Peter Dahl

The Hunter's Tale Peter Dahl

After a tour of duty in Afghanistan, Leif Jensen returns to a quiet life in small town Wisconsin. Still in his twenties, he isn't quite sure what to put his time and effort into besides hunting and getting together with his family to watch the Green Bay Packers. Jan Huang, a retired businesswoman, moves into the house next door, and Leif finds himself drawn to her because of her unique perspective on the world and her mysterious motives for moving into town. As a friendship develops between Leif and his mysterious new neighbor, a photo of a once-in-a-lifetime whitetail deer, The Thirty Pointer, surfaces, and Leif is one of many hunters who fantasizes about being the one to tag the legendary creature. This is an ode to small town Wisconsin, a meditation on hunting, and an examination of friendship, family, and loss. Even in rural Wisconsin in the late 2000s, conflicts as big as war and comforts as small as chocolate cake circle each other in the dance of life and death."The living and the dead both have long reaches indeed, and each haunts us in turn. What is and what isn't, does and doesn't, will and won't...it is a cruel stroke of fate sometimes which brings us to bear the weight of both."