A Ghost of Caribou

June 1, 2022

Following a misjudged post gone nastily viral, popular mommy blogger Alex discovers that The Personal Assistant who knew too much about her has vanished, with USA Today best-selling author Belle shifting perspectives between the two (75,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). In Small Game, a fiction debut from Braverman (Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube), survival instructor Mara lands on a reality TV show with a mixed bag of teammates hoping to win a pile of money by camping out in some undisclosed woodlands but not counting on being stranded (150,000-copy first printing). Slipped into German intelligence by the Soviets (and by Single Spy author Christie), Double Agent Alexsi Smirnoff is captured in 1943 by the British, who recruit him for their own purposes (50,000-copy first printing). In Connelly's Desert Star, LAPD detective Ren�e Ballard rejoins the force to run the newly minted Open-Unsolved Unit, where Harry Bosch volunteers so that he can pursue a psychopath who slaughtered an entire family (750,000-copy first printing). In this follow-up to Graham and Land's The Rising, high school seniors Alex Chin and Samantha Dixon must counter a threat to all humanity, signaled by the ascent of a Blood Moon over the vanished Mayan city of El Mirador (75,000-copy first printing). "Beware of The Couple at the Table nearest to yours" says the note to honeymooners Jane and William, but the tables at their swanky resort are all equidistant--New York Times best-selling Hannah's way of chilling protagonists and readers alike (50,000-copy first printing). Searching for a mountain caribou reportedly spotted in Washington State-- A Ghost of Caribou because this subspecies was thought extinct in the contiguous United States--wildlife biologist Alex Carter instead encounters environmental conflict and a murdered forest ranger; wildlife researcher Henderson follows up A Blizzard of Polar Bears (75,000-copy first printing). Living in the Soviet Union in 1973, above the Arctic Circle--Winterland, indeed--eight-year-old Anya is tapped as a promising gymnast even as she mourns her mother, who vanished after challenging state policies; following Meadows's LJ-starred I Will Send Rain (75,000-copy first printing). Having built a successful life for herself in London after being orphaned as a child in Paris, Amelie marries dashing billionaire Jed--and realizes when she's kidnapped that she feels less like The Prisoner now than she did in her marriage; from the mega-best-selling Paris (200,000-copy first printing). Grandson of action hero Doc Savage, nerdy professor Brandt Savage is pressed into a top-secret training program that re-creates him mentally and physically as The Perfect Assassin; following Patterson's first comic-book hero foray, The Shadow (250,000-copy paperback and 45,000-copy hardcover first printing). In Steadman's latest, emerging novelist Harry husband loves her husband, Edward, but he's one of the Holbecks--filthy rich and dangerous--and though he's tried to be shot of them, the couple is soon dragged into The Family Game. In Unger's Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six, Hannah's rich techie brother is graciously facilitating a weekend getaway for themselves, their spouses, and another couple, but an intrusive rental host, the personal chef's creepy stories, and a sneaking suspicion that someone in the group has a vendetta put a damper on things (150,000-copy first printing).

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September 26, 2022
In Henderson’s evocative third wilderness thriller (after 2021’s A Blizzard of Polar Bears), the Land Trust for Wildlife Conservation sends wildlife biologist Alex Carter to Bellamy, Wash., to determine whether the mountain caribou, extinct in the contiguous U.S. for years, has migrated down from Canada to the Selkirk Mountains in northeastern Washington. The day Alex arrives, the body of a forest ranger is found in the town park, and the sheriff asks her to be on the lookout for any remains of a hiker who vanished a year earlier. Meanwhile, residents of Bellamy Falls and activists are at odds with loggers and developers who want to clear a swath of old growth forest. Henderson neatly integrates a master class on forests, caribou, and other endangered animals into Alex’s suspenseful search for caribou—and for a killer. The eventual sighting of the elusive caribou, “the gray ghosts of the forest,” is indeed an exciting moment. Alex, who thrives on the outdoors and solitude, makes a formidable heroine, while the breathtaking scenery illustrates why a person would want to be one with nature. Environmental crime fiction doesn’t get much better than this.

November 1, 2022
In the third Alex Carter novel (following A Blizzard of Polar Bears, 2021), the wildlife biologist's search to prove the existence of a rare mountain caribou in Washington State leads her into a life-and-death situation. A forest ranger in a small town has been murdered and before long Alex realizes that she, too, could be in jeopardy. But why? Could one of the residents of the town be a killer? Readers who enjoy a well-paced, suspenseful thriller will give this book a thumbs up, but A Ghost of Caribou is more than that. Like C. J. Box's Joe Pickett novels and Paul Doiron's Mike Bowditch thrillers, the Alex Carter novels tackle real issues of environmentalism and wildlife conservation. The theme isn't just window dressing but rather is fundamental to the story. As much as we care about Alex's fate at the hands of a killer, we also care about the animal that brought her to the mountains in the first place. There's real passion here, and that gives the novel added substance.

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