The Last Ranger

A Novel

By: Peter Heller

Narrated by: Mark Deakins

Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

The best-selling author of The River returns with a vibrant, lyrical novel about an enforcement ranger in Yellowstone National Park who likes wolves better than most people. When a clandestine range war threatens his closest friend, he must shake off his own losses and act swiftly to discover the truth and stay alive.

“A good story that’s intertwined like leaves afloat in a river with the current of Heller’s descriptive powers… Filled with Heller’s lush writing… Powerful.” –Denver Post

Officer Ren Hopper is an enforcement ranger with the National Park Service, tasked with duties both mundane and thrilling: Breaking up fights at campgrounds, saving clueless tourists from moose attacks, and attempting to broker an uneasy peace between the wealthy vacationers who tromp through the park with cameras, and the residents of hardscrabble Cooke City who want to carve out a meaningful living.

When Ren, hiking through the backcountry on his day off, encounters a tall man with a dog and a gun chasing a small black bear up a hill, his hackles are raised. But what begins as an investigation into the background of a local poacher soon opens into something far murkier: A shattered windshield, a series of red ribbons tied to traps, the discovery of a frightening conspiracy, and a story of heroism gone awry.

Populated by a cast of extraordinary characters—famous scientists, tattooed bartenders, wildlife guides in slick Airstreams—and bursting with unexpected humor and grace, Peter Heller masterfully unveils a portrait of the American west where our very human impulses—for greed, love, family, and community—play out amidst the stunning beauty of the natural world.

©2023 Peter Heller (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Heller writes in lean, descriptive, contemplative prose that often reflects a spirit of solitude…Ren, like his literary creator, is a philosopher at heart; you get the feeling he’d do just fine hanging with Thoreau at Walden Pond…The thrills of The Last Ranger...should resonate with any thoughtful reader who considers the human relationship to the world that was here before we arrived, and, hopefully, will be here after we shuffle off this mortal coil.” —Chris Vognar, The Boston Globe

"The opening pages of...The Last Ranger will make you want to become a better human. Heller’s style...is Hemingway with the machismo scoured out of it. He can linger romantically on Yellowstone’s atmosphere....But his observations and dialogue are typically as clipped as Papa’s. Still, his tension within the natural setting is more psychologically nuanced." —Mark Athitakis, The Los Angeles Times

“Heller's best books…have a lickety-split pace and archetypal characters whose behavior makes sense to us partly because he keeps them mysterious, forcing us to fill in their motivations....Throughout the novel there's a sense that good and evil aren't as easy to separate as we'd like to believe. Maybe Heller's point is that the ‘good guys’ are the mountains and the streams and the ‘bad guys’ are all the people who think those things were put here for us.” —Chris Hewitt, Minneapolis StarTribune

Enjoyed this one

Glad to see another story from this author.
The plot is subtle, and the writing is poetic
The narrator was awesome. I definitely can't wait for more stories from this author.

Another great Peter Heller book

Enjoyed it. If you like his other books such as The River, The Guide, The Painter, or The Dog Stars you will probably like this one as well.

hope there's a sequel

If you like Box or Krueger, you will like this main character, and the rugged outdoors landscape.

Great story

This was a great book. In addition to a good story and cast of characters, the author highlights an appreciation for nature, compexities of tourism in National Parks, and the problems that occur when civilization and nature are at ods. I also hope there is a sequel.

A great experience!

This is the story of Ren the Yellowstone enforcement ranger, along with his friend, Hilly, lots of wolves, and other animals, too. It's almost a mystery, but it's written in such a straightforward tone that you can hardly tell. It is hard to put into words--I could smell, feel, taste what was written--an amazing experience!

I really love Heller’s stories

This is the 4 th or 5th book of his and everyone has been more moving like a moving life or moving picture. There was a simply delightful small scene when Ren is fishing gets the fish and while he takes the hook out of it he talks to the fish who is frighten and I don’t know what . The scene I thought was how I would feel taking the hook out and telling it to relax it will be over in a minute. But then he practically kisses the fish and let’s it go back to the water! And I went immediately into another direction about nature and living and and and. I mean heller can do no bad. He is honest and masculine and a real man! I love his stories i love his writing and I hope he reads this truth I feel about my side of his books!

Not a page turner for me

I just didn't find the story to be that compelling. The climax wasn't very eventful.

Great Character Development

I enjoyed how the author unpacked the trauma and the resilience of the characters without making them martes or heroes. And would they please let the poor guy get a dog already!?!

Serious Hiaasen vibes....

Felt like a Carl Hiaasen novel, set in Yellowstone instead of the everglades. And not as funny. Seriously, I kept expecting the former governor of Florida er....Montana to show up! Wolf obsessed, misanthropic girlfriend, fucked up violent antagonists AND protagonists, heavy handed environmental advocacy....it had it all! I fell in love with Peter Heller's prose reading The Dog Stars but his wounded alpha male trope is starting to wear thin. Overall I would give this book a MEH....

Beautiful and engaging

A terrific descriptive novel, sometimes bordering on poetry. Great character development, and a seamless connection between the characters and their natural setting.