The Back Of The Turtle
When Gabriel Quinn, a brilliant scientist, abandons his laboratory and returns to Smoke River Reserve, where his mother and sister lived, he finds that almost everyone in the community has disappeared. Even the sea turtles are gone, poisoned by an environmental disaster known as The Ruin. The only signs of life Gabriel finds are a stray dog named Soldier, an enigmatic, bossy woman named Mara, and a kid named Sonny, who runs a dilapidated motel with his absentee dad and a rascally old soul named Nicholas Crisp. The fact is, Gabriel was the chief architect of the disaster and he has come to Smoke River to witness the destruction he created and to drown himself in the sea. But as he prepares to let the water take him, he sees a young girl in the waves. Plunging in, he saves her and is soon saving others. Who are these people, with their long black hair and almond eyes, who seem to have fallen from the sky? The Back of the Turtledraws on Christian and Native mythology and on King's own unmistakable instinct for mischief to give us a cockeyed Garden of Eden for our times. Showcasing King's brilliant wit and trademark wordplay, this is a funny, smart, sometimes confounding, and altogether unforgettable tale of betrayal, salvation, and the resilience of life.