anybody trying to get away from the hustle and bustle of life for a while. This book will take you...
Rating:
Summary: Thrilling Experience
Review: Wow what a book. Not only does The Loop entise you to read more and more it makes you get involved and gives you a thriling chill, it makes you feel like one of the characters. I felt that Nicholas Evans did a wonderful job not only telling a wonderful story but also making the story interesting. I especially liked the way he put side stories into it so I got to know a little more about the characters. Great Job!
Rating: 
Summary: Spare Me
Review: If you want to read about wolves and the wolf recovery effort, read Barry Lopez or one of the other experts Evans credits. If you want to read about real evil and human/wildlife conflict with all of the complexities, heartbreak, and enigma this presents, read Cormac McCarthy. If you want to read something by a good writer who just wants to sell books, read this. Soap Opera. Very disappointing. Couldn't even finish it.
Rating:
Summary: Author does NO research
Review: I was going to read this book but leafing through it and come across a sentence saying Old RED John Deere........now come on, that done it, I'm not reading a book that the author doesn't bother with any research.
Rating:
Summary: A Page Turner!!
Review: The Loop, by Nicholas Evans, pits man against wolf and man against man in the fictional rancher town of Hope, Montana, just outside Helena. Helen Ross, a 29 year-old wolf biologist who recently had her boyfriend leave for a job in Africa, is summoned to Hope by Dan Prior, a fellow biologist and former lover, to investigate and track a wolf who has killed a family dog. The dog happens to belong to the daughter of Hope's most powerful rancher, Buck Calder, a womanizer with a dominating personality. From their first confrontation at Buck's ranch, Helen and Buck, along with the town's other ranchers continue to butt heads while dealing with what ends up being an entire wolf pack. Helen wants to track and study while the ranchers want to exterminate the endangered wolves, law and the government be damned. Further complicating the picture is Helen's budding romance with Buck's 18 year-old son, Luke. Luke loves the wolves as well as Helen and he ends up assisting her with the tracking and research. It all comes to head in a suspenseful, explosive ending. Evans does a fantastic job of blending the struggle of man and wolf sharing the same land into a well rounded story of suspense, romance and the life lived in Big Sky country. His descriptions of the landscape, fleshing out the characters (you really do end up pulling for some and disliking others) and his descriptions of the wolves and their life really put you IN Hope, Montana. This is a must read for wolf enthusiasts (like myself) or anyone else who enjoys a suspenseful, fast paced book. The Loop is worth your time!!
Rating:
Summary: Plain good storytelling
Review: I read "The Loop" in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. I completely forgot I was reading at all. Nicholas Evans tells this story so well and draws his characters so completely, that it seems more like I was looking through a window into someone else's real life than simply reading words on a page. There are some striking similarities between this book and Barbara Kingsolver's "Prodigal Summer" (mainly the wolf element, I suppose) but I don't think that the similaries distracted me from the story. It always amazes me when an author can produce believable characters of both genders, since most authors seem to do one or the other well. All of Nicholas Evans' characters are strong and varied and interesting, even the ones on the periphery of the story. This is the best kind of book; great storyline, beautifully drawn characters, and writing that is skillful but not so fancy it's distracting. I would recommend this book to anyone.
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