Bigfoot (John Denson Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Richard Hoyt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1995 | Series: John Denson Mysteries

Private Detective John Denson believes in logic. He does not believe in Bigfoot. But when he and Willie Prettybird, his sometime partner who may or may not be a shaman, are hired to help a beautiful Russian scientist, Dr. Sonja Popoleyev, in her search for the legendary sasquatch, a $100,000 reward persuades him to suspend his disbelief. In the Northwest Bigfoot is big business. Their competition: David Addison, land developer, Professor Bonduraunt of the British Museum, Alford and Elford Pollard, local bigfoot hunters, Roger Whitcomb, network personality, and a group of Canadian mountain climbers. Before the expedition can begin, Elford is murdered. With cold hard cash on the line, the searchers are soon scrambling for traces of the elusive creature. But the murderer isn't finished yet, and Denson and his party are on the endangered species list.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Not so much a mystery as an entertainingly cynical adventure story, this clever new series installment (after Whoo? ) sends offbeat Northwest detective John Denson and his partner, Indian shaman Willie Prettybird, on the trail of the legendary Sasquatch. Denson and Prettybird are hired to guide Russian primatologist Sonja Popoleyev up the slopes of Mt. St. Helens on her quest to determine what, if anything, Bigfoot might be, and, incidentally, to pick up the $100,000 prize offered for its capture by a local promoter. Their competitors include explorers and Bigfoot believers from all over the world. Before the expeditions can begin, the promoter and his brother are murdered, but the hunt for the creature goes on, with Denson wondering who among the searchers might have reason to kill. The murders provide the jumping-off point for a fast, funny and deliciously crazy story that mixes Denson's skepticism with Prettybird's mysticism and attempts to answer, in terms of primate evolutionary science, the eternal question of what women and men really want from each other.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Richard Hoyt, a graduate of the University of Oregon, is a former fellow of the Washington Journalism Center and holds a Ph.D. in American studies from the University of Hawaii. He served as U.S. army counterintelligence agent, wrote for daily newspapers in Honolulu, and was a stringer for Newsweek magazine. He taught journalism at the University of Maryland and at Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Or.

Hoyt is the author of the John Denson mysteries, the James Burlane thrillers and numerous other novels of adventure, espionage and suspense including two under the pseudonym of Nicholas van Pelt. In researching and writing in more than two dozen countries in Europe, Latin America, and Asia, he has ridden trains across the Soviet Union and riverboats down the Amazon. He now lives in the Philippines.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books (October 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812519485
• ISBN-13: 978-0812519488
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,680,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard Hoyt has a B.S. and M.S. in journalism from the University of Oregon and a PhD in American studies from the University of Hawaii. He was a fellow in national and international editing and reporting at the Washington Journalism Center. He served as a counterintelligence agent for the U.S. Army before becoming a reporter for both the morning and afternoon daily newspapers in Honolulu; he was also the Honolulu correspondent for Newsweek magazine. He later taught journalism and writing courses at the University of Maryland and at Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon.
Richard is private by nature but loves to travel. He has lived and worked for periods in Negril, Jamaica; Bray, Ireland; Torquay, southern England; Amsterdam; Seville; Lagos, Portugal; Sao Paulo; San Ignacio, Belize; Tangier; Hong Kong; and on the islands of Negros, Mindanao, and Cebu in the Philippines. He rode trains across the Soviet Union and riverboats from the headwaters of the Amazon to the Atlantic.
This photograph of Richard was taken by Tessie Artes Hoyt

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pedestrian Bigfoot themed mystery, October 16, 2009

By 

F. J. Harvey "Cricket ,country music and a go... (Birmingham England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bigfoot (John Denson Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

John Denton -the first person narrator of the book -is a P.I in Oregon and his agency partner is the Native American investigator Willie Prettybird .The two hold divergent views on the existence of Bigfoot for while Denton is a confirmed ,by contrast prettybird is a believer .They are hired as aides cum bodyguards to the attractive Soviet primologist Sonya Popalayov who is one memeber of an expedition hunting for the creature in the Pacific Northwest.Other memebers included the British Museum expert on the subject Doctor Bondurant ,the adventurer and hunter Addison who has offered a substantial reward for the capture of Bigfoot and two showmen ,the Alford brothers who have a more than slightly tawdry travelling "Sasquatch museum ".Also on hand is the taciturn Fench Canadian hunter Thibodeaux ,veteran of many a Sasquatch expedition .
Things take a decidedly dark turn when both Alford brothers are murdered and a raging blizzard exposes the party to the risk of death by exposure ,as if a murderer on the loose was not problem enough!
This is a distinctly lacklustre perfomance ,working neither as a murder mystery or a Saaquath themed novel .Denton and Prettbird are engaging heroes and make a good pair of wisecracking P.I's but overall this is pretty medicre work .

3.0 out of 5 stars Take it or leave it, August 4, 2008

By 

R. Howell "boriskhan" (Medford, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bigfoot (John Denson Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

As a mystery novel, this one is lacking. As an adventure novel, it's okay; as a bigfoot fiction its just alright. What it is is a bit of a social commentary on people's beliefs and perceptions of what they want. John Denson along with sidekick partner Willie Prettybird are hired to take Russian researcher Sonja Popoleyev up Mt St Helens after a sasquatch sighting is reported. Popoleyev doesn't study sasquatches but rather continues the reasearch of a former deceased scientist that bases evolutionary progression through sexual roles and mating interactions by postulating on simulated models of hominids. It gets a bit tiring listening to this throughout the book. Denson, Sonja, and Willie are joined by two other Native Americans to form one of three groups united to the search. One of the others is lead by Emile, an amalgamation of real people John Green, Rene Dahinden, and some Grover Krantz. The other is run by a tv documentary producer on the paranormal. So all three groups are on the mountain but the focus remains on the Denson party and their experience. Toss in the murders of Alfred and Elford Pollard - two tabloid writers, a $100,000 reward for proof of a bigfoot or hoax by wealthy Mr. Addison, Thom Bondurant fictional head of the British Museum, and an oncoming snow storm and you have this book.

It's one of those books that you will read and probably not remember in a few months. Good enough to add to your bigfoot fiction novel collection.

4.0 out of 5 stars funny little Bigfoot-story, December 28, 1998

By 

"a-n_onym" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bigfoot (John Denson Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a funny Bigfoot-adventure with sarcastic remarks in abundance. You got the Native American mystic, and, like in Esau by P.Kerr and Neanderthal by J.Darnton the good-looking female scientist. But in the end the mystery about Bigfoot is not entirely solved, so there is place for it in the reader's imagination.