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The Bear
Scott Thompson discovers a dead bear, killed by poachers in the parkland he calls home. He is charged with investigating this tragedy and trying to bring the poachers to justice. Then a second bear shows up. Or so he thinks. But when Scott calls in his boss and mentor, a sturdy dark mountain man named Luke Stadler, to assist him, the “bear” turns out to be a naked man, seeking shelter in Scott’s barn, shot in the leg and seriously injured.
Luke and Scott tend the wounded man during a raging blizzard that traps all three of them in Scott’s isolated cabin in the mountain forest. During their forced confinement, Scott and Luke succumb to their mutual attraction and unleash a passion that burns hot and bright.
But what is the secret of the mysterious man who ended up in Scott’s barn? Where did he disappear to and where did he come from? Scott and Luke discover the answer to the riddle and stumble across a secret that hides in the isolated forests of the Rocky Mountains.
Luke and Scott tend the wounded man during a raging blizzard that traps all three of them in Scott’s isolated cabin in the mountain forest. During their forced confinement, Scott and Luke succumb to their mutual attraction and unleash a passion that burns hot and bright.
But what is the secret of the mysterious man who ended up in Scott’s barn? Where did he disappear to and where did he come from? Scott and Luke discover the answer to the riddle and stumble across a secret that hides in the isolated forests of the Rocky Mountains.
Kindle Edition
First published October 4, 2009
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42 people want to read
About the author
P.A. Brown
35 books127 followersPat Brown, writing as P.A. Brown, is the author of the Chris and David police procedural novels featuring LAPD homicide detective David Eric Laine and his lover, computer network engineer Christopher Bellamere. In L. A. Heat the first in the series, David is an uptight, in the closet cop living a life of denial and dark secrets he will protect at all costs. Then his life becomes entwined with Chris who is a suspect in the brutal slayings of young gay men. Neither of them ever expected to find love. L.A. Heat was followed by L.A. Mischief which follow Chris and David as they try to reconcile their vast differences and forge their relationship into one of true love. In L.A. Boneyard, a dark thriller that moves from the bright streets of West Hollywood to the gang ridden streets of East L.A. All the while David faces the temptation of his sexy new partner, Jairo Hernandez.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 31, 2012
Review posted at Brief Encounters Reviews.
Scotty works as a ranger for the forest service. Lately, they've been dealing with a large poaching problem and routinely find dead bears on their patrols. One evening, Scotty investigates a strange noise from his stables (where his horses are spooked) and is shocked to find an injured bear. Unsure of what to do, Scotty calls Luke, another ranger and best friend to Max (and hopefully more). Luke hurries over just before the start of a heavy blizzard. They are both puzzled when they go to check on the bear and find a man in his place. He's been shot and needs medical help, but the three of them are stranded. Hopefully the mysterious man will give Scotty some answers as to how there was a bear in his stables one minute and himself the next.
This is quite a short story, but more than that, it seems short because there is little that is revealed. While the "secret" is revealed, along with another related surprise, I still felt like I knew very little about the characters. The character of the "mysterious stranger" means more in theory, while the focus is really mostly on Scotty and Luke. There's too little time for me to get a feel of their relationship which moves swiftly from an encounter between friends to more without much in between but sex.
I worked for me was the tone of the story. The cabin in the woods, an oasis of the forest gives the story a mood of restraint, like Scotty is holding back the forest from swallowing him. That juxtaposition between the wild and civilization (and Scotty's voluntary separation from it) echo the problems with the poachers that is the catalyst for the story and therefore the relationship between Scotty and Luke to progress. I certainly liked that mood combined with the pacing and use of narration for much of the story, but I also wanted more; not necessarily in length, but in the romance and characters. While I found the writing artful, I didn't really feel the connection between the two men. Also, the reveal at the end of the story only made me more curious about the things we weren't told.
This seems to me like the prequel to a longer story, so I would have enjoyed reading more if that were the case. While there were aspects of the story I liked, as a whole it fell short for me. This is the first thing I've read by this author, though I've been curious to read some of her work for quite a while now. I'll happily pick up more of it in the future, but I'll probably steer clear of short stories and read a novel instead.
Scotty works as a ranger for the forest service. Lately, they've been dealing with a large poaching problem and routinely find dead bears on their patrols. One evening, Scotty investigates a strange noise from his stables (where his horses are spooked) and is shocked to find an injured bear. Unsure of what to do, Scotty calls Luke, another ranger and best friend to Max (and hopefully more). Luke hurries over just before the start of a heavy blizzard. They are both puzzled when they go to check on the bear and find a man in his place. He's been shot and needs medical help, but the three of them are stranded. Hopefully the mysterious man will give Scotty some answers as to how there was a bear in his stables one minute and himself the next.
