Review: Fantastic Novel Pulls From Past For Great Adventure Thriller!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 8, 2012
OMG, I was panting as I finished this adventure thriller! Ok, maybe horror is the better genre, but the way it is written doesn't seem to fit the normal slasher tale...Most of my readers know I love cats--but this one! Let's just say I wouldn't even want to meet up with him in a nightmare! Nayes does an excellent job of opening this story with teasers. The history behind his main character is presented--one nobody sees until near the end of the book! Although this species no longer exists, I loved the way that Nayes ended the story!But we all witness his victims--a horse, a goat, a man! This cat needed at least 100 pounds of meat to satisfy his hunger; he never bothered hunting rabbit or other small game. Anything large enough to provide a meal was easily vanquished.He had lived there in the large secluded, 95,000 acre empty forest for many years. If the man who had brought him had had his way, he would have been shot down by hunters who would pay for their pleasure to hunt "big" game without traveling to other lands.But the plane upon which he was carried had gone down and everybody had been killed, except the cub, who had walked away unhurt...That cub was now grown, having hunted in the vast forest, unharmed, unknown by anybody that he was even there.Until Richard Phelps, a real estate developer, bought the property and had big dreams to not only have hunting, fished and other similar activities, but to build a large golf course and elaborate facilities that would bring the rich and famous to vacation there.He had hired his daughter, Norah, a wildlife biologist, to create a report which would be the basis for his seeking needed financial support. Unfortunately, he had one goal in mind for that report--that it reflect exactly what he wanted it to say...Norah was a professional who was quite unaware of her father's desire. She was busy exploring the lands, making tentative estimates of available game, etc., when the first incident occurred. A man's body had been found, severely damaged, with parts missing, including the brain, and those parts around the stomach... The man was identified as a local prospector. And Jason had been his good friend. A man, who himself, had almost been killed when a grizzly had attacked him and also killed his son. Now, he stood over his friend, hardly able to identify him, and knew he had to be involved in this hunt... But Norah wanted to catch the beast alive! If she could figure out the right dosage for bringing him down alive with a tranq gun, she would do it. But at least she agreed that if she didn't get him down, Jason would take the next shot, and his gun would be fully loaded--with bullets!This is almost an epic novel--fully developed in a manner that keeps the reader moving forward, knowing that some major event is going to occur, yet allowing the richness of the outdoors, the land itself to be enjoyed, and the wildlife--wolves, cougars--natural, though horrible to be considered, deaths as animals kill to survive. I knew it was coming, I expected it. But I had no idea "what" would happen!Really great characters developed for readers to hate, while others will immediately pull you in to "their" position of what should be done... The ending, for me, was perfect--but only in a novel...I'm not sure what I'd say in reality! Wow! The whole book was just fantastic!GABixlerReviews