Dry Spell

The farming town of Goodlands, North Dakota, has suffered through four years of drought, with one farm after another falling to the auctioneer's gavel. Then a stranger comes to town?a rainmaker?and the stage is set for a confrontation with the subterranean force that is punishing the people of Goodlands for the sins of their ancestors. It starts with small things?a driveway cracks in two, fences are cut?but soon a dry, dark dust rises from the sere soil of Goodlands and takes possession of first one, then another young woman's will. Unfortunately, the gears creak in this humdrum thriller. Moloney (Bastion Falls, o.p.) tries to generate interest, but she builds too little tension much too slowly; the final confrontation is not very exciting. Not recommended, though with film rights sold to Tom Cruise's film company, there may be interest.