Border Songs

Brandon Vanderkool’s severe dyslexia and six-foot-eight height give him an unusual perspective on his new job with the American Border Patrol, along the Washington/BC border — just a long, grassy ditch, really, barely dividing neighbours who used to be as congenial as those in any small community. Though his curious mind proves surprisingly adept at intercepting Canadian pot smugglers and potentially dangerous illegals, years of security hysteria and cross-border resentment — and a fascinating young Canadian who has turned her green thumb to a more lucrative crop — complicate Brandon’ s world in ways even he might not be able to see past.

Border Songs is that rare delight: a gently satirical portrait, an extraordinary love story and a celebration of the coincidental and the miraculous.

Jim Lynch worked as a journalist in Alaska, Washington, D.C., and across the Pacific Northwest, winning a number of national reporting honours. His critically acclaimed and award-winning first novel, The Highest Tide, was an international bestseller. He lives with his wife and their daughter in Olympia, Washington.