Village of the Ghost Bears

by Stan Jones

Book Overview

Alaska State Trooper Nathan Active must figure out what connects a death on a remote Arctic lake with a year-old fatal plane crash in the Brooks Range and an arson at the Chukchi Recreation Center that killed eight people, including the town's basketball star. The case turns out to involve a lucrative polar bear poaching operation and the intense bond between a brother and sister from the village of Cape Goodwin. The heart of the matter, he discovers,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1569478643
• ISBN13: 9781569478646
• Release Date: January 2011
• Publisher: Soho Crime
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Outstanding read

I enjoyed the book and read it in one day. The book gives the reader a good insight of Alaska and the mystery is excellent. I am the authors first timne reader and I am going to read his past books.

Great read!

Alaskan Trooper Nathan Active is assigned to the trooper station in remote Chukchi Alaska in NW Alaska. In Village of the Ghost Bears, Nathan has to find the arsonist who murdered 8 people including the Chukchi chief of police, Jim Silver. As he criss crosses his corner of the state tracking down leads, we are introduced to the very unique culture of the largest state in the USA. Looking at the mystery only, some of the coincidences may be a little obvious (it was easy to predict the identity of the corpse that Nathan and Grace found at One Way lake) but that's a nit-pick that occurred to me after I finished the book, it truely didn't matter to me as I was reading. I was completely engrossed in my reading, pausing only to consult my atlas or look up online articles on polar bears, Inupiat eskimos, Korean folk medicine, game & fishing laws in Alaska & tons of things like that. This book is a good mystery and a great way to learn about Alaska.

Death--burning, freezing, with the smile of a clown

"Village of the Ghost Bears" is the fourth mystery in the Alaskan trooper, Nathan Active series, following "White Sky, Black Ice," "Shaman Pass," and "Frozen Sun: A Nathan Active Mystery (The Nathan Active Mysteries)." Although much of the action in this series takes place in the Arctic fishing village of Chukchi, the wilderness is only a step outside the door, crackling underfoot like new sea ice. It permeates the lives of everyone in this book, from bush pilots to bingo-playing aana (grandmothers). The people of Chukchi are hunter-gatherers, thinly disguised with Carhartt jeans and Sorel boots, Sudoku puzzles and iPods. When one of them sets fire to the village recreation center, eight people die, including the police chief, and Nathan Active is once again on the hunt for the wiliest, most dangerous predator of all. Many interesting subplots support the hunt for the arsonist. Nathan Active's love life is played at a lower key than in "Frozen Sun." (Thank goodness. Sometimes I wish detective-heroes would follow Sherlock Holmes' example and remain celibate). The illegal trade in polar bear gallbladders permeates the story. Death comes in many guises: burning; freezing; with the smile of a clown; within the jaws of a bear. Bush pilots almost take over the story with their hair-raising exploits (the author is a bush pilot, himself and I can't help but wonder how many of these stunts he's describing from experience.) In pursuit of his arsonist, Trooper Active must visit tiny Cape Goodwin, which is rapidly crumbling into the sea. It is known for its twins, polar bears, and schizophrenia--all of which play a part in this story. I've read all of the books in this series, and have finally resorted to buying them as soon as they are in print. "Village of the Ghost Bears" was worth every penny of its purchase price. Here is Alaska, red in tooth and claw with a minimum of preening politicians and prosing travel agents. Stan Jones is the Tony Hillerman of this barren, arctic, beautiful land.

terrific Alaskan thriller

Inupiaq Alaskan state trooper Nathan Active is camping with his beloved Grace when they find a corpse in a creek. The pike had eaten away the face of the deceased. Soon afterward someone sets a fire to the recreation center in the remote village of Chukchi. Eight people including the police chief die in the deadly inferno. Nathan investigates both cases of homicide. At the same time, apparent polar bear poaching, an illegal act as the animal is protected by law, makes his inquiry much more dangerous and convoluted especially the body in the brook inquiry. The latest Nathan Active police procedural (see Frozen Sun) is a terrific Alaskan thriller that hooks the reader early with its stark beautiful description of remote Alaska mostly from an aerial view. Nathan is his super self working exciting twisting investigations into homicides and poaching that look like Bridges to Nowhere except for his diligence, and his romance enhances the plot as he turns to a native healer for advice. However, Alaska owns this super tale as Stan Jones provides a deep look at a remote part of the state. Harriet Klausner

Dress warmly for this adventure

I look forward intensely, with any mystery by Stan Jones, to simply soaking up the atmosphere in this remote Arctic corner of Alaska. Here the buildings stand on pilings to avoid being swallowed by melting permafrost. Polar bears have their own heaven somewhere out on the ice. A father might reincarnate as a husky to watch over his daughter. Spirits in dreams can inspire murder. And the reader starts feeling half Inupiat (Eskimo) a quarter into the book. Alaska State Trooper Nathan Active is the brains behind any investigation in the town of Chuckchi. He's part Inupiat, part white, and would rather be in the civilized city of Anchorage. But he's stuck for the moment in backward Chuckchi, his current post. Despite the handicap of some white blood, Nathan is amazingly resourceful in the wild. He's also attractive to women. Only his girlfriend can resist him. The crime facing Nathan and his fellow troopers in this book is the burning down of the local Rec Center. Eight people died, and it looks like arson. The motive eludes everyone, as the investigation takes bewildering turns through jealous rivalries and illegal activities (like selling bear gallbladders to the Russians and Koreans). Stan Jones spent some time as a bush pilot, and he can always be relied upon to give us a harrowing ride or two in small planes through frightening conditions. With Nathan Active, Jones has created a likeable, thoughtful, mild-mannered hero who shoots only when necessary - but can turn into a fearless daredevil on a manhunt. Although notoriously manly, Nathan is not above consulting an Inupiat healer for advice on his love life. I'd recommend reading every novel in this series, in order if you can.