Review: A decent story, could be better
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 18, 2013
I received this book free in return of an honest review.The Good...Even though this book isn't categorized as a mystery, there are some decent misdirections in a couple scenes, which is something I look for in any good story. And there's some good use of tension between civilians and military.Also, while Part 1 of this book is rather predictable and not as entertaining as I had hoped, in Part 2 the story picks up and gets interesting. Alec's struggle to understand and accept the loss of a parent and the existence of a loving God is woven very well through the story, though it really shines best in Part 2.  In fact, the scene between Alec and the old Sasquatch in the second part of the book was wonderfully poignant and well-written.The Not-so-good...As I mentioned earlier, the story is rather predictable and often contains too much detail about things that have only a passing need to the story. I'm a firm believer that research should be iceberg-like or it bogs everything down. Also, as so often happens, the prologue was unnecessary. It ended up making the story confusing later.At times it felt like there was an ensemble cast where everyone must have screen time/dialogue because their contracts dictated it rather than a group of people dealing with a bizarre and terrifying situation. I also wonder if all the characters are necessary. For instance, neither Emily nor Sarah brought any specific skills or information into the story that couldn't have been combined into one character. Also, there were certain characteristics of the cast, such as anxious farting, that ended up being distractions during what would have otherwise been intense, dramatic scenes.Lastly, the segue into the next book seemed a bit clumsy. The existence of vampires is mentioned a couple times and one character claims, after a particularly intense scene, that she sees a man standing in the distance. This is the only introduction there is to Benjamin the Vampire before he literally drops into the climactic scene. Unfortunately, having the characters suddenly facing a vampire after all the conflict they've had with Sasquatch through the rest of the book, only serves to derail what could have been a fabulous, heart-wrenching climax.The Overall...Alec Kerley and the Terror of Bigfoot (Book One of the Monster Hunters Series) by Douglas Tanner is a decent book, but I would suggest skipping the Prologue and skimming Part 1 to get to the better written Part 2. This could be a good book for a child trying to understand the loss of a parent or simply wrestling with the idea that God exists and cares for all of creation.