Journeys Off the Road

An old man with a lifelong secret seeks out a German priest in "Old Soldiers." A rancher tracks down a wolf ravaging his livestock in "Alpha Lupus." An army radio technician with a history of running away seeks to escape death in wartime Holland in "The Deserter." In keenly observed encounters ranging from the German battlefields of World War II to a quiet communion on a New York City park bench, Alan Hilfiker's "Journeys Off the Road" is a collection of poignant, intimate, and memorable stories about men and women trying to find some measure of grace, or power, in a morally complex world.