Kept Animals by Kate Milliken

The Great American Melting Pot is at it again in Kate Milliken’s absorbing debut “Kept Animals”. We have Hollywood Royalty with endless wealth, the plastic surgeon to the stars, a multi-millionaire ranch owner, a hardscrabble horse whisperer with a bitter partner, and a multi-generational undocumented family. Add a coterie of hormonal teenagers who are busy mixing legal and illegal substances and bodily fluids early and often. What could possibly go wrong?

Milliken has woven it all together into a rich and engaging story centered in Topanga Canyon, California and the Wyoming portion of the Snake River. The settings are characters themselves. Tragedy runs through all the threads — most often self-inflicted through willful intent or negligence. Animals of all shapes and sizes are an important part of each phase of the heartbreaking vignettes.

Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the eARC.