An engaging mystery novel with a lot of couch potential

I judge a memorable novel by how well I identify with the characters and how engaging they are. Summer (Sam) Westin, the main protagonist of Pamela Beason’s mystery novel, “Endangered” is one such character.

She is a strong willed, wildlife biologist with a sharp tongue and quick wit. Tough on the outside, soft on the inside, Sam Westin is on a hunt to find the little, lost toddler Zachary Fischer whom she meets once in a chance encounter when Zachary wanders off from his campsite.  In a hurry to finish an assignment, she rashly hands him over to an unknown man, believing him to be the father of the boy. Her ensuing guilt at her negligence and the consequence of her actions spur her to look for the boy, who is later reported, missing.

Set in a beautiful national park in Utah, which the author describes very  eloquently, the hunt for Zachary is combined with Sam’s determination to save her beloved cougars, whom she feels have been wrongfully accused of Zachary’s disappearance.

 Another interesting character in the book is Blake, Sam Westin’s roommate and good friend; the dialogue exchanges between the two characters establish a general camaraderie and easy friendship which are enjoyable to read. I hope to see more of these exchanges in the author’s next, Sam Westin adventure.

The one character I did not enjoy was Adam Steele; his role of Sam Westin’s love interest was not believable because he is exactly the type of man someone like Sam would detest.  Self serving ambition and insensitivity to natural surroundings are hardly qualities you would think she would find endearing in a man and you wonder why she continues the relationship as long as she does. That said the role of Agent Perez as Sam’s potential romantic interest is exactly suited to her nature.

Pamela Beason has a genuine regard for the majestic beauty of the wild outdoors and her writing reflects this love for untouched spaces. She also has a flair for mystery which probably comes from her background as a private investigator. The story is gripping which makes it difficult to keep the book down once you have started reading. Pick it up over the weekend and you will be spending a lazy weekend curled up on the couch.

Reviewed on 05/15/2012 by ReviewTheBook.com Member sana hussain

Sam Westin, star reporter for the Save the Wilderness Fund, finds herself in her element, in the wilds of Utah’s Heritage National Monument anticipating a sighting of Leto, a female cougar who had just survived a bullet shot. This would be the story of her life, Sam was sure of it, and it wouldn’t help readership either to have a picture to post of a cougar with a history like Leto in the park, possibly even with her cubs.

But first she needed to check in with the park ranger Kent Bergstrom. After meeting the  ranger and setting up tomorrow’s schedule, she runs  (literally) into Zack, a 2 year old boy. Zack is the friendly type, touching her shirt and asking if the image was a “cougie” and offering her his “truck” actually a small black plastic wheel. Wondering where his parents are, she begins to look around and hears a woman calling for Zach. Deciding to help him find his family, she takes his hand and begins to head towards the campsite. Catching her vest on a bush, she loses hold of Zack’s hand and Zach takes off in the shadows. Untangling herself, she spots a man at the end of the trail. He waves as does Zack and Sam heads back to the trailhead lot, hoping to get to Sunset Canyon and see Leto, the cougar, her main feature. She will recognize right away, the cougar as Leto by the scar on her left flank put there by a hunters bullet, leaving her wounded and her three cubs to starve. Luckily Kent, Sam and other volunteers nursed the cougars back to health. Coming back in spring, Sam was a part of the release of the now healthy cougars and she felt a tug of pride that she played a part in their survival. this reminds her of “Cougar Charlie” a curiosity of sorts around the park. A man who supposedly lived off the land (as well as whatever he could take from unsuspecting campers) he had rarely been seen and was a legend of the area.

Freezing in place, Sam watches Leto for awhile. and suddenly a smaller cougar appears. It must be Leto’s cub Artemis. She stealthy makes her way across the canyon floor searching for the perfect picture. Taking several pictures, her camera beeps telling her the memory card is full. Slowly she unzips a pocket to get a spare card, but the zipper sticks and even the slight hiss of a zipper alerts the cougars, for when she looks up from her pocket, they are gone.

