Monthly Archives: March 2023

Read Any Good Books Lately? (#26) – “Wild Things”

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Living surrounded by the snow capped mountains of the East Kootenays in British Columbia, the concept of “wild” is not an unfamiliar notion. After all, on an almost daily basis, it is not unusual to see deer in our yard, herds of elk in adjacent fields, wild turkeys wandering down the street and the occasional moose and black bear. So when Alice Henderson’s environmentally themed novels hit my desk they were avidly devoured.

A Solitude of Wolverines: A Novel of Suspense (Alex Carter Series Book 1)

“The first book in a thrilling series featuring a wildlife biologist who courts trouble as she saves endangered species . . . and a mysterious killer who buries his dead in the land she helps preserve—a fast-paced, action-driven tale of suspense with the atmosphere and propulsive tension of works by Jane Harper, C. J. Box, William Kent Krueger, and Nevada Barr. While studying wolverines on a wildlife sanctuary in Montana, biologist Alex Carter is run off the road and threatened by locals determined to force her off the land. Undeterred in her mission to help save this threatened species, Alex tracks wolverines on foot and by cameras positioned in remote regions of the preserve. But when she reviews the photos, she discovers disturbing images of an animal of a different kind: a severely injured man seemingly lost and wandering in the wilds. After searches for the unknown man come up empty, local law enforcement is strangely set on dismissing the case altogether, raising Alex’s suspicions. Then another invasive predator trespasses onto the preserve. The hunter turns out to be another human—and the prey is the wildlife biologist herself. Alex realizes too late that she has seen too much—she’s stumbled onto a far-reaching illegal operation and now has become the biggest threat. In this wild and dangerous landscape, Alex’s life depends on staying one step ahead—using all she knows about the animal world and what it takes to win the brutal battle for survival.”   ……. Amazon Books

A Blizzard of Polar Bears: A Novel of Suspense (Alex Carter Series Book 2)

Wildlife biologist Alex Carter is back, fighting for endangered species in the Canadian Arctic and battling for her life in this action-packed follow-up to A Solitude of Wolverines, “a true stunner of a thriller debut” (James Rollins) and “a great read” (Nevada Barr). Fresh off her wolverine study in Montana, wildlife biologist Alex Carter lands a job studying a threatened population of polar bears in the Canadian Arctic. Embedded with a small team of Arctic researchers, she tracks the majestic bears by air, following them over vast, snowy terrain, spending days leaning precariously out of a helicopter with a tranquilizer gun, until she can get down on the ice to examine them up close. But as her study progresses, and she gathers data on the health of individual bears, things start to go awry. Her helicopter pilot quits unexpectedly, equipment goes missing, and a late-night intruder breaks into her lab and steals the samples she’s collected. She realizes that someone doesn’t want her to complete her study, but Alex is not easily deterred. Managing to find a replacement pilot, she returns to the icy expanses of Hudson Bay. But the helicopter catches fire in mid-flight, forcing the team to land on a vast sheet of white far from civilization. Surviving on the frozen landscape is difficult enough, but as armed assailants close in on snowmobiles, Alex must rely on her skills and tenacity to survive this onslaught and carry out her mission….. Amazon Books

A Ghost of Caribou: A Novel of Suspense (Alex Carter Series Book 3)

There are many threads in this third book in the Alex Carter series. This time our intrepid biologist is living in the forests of the northern U.S., on the borders of Idaho, Washington, and Canada. She is tasked with documenting a possible sighting of the elusive caribou, thought to be absent from the U.S. Alex encounters an ongoing feud between loggers and environmentalists, including a woman who has been living in a tree for months. In addition, a woman is missing, and another’s body has been discovered, leading to FBI and local police involvement. The writing here is as excellent as ever, and all the characters are believable and interesting………. Amazon Books. Some readers may find the issues of environmentalists versus every one else a little to black and white. The location of the novel is just immediately south of the East Kootenays and as such has an immediate appeal.
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Gordon Pinsent (July 12, 1930 – February 25, 2023)

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For me 1971 was a good year. It was the year I arrived in Canada and met my future wife.  1972 was an even a better year. It was the year I got married and, co-incidently, it was the year that the Canadian film The Rowdyman starring Gordon Pinsent hit the big screen. It was also marked the year I first heard Ian Tyson’s  Summer Wages and the music of Gordon Lightfoot. There you have it, three major Canadian icons in such a short time. I thought I had hit the mother load of Canadian culture. In the space of a little over a year I had slipped into the mainstream of Canadian life and found a Canadian soundtrack for the characters I met every day. I was just like in the movies. The people I was meeting could have stepped straight out of the Rowdyman. It was art imitating life.

So to hear of Gordon Pinsent’s death it was a reminder of those early days of my immersion and integration into Canadian society and culture. Thank you Gordon.

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