Customer Reviews

Bigfoot (John Denson Mysteries)

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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 .

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.

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.