Suddenly she realizes she has to hustle to make the deadline for the SWF edition at 9. Checking her camera, she finds to her delight, the perfect picture of the two cougars framed in the setting sun. Working frantically with an article she had “dummied” up before she left, she adds some more details and gets ready to send the article. Racing against time, she finally gets a signal and sees by her laptop that she made deadline.

After a good nights sleep filled with the sounds of the howling of coyotes, Sam calls Kent to check in. It is then that she discovers that Zack, the little boy she ran into in the woods is missing. Discussing the area, she asks if there are lobo’s around. A few lobo’s, endangered desert wolves, had been released into the park and there had been many discoveries of late of bullet ridden corpses of them in the park. She wondered if enough were left to keep the species alive. On the subject of Zack, she reports to Kent her encounter with the little boy yesterday and that the last time she saw him was heading towards what she assumed was his father at the end of the trail. Thinking back, she wishes she had walked Zack back to his campsite but he seemed so sure and even waved and the man seemed at ease with the child.

Continually worrying about Zack, she headed back to base camp to see if there was any news on the little boy. Volunteers had shown up from all walks of life to look for Zack. Sam was given the search assignment of the valley campgrounds and trailhead parking lots. Meeting up with a variety of people, one man struck her as odd. It was Wilson, a somewhat different man who kept a variety of kids toys in his trailer (for the Grandkids he said) and who just seemed a bit off to Sam. He showed her a red cap he had found by the river and said that he had washed it off because it was muddy. Sam remembered Zack had a red cap, told the man she needed it for evidence and made her good-byes.

As she continued her search, she came across a group from Outward Bound. They were rappelling down the side of a cliff, a sort of exercise for the group to garner trust that those working with you would watch your back and keep you safe, while instilling self confidence. Sam moved on searching, digging in dumpsters, and trash cans and looking in any nook or cranny she could find that a small boy could hide in. But no luck. Zack was gone. Before she left for the day, she ran into FBI agent Perez whom she didn’t seem to make a good first impression. Explaining she was looking for Zack, and that a hat had been found by a camper, the agent took the cap for evidence. Discussing the case, Sam found herself educating the agent as to the wild. Telling him about the difference between simple animal and cougar footprints, she found him to be a silent man, whom she felt didn’t particularly appreciate or trust anyone other than FBI. The subject turned back to Zack but talk aside, they were no closer to finding him than they had been hours before.

Returning to her hotel room as she had planned before going back to Sunset Canyon the next night, Sam took full advantage of the facilities and soon felt human again. As the day went on, more of the same reports came in. There was no sign of Zack and Sam returned to her hotel room. About 11 she was awakened and looked out the window to see Perez and Boudreau heading out dressed in black with a thick manila envelope in hand. Not wanting to miss the action, Same quickly dressed and followed the two agents. The envelope was placed in a metal garbage can and all three hid themselves to wait. After a short wait, a yellow truck pulled up with two scraggly looking characters inside. One headed straight for the garbage can and Perez had the man under control until the Sheriff had an encounter with a bench, giving the man just enough time to take off. Jumping in their vehicles the chase was on, ending when the truck slammed into a vintage Pontiac in a parking lot.

The two turned out to be kids who went to school with the Sheriff’s son. He questioned them at length but all they could give was a vague description of a “bushy haired stranger” who promised them $1,000 if they retrieved the envelope and dropped it off at The Burger house at Fifth. That was all they knew and the Sheriff let them go.

The search went on the next day with fresh volunteers and Sam was directed to search the area she knew so well in the wilderness. Meeting up with young people she gave a quick lesson in tracking, and answering questions she was back on the trail of searching for Zack. As the day went on, she found herself almost out of water and food. She wouldn’t starve, but she beat herself up for not thinking ahead and packing more. Suddenly a man appeared, disheveled in appearance with a look that spoke of living in the wilderness. He offered her a bunch of grapes which she took gladly. After a brief conversation she found decidedly odd, the man left and Sam resumed her search. The day ended as before, with no sign of Zack and Kent becoming more unsure by the minute that they’d find the child alive.

