Bear Game

by D.C. Monahan

BEAR GAME is a portrait of rural life revealed not through the sanitized incisions of a surgeon’s scalpel, but the jagged gashes of a rusted splitting maul. Late autumn descends on the northern New Hampshire town of Sawyer's Grant, and a desperate search begins for a lost 10-year-old vacationer. Older residents recall an eerily similar event that rocked the town a half-century before. Hopes are crushed when an early snowstorm threatens. Yet, more ominous still are signs that events are being staged and people manipulated. Emotions are stretched to their breaking point as neighbor turns on neighbor and lives are lost. A last option remains in an implausible savior, an 80-year-old man drawn back to the woods he refused to ever again enter. Nostalgic and haunting, Bear Game is an ode to a place and time that holds tightly to its its church suppers, one-room schoolhouses, wise old sages, ignorant old farts—and most of all—its fears.

211 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 30, 2021

About the author

David and Cheryl Monahan live in a small town in the White Mountains of northern New Hampshire and a remote fishing village on the western tip of the island of Curaçao.

Reviews

[Gary Kirchner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novel for a number of reasons.

The story revolves around the mysterious disappearance of a ten-year-old who had been vacationing with his family in rural New Hampshire. The authors, David and Cheryl Monahan, build nicely upon that mystery throughout the book, keeping the reader curious and engaged.

I loved the dialogue, and the descriptions of the countryside and the people, brief and succinct, effectively evoke the feeling of a place that is a refuge from modern urban life.

The story is told from the perspective of a number of different characters, which at times works well, but I found myself frequently flipping back through the pages to remind myself of who they were and what they had done. A reader with a better memory or one who is reading the book over a shorter time frame may not have this problem.

In short, a very good book by a pair of gifted and underappreciated writers.

[John Oldham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read. So glad I picked this up after reading DC Monahan's "Cold Days". A great suspense novel and, as with Cold Days, I enjoy the rich color the authors bring to the New Hampshire environment and characters. I think this one did a better job of tying together the storyline in the end. Definitely recommend.

[Vanessa O'brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping from page 1

I felt a part of this little town in New Hampshire where the characters' stories weaved together mystery and suspense that unfolded unimaginable twists of fate. This is a must read! Loved it!