This is quite a short story, but more than that, it seems short because there is little that is revealed. While the "secret" is revealed, along with another related surprise, I still felt like I knew very little about the characters. The character of the "mysterious stranger" means more in theory, while the focus is really mostly on Scotty and Luke. There's too little time for me to get a feel of their relationship which moves swiftly from an encounter between friends to more without much in between but sex.
I worked for me was the tone of the story. The cabin in the woods, an oasis of the forest gives the story a mood of restraint, like Scotty is holding back the forest from swallowing him. That juxtaposition between the wild and civilization (and Scotty's voluntary separation from it) echo the problems with the poachers that is the catalyst for the story and therefore the relationship between Scotty and Luke to progress. I certainly liked that mood combined with the pacing and use of narration for much of the story, but I also wanted more; not necessarily in length, but in the romance and characters. While I found the writing artful, I didn't really feel the connection between the two men. Also, the reveal at the end of the story only made me more curious about the things we weren't told.
This seems to me like the prequel to a longer story, so I would have enjoyed reading more if that were the case. While there were aspects of the story I liked, as a whole it fell short for me. This is the first thing I've read by this author, though I've been curious to read some of her work for quite a while now. I'll happily pick up more of it in the future, but I'll probably steer clear of short stories and read a novel instead.
November 6, 2011
It was alright, I wouldn't say I really liked it but I didn't dislike it either. It just didn't draw me in. Personally, I felt like I was reading a newspaper with just the facts rather than falling into a book and the sex was pretty generic. There wasn't anything to really get my motor going other than it was a bear-were instead of a cat or dog.
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December 2, 2009This is quite a controversial short story, it plays a lot on the squicky feelings people have with shapeshifter stories and it's also very hot, being very graphic in details when arriving to the sex scene.
Scott lives inside a park reserve. He is used to share the park with bears, he knows them well and knows how to avoid trouble. But then poachers start to kill the bears and the beasts become unpredictable. One night, after a very near proximity encounter with one of them, Scott finds the same bear wounded in his stable and calls Luke for help. Luke is a park ranger, a different type of "bear", but one Scott is bringing a torch for long time.
Scott is gay and he has no trouble with that, when he wants sexual relief, he goes into town and finds someone. But the one night stands he has are always with ordinary man, like him, and instead he likes the "bears" (not the beast but the big and strong hairy men), and in particular he likes one bear, Luke. So when fate brings them together, and Luke is not against the idea to share warm with him in a cold night, nature takes its course.
But there is a little catch, the wounded bear in the stable that disappeared and the equally wounded naked man, Bjorn, Scott found in his place. The strange familiarity Bjorn has with Luke, and how Luke doesn't seem to notice nothing of strange in Bjorn's behavior...
Short story, so there is nothing more to say, if not that, I'm not really sure to like so much the closing sentence: it's true, it's an hint more at what I said in the beginning, the fact that the author is very well aware that she is playing with a controversial matter, what's the point to write shapeshifter stories if the shapeshifter characters don't behave a bit like animals? There are some primordial instincts that you have to consider and preserve, otherwise the shifter nature of the characters has no meaning to exist.
http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/86...
Scott lives inside a park reserve. He is used to share the park with bears, he knows them well and knows how to avoid trouble. But then poachers start to kill the bears and the beasts become unpredictable. One night, after a very near proximity encounter with one of them, Scott finds the same bear wounded in his stable and calls Luke for help. Luke is a park ranger, a different type of "bear", but one Scott is bringing a torch for long time.
Scott is gay and he has no trouble with that, when he wants sexual relief, he goes into town and finds someone. But the one night stands he has are always with ordinary man, like him, and instead he likes the "bears" (not the beast but the big and strong hairy men), and in particular he likes one bear, Luke. So when fate brings them together, and Luke is not against the idea to share warm with him in a cold night, nature takes its course.
But there is a little catch, the wounded bear in the stable that disappeared and the equally wounded naked man, Bjorn, Scott found in his place. The strange familiarity Bjorn has with Luke, and how Luke doesn't seem to notice nothing of strange in Bjorn's behavior...
Short story, so there is nothing more to say, if not that, I'm not really sure to like so much the closing sentence: it's true, it's an hint more at what I said in the beginning, the fact that the author is very well aware that she is playing with a controversial matter, what's the point to write shapeshifter stories if the shapeshifter characters don't behave a bit like animals? There are some primordial instincts that you have to consider and preserve, otherwise the shifter nature of the characters has no meaning to exist.
http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/86...
July 7, 2010
this was a nice change from the usual wolf shifter story, it told of a society that survived the best way it could by joining humans near their natural habitat or staying in shifted state away from humans and how they got by and the connections they made and the love they found
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews