Lone Wolf: A Novel
Estranged from his family while living in Thailand for the past six years, Edward Warren is summoned home to New Hampshire when his father, Luke, a renowned wolf expert, and Edward’s 17-year-old sister, Cara, are critically injured in a car accident. Cara’s wounds are not life-threatening, but Luke has suffered severe brain damage and languishes in a vegetative state doctors say is irreversible. As his father’s legal next-of-kin, it falls to Edward to make the hard choices about life support and organ donation, a nearly impossible responsibility, given that father and son parted on angry terms the night Edward tried to confide to Luke that he was gay. Then Cara becomes a volatile advocate for her father’s right-to-life, taking impulsive steps to wrest control away from Edward. Though the author’s loyal “Pi-cult” following will drive demand, this latest offering lacks the emotional nuance that may have won Picoult her fans. Worthy discussions about critical end-of-life medical and moral issues are often eclipsed by overwrought teenage melodrama and heavy-handed working of the “lone wolf/Luke Warren” trope.  HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-selling Picoult will conduct a national author tour backed by extensive advertising and publicity for this topical drama by a reliably prolific and avidly popular author. --Carol Haggas