Celine

A few months ago, a bookseller at our local bookstore suggested reading work by Peter Heller – a Colorado resident who writes thrillers that feature outdoor adventures with breathtaking backdrops. People who love Colorado are my people so I started with The Painter (which I reviewed on February 15) and then I read Celine – a story about a female private investigator who “always rooted for the weak, the depressed, the children, for the ones who had no means or power: the strays and homeless, the hapless and addicted, the forlorn, the remorseful, the broken.” Because that’s quite a specific personality (and occupation), I wondered if Celine was based on a real person – and it is. The character of Celine is based on Heller’s mother (who he clearly respects and is close with) and, of course, that caught my attention. After all, writers tend to write what/who they know which is apparent as he namechecks Colorado landmarks including Union Station and the Tattered Cover, and then talks about behavioral patterns of grizzly bears and red-tailed hawks.

As I said in my review of The Painter, Heller knows how to write dialogue and Celine further exemplifies that talent. We immediately meet the person who Celine is going to help – a young girl named Gabriela who lost her mother in a horrific accident and whose father (a prolific National Geographic photographer) disappears years later. Just writing that gives me goosebumps because I can’t help but react as a parent. Gabriela describes her dad like this: “I think he tried to live every day just so he wouldn’t die.” More goosebumps. Anyway, she hires Celine to find her dad and three narratives unspool – one in present day that follows Celine and her husband Pete (also a PI) as they find and put together clues to solve Gabriela’s case, one that follows Celine’s son Hank, and one that explains Celine’s past.

So much of what informs Celine’s life has to do with traumas from her past (details that are spoilers) but it’s worth mentioning that work imitates life within the narrative and regarding Heller’s writing. Don’t our past traumas always inform our lives in one way or another? Both Celine and Hank are on missions to find missing people and, while the parallel narrative is interesting, as a reader I cared way more about Celine and Pete finding Gabriela’s dad because it’s written as the central mystery. Also, their collaborative effort is fascinating as they both find and figure out valuable information using different methods.

In terms of writing, Heller’s ability to show that he is a true outdoorsmen and environmentalist sets him apart as he effortlessly teaches the reader about Western landscapes and wildlife through the narrative. “It has almost never happened that a grizzly bear kills more than one man. Or woman. Human beings, by orders of magnitude, remained the most vicious animal on the planet.” This is information known by those who have spent time in the West.

Heller also knows how to move a story along. As Celine and Pete travel through Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, the reader is privy to all the training and knowledge that comes with being a tracker – both of wildlife and humans. One of the most entertaining aspects of the tracking portions of the story is how Celine and Pete react to being followed – it’s dangerous and hilarious at the same time which is a true testament to the intricate personalities of these characters. When describing the person following them, Celine says: “He’s a cocky SOB. He knew The Nick Adams Stories. Probably a frustrated English major who graduated from college qualified to drive a cab.” I laughed OUT LOUD when I read this line! I also laughed when Heller sneaks in a line about a tourist asking “at what age a deer became an elk.” It’s one of the biggest jokes that Colorado residents make about visitors.

Before I knew it, the story came to a close and once again I found myself impressed by Heller’s nimble narrative and prolific prose. Now the only question is which of his books I will read next.

Quotes:

“Allowances were made for the unpredictability of nature.”

“It’s a wonderful thing to be in awe of one’s mother.”

“The aspen were already turning on the higher ridges, slashing the shoulders of the mountains with ocher and gold.”

“Celine pointed out that an entire town bent on leisure and fun was very tiring.”

“Everybody is eager to tell everyone else’s story.”

“God may have made the world for the last week of September.”

“he sometimes thought that she took her rage out on herself”

“scattered snowflakes hit the windshield softly, splaying into tiny stars before they beaded and ran”

“In Montana you gotta pick your battles.”

“She had taught him courage in the landscapes of the imagination, and to find the joy in things when he was afraid.”