When two young girls encounter a mountain lion in the eastern Sierra it sets in motion a conflict that divides families and neighbors. Though Stephanie McClintock and Adriana Kramer are not endangered, the encounter brings changes to their lives as well as the community in which they live. Stephanie will experience a deeper insight into life and nature while Adriana will—for the first time in her young life—question her father’s authority.

While it made no attempt to harm the girls, some see the cougar as a threat to humans and livestock and want to destroy it. Others, like Mac McClintock, Stephanie’s father, and Lester Farley, her grandfather, have a respect for the animal and speak out for its right to live. Tragedy is the natural outcome of the reaction between the various groups.

When Mac brings Cobra Stevens, a wildlife biologist, into the mix, it creates more conflict. A beautiful and independent Paiute, Cobra’s efforts to move and save the cougar are resented by those who want it dead. Mac’s and Cobra’s attraction to one another does not go unnoticed by his wife, Sarah, and creates more trouble.

This is a short novel with a lot packed into it. If there are drawbacks, they are minor. The author has a tendency to change point of view within the same scene, which may be distracting or confusing for some. And, I found his wife’s change of heart about Mac’s attraction to Cobra a little too easy. Sure, she loves him but I think a roving eye would earn most men more than one night on the couch.

Reviewed by John
LighthouseLiteraryReviews.com

Tinnemaha Creek is the gripping story of two families in the Owens Valley of California struggling with the effects of mountain lions inhabiting the land near their homes. The McClintocks and Kramers are ranching families living in the shadow of the Sierra Mountains. The beautiful landscape out their back doors provides room for their livestock to roam and children to grow and learn. But this closeness to nature is not only limited to the scenery, it also includes the wildlife.

Stephanie McClintock and Adriana Kramer, both twelve years old, are out one day enjoying the wildflowers in the meadow when they come upon a cougar. The girls are shaken up by this encounter, but not harmed. The different ways that the townspeople confront this situation brings about a battle of man and cougar, man and the law, and conflicts between husband and wife, and father and daughter.

Many of the citizens living in the area, including Adriana’s father, want to take the law into their own hands and protect their families against the dangerous mountain lion by hunting him down and killing him. Others, such as Stephanie’s father and grandfather, think this was a one time event that will not happen again. As Lester Farley, Stephanie’s grandfather, claims, "They did the right thing by that animal, and he did the right thing by them." This live and let live attitude is not the majority though, and a hunting party is organized even though the men are informed of the Animal Rights Protection Act that protects these endangered species from such harm.

Cobra Stevens, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Department of Fish and Game is called in to find a peaceful and humane solution to the problem. She is not easily accepted though. Her beauty and independence threaten some of the men as well as some of the women involved. From her position, she thinks relocating the animal before harm comes to him is the best option. Although there is always the issue of another mountain lion stepping in and claiming the territory once the first one is gone. And the second mountain lion may be even more threatening.

The interesting thing about this book is that it is written from the point of view of all characters involved. We see the issue through the eyes of the young girls, such as Adriana, who is experiencing her first real conflict of morals with her father. We see it through the eyes of the wildlife biologist whose first interest is the cougar. We see it through the eyes of the mothers whose first interest is the safety of their children. We also see it from the perspective of the cougar, who is trying to make a life for himself in the valley.

Author Nick Taddeo has done his research and gives us accurate information on how a cougar lives and hunts, how these ranchers make their living, and what the law is when these two entities meet. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the conflict between man and nature or just a good action story.

By the end of the book, the law has been broken by some and upheld by others, animals and humans have been hurt physically and emotionally, and actions taken have cyclical results. It makes me wonder, whether in a humane or inhumane way, can man really control nature or are our actions just a part of the cycle of nature?