RESCUE FERRETS AT SEA
(Ferret Chronicles #1)
Richard Bach
Scribner
Fiction
ISBN: 0743227506

AIR FERRETS ALOFT
(Ferret Chronicles #2)
Richard Bach
Scribner
Fiction
ISBN: 0743227530

It is a closely guarded secret in the world of ferrets (and ferret lovers) that these lively animals hark back to a civilization from beyond the stars that gave up the idea of evil long before they came to earth. It is a civilization without hatred or crime or war, yet one that loves action and peril and loves measuring itself against impossible odds. These friendly creatures live in a parallel world filled with bravery, adventure, and romance.

So was the message delivered one evening by a quartet of ferrets who arrived at the doorstep of author Richard Bach, whose communication with animals (see JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL) is known far and wide. Thus comes RESCUE FERRETS AT SEA, the first in a projected five-part series, The Ferret Chronicles.

RESCUE FERRETS AT SEA features the Ferret Rescue Service, or FRS, a group of courageous seafaring ferrets whose life calling is to set forth in stormy seas to rescue the animals aboard ships in distress. Just as the Coast Guard rescues the weekend sailors and human freighter crews, the FRS bounds through the raging seas to rescue the ships' cats, mice, rats, and birds who would otherwise be doomed as their hosts founder in peril.

Captain Bethany Ferret is a kit from humble beginnings who rises to command the swift rescue boat Resolute. On its first official mission, the Resolute is called upon to rescue a full contingency of ships' animals as the oceanographic vessel Deepsea Explorer runs afoul of a force-eight gale and is pounded against the shoals off the coast of Vancouver Island. Aboard are 44 humans --- crew and scientists --- with a precious cargo of scientific data containing the answers to saving the oceans. Captain Bethany Ferret leaps into action with her crew of four, plus a reporter, and rushes to rescue the helpless animals aboard the ship. Little does she realize that a larger rescue is at hand that only her fearless crew can fulfill.

In AIR FERRETS ALOFT, Captains Stormy Ferret and Strobe Ferret share a destiny, but their lives are so filled with the adventure of flying and carrying out their separate duties as ace pilots for two different companies that they may never meet.

Stormy Ferret is a lovely but determined air cargo pilot with a reputation for seeing her mission through any kind of weather.

As chief pilot of MusTelCo, Strobe Ferret flies his sleek FerrJet around the world for the largest ferret corporation in the world. Both are too busy to think about love.

Angel Ferret Baxter, fresh out of Angel Ferret Fairy School, is given the assignment of an after-life lifetime: create a chain of coincidence that diverts the two determined pilots into the same flight plan and a meeting that will affect thousands of souls.

In an action-packed tale of derring-do, Stormy and Strobe challenge the raging storm as their planes are buffeted about the northwestern skies. Will they give in to the elements created by their guardian angels to fulfill their destiny or overcome the storm of the century and continue their lonely lives?

These sometimes amusing, often exciting tales are charmingly illustrated by the author in simple black and white sketches.

We can look forward to WRITER FERRETS CHASING THE MUSE next fall, followed by TEACHER FERRETS IN THE CLASSROOM and RANCHER FERRETS ON THE RANGE in the winter and spring of 2003.

   --- Reviewed by Roz Shea


Click here for Ferret Chronicles on Amazon.com.

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