By Robert C. Wilson
1981 Berkely Books
Paperback, 324 pages
Robert C. Wilson can write.
Every sentence is well-planned, his word choice impeccable. His knowledge of
his subject is second to none. Unfortunately, he rams every bit of research
into this overlong, tiny print novel and it took me over two weeks to slog
through it. Too bad, because it’s a really interesting premise.
In Northern Michigan, there has
been a rash of Black Bear attacks, certainly not a common occurrence as they
are normally docile animals. Lawyer Axel Michelson and his wife Janis live on
the edge of Crooked Tree State Forest where the attacks occur. She is of Ottawa
Indian heritage, as are many of their friends. In fact, those friends grow to
suspect that an old Ottawa legend, the bear-walk, is what is happening. An evil
sorcerer’s spirit is said to inhabit the bears, also taking over a human to be
his pawn. Funny… Janice has been acting very weird lately.
Axel is a lawyer (as is the
author) and I hate the name (I also hate Guns n’ Roses) and he isn’t the most
likeable would-be-hero in the world. That aside, Janice is a great character
and the changes she goes through tug at the reader’s heartstrings. The
secondary characters are all well-defined and not too off putting. The bear
attacks are gory and fun. It’s just that as a whole, the damn book is so
over-written.
I know Wilson wanted to paint
the whole cultural picture for the reader, and that’s fine, but when he goes so
far as to explain the geological movement of glaciers that formed Northern
Michigan, I feel that’s more than I could possibly ever give a shit about. Each
descendant from the Ottawa tribe speaks like they’re reading encyclopedia
entries about their history and beliefs and that gets wearing quickly. Worst
off, with about 100 pages to go, and I did have interest to see how things
would turn out, ol’ Axel drives around the state searching for information from
multiple libraries. A man of action. I realize that finding said info easily
wouldn’t have been believable, but it also would have made me less twitchy. GET
TO IT, ALREADY!!!
Your mileage may vary but I
found this book to be padded to the gills and tedious, despite a very good
start and storyline. I will not be revisiting it.
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