Later discussing Coyote Charlie with Perez, it was decided (by Perez) that Charlie might have some information they could use to find Zack. Drafted by Perez to lead the way in the dark Sam led the way towards the canyon. Along the way, they heard a howling that was not that of an animal. It was Coyote Charlie. Spotting him in the distance they tried to stop him, but try as they might, they could not apprehend the man to question him.

The next morning dawned and Perez announced they were off to the ruins and perhaps The Curtain as well. Finding him more than a bit bossy, Sam agreed and the day began. Along the way, there was no sign of Zack although Perez did disclose that he was Sioux and that he respected the park just as much as she did, although he also demonstrated a bit of a disgust for what he called “white eyes” who displaced his people when they took over the land.

Elsewhere Ranger Rafael Castillo, chanced upon some men taking pot shots at a post. Approaching them, he stated that neither guns nor alcohol were allowed on park property and they needed to cease and desist. Receiving no response, he called for backup and hoped that someone would come soon to aid him in escorting these men from the park.

About this time, Perez and Sam chanced upon a sighting of a cougar, a discovery which they were alerted to by the remains of a cougar kill rotting in the underbrush. When the cougar appeared on a nearby ledge, they began to back away slowly from the cougars kill, Perez, his weapon at the ready should it be needed. Suddenly the cougar leapt from it’s perch and bounded away down the canyon. Perez was rightfully impressed with the cougar and Sam explained that cougars were very territorial animals and that particular one, Apollo, could have been a real danger had they not moved when they did.

Traveling to the ruins Perez sees for himself how beautiful yet haunting they are and feels a tug at his ancestry in the process. Explaining the ruins as they went, Sam guided Perez through an area that was out of bounds for tourists because it was protected. As they traversed the ruins Sam happened to chance on a black plastic wheel, the same toy she had seen Zack with just before he disappeared. She quickly contacted Rafael Costello who told her to evacuate the area immediately and brought her up to date on Fred Fischer, Zack’s father who they were beginning to believe had a part in the disappearance of Zack. Rafael warned Sam that Fred might have a gun and told her to be careful.

After a short while, Sam and Perez traveled on to begin their trip to The Curtain. Sam explained to Perez that it was a dangerous journey and that he had to trust her explicitly and do exactly as she told him in order to be safe. He reluctantly agrees.

Traveling was rough at best with the two coming across many challenges in their journey. After teaching Perez how to rappel, they soon found themselves at the bottom of the canyon and well on their way to The Curtain. The going was rough as the reader will soon find out with narrow spaces, bats and even intense moments, the two are forced to accomplish before they reach The Curtain. During the trek, a rain began to fall and the tunnel they were traversing began to fill with water. Thinking fast and instructing Perez quickly, she explained what they must do in order not to drown or be sucked back through the tunnel and thrust down onto the rocks below.

What happens next is both heart stopping and intense. The torture Sam and Perez must endure to survive is horrendous yet they escape only to spot Coyote Charlie on a ledge watching. The ending of the book will leave the reader with a sense of awe and sympathy for Coyote Charlie as well as a sense of heroism and bravery Perez and Sam endured along the way never straying from their search for Zack.

The characters are well fleshed out, and completely believable and the book flows so well that the reader is swept away in the search for Zack and the risks Perez and Sam take to find this little lost boy.

A must read from start to finish, it will leave the reader with both an appreciation for the wilderness and all it holds as well as a respect for those who respect and know the parks and wild areas as well. And especially for those who have heard far too many times of lost children, never to be reunited with their parents.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure, a bit of mystery and the outdoors. It is a book that the reader will want to finish quickly and will finish feeling satisfied with the ending and the author who wrote this exciting yet touching tale.

Reviewed on 01/23/2010 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Susan Pettrone