Keller's Turn

Keller's Turn: a Novel concerns the life of Frank Keller, biotech billionaire, husband, avid sailor, runner, and bow hunter who, at fifty-three, sees his life come to bits in the days preceding Christmas. On a Friday night, the first night of the long holiday weekend, his wife of three decades decides to leave him (decamping for their Aspen house for the holidays), and, at a loss, Keller tries to reconstruct the remains his life through lonely action. In doing so, he telephones his ranch manager in Texas to check in and discovers that their Alpha bison, the largest male in the herd, is going crazy, destroying other livestock and wreaking havoc on the ranch. The manager says the aging (and expensive) bison may have to be put down in the interest of the other livestock and the property, and Keller nominates himself for the job, using his bow and arrow and hunting the bison on horseback across the ranch. It does not end well for the bison, other innocent people, and Keller himself. Taut, visual, and ultimately visceral, it's a good read.