George Keithley – Ring of Fire

Ring of Fire is a novel unraveling familiy affairs set against the background of the 1980 eruption of  Mount St. Helens. The protagonist Dick Darwin, an emergency relief specialist is in love with Linda Pell is a geologist. Her father, Doctor Pell kills police officer De Fevret. Though the book kicks off with a detailed description of a herd of deers fleeing from the mountains to rescue themselves from the volcano’s imminent eruption, the multiple storylines soon become less easy to follow.

Sorting out characters require note taking amidst the main themes of swimming, horse riding, smoking joints and interaction with father Ted, the local priest in the San Francisco area. Seeking danger entering the St. Helens nature reserve or safety outside has parallels in the related families and agencies. Eventually the love story turns into a murder case, for which justice is sought. Quite an effort to read.

About the author

George Keithley is both a poet and the author of several novels. His previous works are The Donner Party, Song in a Strange Land and The Starry Messenger. He and his wife live in Chico, California. With an armload of prestigious national awards, the lifetime scribe and retired Chico State professor remains a guy who loves sharing his craft and frequents Lyons Bookstore as a guest author reading poems and passages from new and old writings.