Faded Giant

Book excerpt: In the aftermath of the worst nuclear accident at a commercial power plant in the U.S., Harley Pelletier, a young engineer, is selected to design a robotic system to inspect the damaged reactor core. While working at Three Mile Island, he discovers that a core meltdown has occurred. After this discovery, his boss is pushed into the highly radioactive refueling pool, which insures a slow and painful death. Harley is fingered for the crime. He panics and runs as he is sure he is being framed. Harley, who has read about the path of the Underground Railroad, decides to make his escape by traveling along the banks of the Connecticut River and later on freight trains as he journeys up the river through the Vermont landscape. His numerous adventures are both comical and telling of his inner determination as the investigation of this crime unfolds at Three Mile Island and the search for him continues. Harley later takes up hiding in the attic of a condominium complex in a Northern Vermont ski area, slipping downstairs occasionally to share the absent owner's food and liquor, as well as trying to find occasional employment as a horseshoer's assistant. Keeping Harley company during his seclusion is a small baby squirrel that he keeps in his pocket as they commence an interesting cornucopia of adventures together. "Timothy H. Wentzell is a fine spirited writer with a very good story to tell." Howard Frank Mosher Irasberg, Vermont (Author of Disappearance, Where a River Flows North, and A Stranger in the Kingdom) "My husband and I couldn't put it down and, in fact, took it out of its binding so we could read it at the same time." Rosemary Adams Professor of English Eastern Connecticut State University