Working with dramatic descriptions of the deep darkness of the plains and the pounding storms that turn the skies black, she offers a sober account of the cattle-ranching families who have survived for generations by keeping their secrets close and their guns handy.
His hesitation now looks prescient: The pounding storms forecast for Southern California this winter have for the most part not materialized.
In parts of North and South America, a succession of pounding storms can roll over the landscape, as if delivered by an atmospheric conveyor belt.
When these backbones of the ocean die, the repercussions carry throughout the whole ecosystem (if coral reefs are unable to recover from, say, pounding storms, it would affect the million-or-so species that depend on them).
After 15 minutes of pounding, the storm passed as quickly as it had started.
Christina Moore, a spokeswoman for Whistler Blackcomb, replies: Whistler Blackcomb's location in the Coast Range brings an average of 33 feet of snow each season from pounding coastal storms.
Hurricane Matthew is already feared to have caused seven deaths after it hit Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Tuesday, bringing 145mph winds, pounding rain and storm surges to coastal communities.
Most of the action takes place at the Sonnenschein dinner table, which stoically endures being pounded and stormed away from during the passionate arguments that seem to erupt at every meal.
From torrential rains in Peru and huge storms pounding the coast of California, to drought and bushfire in Australia and Indonesia and catastrophic floods in south-east India (submerging parts of Chennai under eight metres of water), this El Niño really packed some punch.
Most offenses would have tried to weather this storm by pounding the rock.
