Review by Martha Quillen
Novel – September 1997 – Colorado Central Magazine
The Spring
by Clifford Irving
Published in 1996 by Simon & Schuster
ISBN 0671516485
The Spring is a thriller set in a fictional mining town above Marble in Gunnison County.
When the hero, Dennis Conway, a likable, middle-aged New York lawyer, has an accident while skiing in Aspen, Sophie Henderson comes to his rescue.
A beautiful Yale-educated schoolteacher who’s wise, fit, and down-to-earth, Sophie is everything Conway’s ex-wife wasn’t. Sophie bedazzles Conway — a man who has pretty much sworn off women after his gorgeous ex-wife abandoned him and their children to pursue her cocaine habit.
Before long, Conway is flying back to Colorado at every available break — until finally he decides to take the big step and marry into the high-country. And how can Conway resist?
Sophie comes from a pioneer family that venerates its roots in the Rocky Mountain high-country. Her home town of Springhill is small, lofty and magnificent. Her historic cabin is a blend of rustic charm and modern conveniences. And her handsome, well-educated parents still retain a folksy, rural warmth. Thus begins the tale of a man who leaves the city to live the Colorado dream.
Springhill, however, soon resonates with all the creepy, sinister foreboding of a Stephen King hamlet. A year after arriving, Conway’s young children are ready to go home. There are bears nearby, dark pine forests, shadowy mountains, and hostile natives. The rural children are less than friendly.
— And wonder of wonders, in a state inundated by tourists, no one visits Springhill. Even more curious, everyone in town seems to be from Springhill.
Bewildered by it all, Conway starts to ask Sophie questions, but his new wife merely assures him that he’ll understand someday and everything will be wonderful.
Then Conway’s new in-laws are arrested for murder, and Conway defends them. At first Dennis Conway views it as preposterous, that such pleasant, wholesome, people stand accused of such a shocking crime. But slowly, his optimism turns to suspicion.
The murder investigation reveals that a good many Springhill citizens have been busily covering up the crime. And for Conway it’s getting obvious that the little town of Springhill has a very big secret.
But no one in Springhill, including the accused, is talking to their defense attorney. In this case, the defense can’t even come up with a viable theory for the case.
Still, Conway’s a talented New York attorney, whose job is providing the best defense possible — even though he’s beginning to wonder what it is he’s really defending.
From the prologue on, the reader knows a little more than Conway about what’s going on in Springhill, but Irving doesn’t reveal enough for the reader to know just how dangerous the situation might be. Thus, the reader is left to wonder whether Conway should leave his children in Springhill every morning as he goes off to work in Aspen, and whether Conway should trust his new wife.
The Spring is a cleverly written thriller with a flair for converting mountain terrain into a portentous setting by using fairly standard Colorado staples like cold weather, isolated towns, slick roads, and the threat of bears, snowslides and getting lost.
As thrillers go, The Spring is better than most. It’s got some great courtroom drama, and a chilling snowshoe chase under the avalanche-prone Maroon Bells in the dead of winter.
But even better, it’s intriguing to see such familiar territory turned into fright-night fare.
–Martha Quillen