The Bear: War

by John Kerr

An elusive woman with a hidden past holds the secret that can bring down a hot Hollywood producer along with the owner of a major aircraft plant. A former tong courtesan who fled Los Angeles for China, loses her thriving business and faces death as the Japanese attack Nanjing. A Central Ave. piano player is tasked by Federal Agents to find a woman who may hold the secret to a fifteen year old incident known as the "Point Magu Massacre." Nothing is what it appears to be in the City of Angeles, a place where deals are made and a best friend could deadlier than any enemy. "A riveting saga that skillfully exposes, with an insider's knowledge, the corruption and irresistible power of the California Dream" - Dennis M. Clausen, author of Prairie Son.

282 pages, Hardcover

Published April 21, 2021

Reviews

[John Zavesky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great follow-up in the series. The dialogue crackles and the author has a good sense of place and time. The novel deals with the rarely covered topic of Japan's assault on Nanjing A mystery element drives the main plot revolving around a mysterious woman who holds evidence to a 15 yr. old incident, know as the "Point Magu Massacre." Federal Agents, movie producers, baseball players and blues musicians all figure into the plot. The characters crisscross and careen toward a explosive conclusion on the mean streets of Los Angeles. Kerr writes with an insider's knowledge of Hollywood and its machinations. This is a stand alone novel, as are Kerr's other two novels in the four part series. Can't wait for the finale.

[Lawrence King · Rating 5 out of 5]

The riveting third-part of John Kerr's McGuire family saga and their rise to California prominence continues in the most masterful narrative so far of The Bear quartet as the third episode, The Bear: War; yes, the war to end all wars from the last volume is just as suddenly supplanted by WW2, an even more brutal conflict, and the McGuire clan and associates are back again in the thick of it, only this time from positions of power. Michael McGuire, the grandson of Sean, has made a clean break with his racketeering past and has deftly gone legit as a Hollywood movie producer. But can he really leave his past behind? And what about his other friends, rivals, and associates? And as California rises with him -- aerospace, entertainment, agribusiness -- a racist past and a crumbling world must be confronted, whether in the citrus groves of the back country, baseball diamonds, the ghetto of Bronze Town, Hollywood backlots, or even in faraway China and the rape of Nanjing. Duplicity, intrigue, betrayal, and mystery come to a stunning climax that leaves a reader thirsting for more. A final volume awaits!