Claws [Paperback]

Stacey Cochran (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 2009

Something stalks the citizens of Arizona...

Dr. Angie Rippard is an Arizona wildlife biologist who is drawn into a police investigation when two teenagers are found dead on a golf course that borders protected National Forest Land. Rippard suspects the teens were attacked by a large mountain lion.

Backed into a corner, it knows no fear...

Rippard believes that the resort was developed too close to wilderness lands, but her plan to relocate cougars in the area provokes the wrath of the resort's owner-Charlie Rutledge-who believes the animals should be exterminated.

Eight million years have shaped its predatory skill...

Deep inside the Tonto National Forest, Rippard and her grad students realize that Charlie Rutledge is hunting them. In a thrilling climax, Rippard must make a choice to kill the cougar that is certain to kill Charlie Rutledge, or kill Rutledge who is certain to kill her.

Now we are the endangered species.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"CLAWS pits one smart, tough heroine against one bad, bad kitty and some humans who may be even worse. Stacey Cochran's tale of deadly predators, both four- and two-legged, will have you looking over your shoulder, convinced you hear something creeping up behind you. Maybe I won't go camping after all." - J.D. Rhoades, Breaking Cover

"Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the scrub brush, along comes this book Claws. And I was planning a nice family hiking trip in the Santa Catalinas, too. Thanks for nothing, Stacey Cochran." - Sean Doolittle, author of SAFER

About the Author

Stacey Cochran is the international bestselling author of The Colorado Sequence and CLAWS. In January 2010, his collection The Kiribati Test reached #6 overall in the Kindle store.

Stacey was born in the Carolinas where his family traces its roots to the mid 1800s. In 1998 he was selected as a finalist for the Dell Magazines Award for undergraduate fiction writing, and he made his first professional short story sale three years later. In 2004, he was selected as a finalist in the St. Martin's Press/PWA Best First Private Eye Novel Contest, and he began teaching at North Carolina State University in 2006. He lives in Raleigh with his wife Susan, son Sam, and daughter Harper Jane. His published books include CLAWS, CLAWS 2, The Colorado Sequence, Amber Page, Born on the Bayou, In Love with Eleanor Rigby, and the short story collectionThe Kiribati Test.

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; First Edition edition (January 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1440495343
• ISBN-13: 978-1440495342
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,502,462 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stacey Cochran is the bestselling author of In Love with Eleanor Rigby, The Loneliest, The Colorado Sequence, and CLAWS. One of the first authors to advocate for free and 99-cent pricing, Stacey made it onto Kindle bestseller lists in 2009; his collection The Kiribati Test eventually reached #6 overall in the Kindle store in January 2010. An excerpt from his current novel-in-progress Eddie & Sunny was selected as a finalist for the James Hurst Prize for Fiction by PEN/Faulkner Finalist Ron Rash in November 2011.

Stacey was born in the Carolinas where his family traces its roots to the 1700s. In 1998 he was selected as a finalist for the Dell Magazines Award for undergraduate fiction writing, and he made his first professional short story sale three years later. In 2004, he was selected as a finalist in the St. Martin's Press/PWA Best First Private Eye Novel Contest, and he began teaching at North Carolina State University in 2006. He lives in Raleigh with his wife Susan, son Sam, and daughter Harper. His published books include CLAWS, CLAWS 2, The Colorado Sequence, Amber Page, Born on the Bayou, In Love with Eleanor Rigby, Chromosome 4, The Loneliest, and the short story collection The Kiribati Test.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Poorly edited, poorly written, nice first draft? July 2, 2009

By Kat W

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I completely agree with everything Red Adept pointed out in his/her (?) review. This was absolutely the most poorly written book I've ever read. It did move pretty quickly, but I found myself re-reading what I'd just read over and over, trying to figure out what had actually happened in the narrative, due to poor use of pronouns, lack of proper punctuation, and just plain illogical writing. The poor grammar, spelling errors, improper use of prepositions, and lack of editing made this a tremendously frustrating read. What had started as an interesting thriller, became, by the end, a book full of overblown, stereotypical caricatures of characters and ideas seemingly drawn directly from old-time, Western novels. I feel bad for being so hard on this book, but it was truly the worst book I've ever read. I didn't quit reading it, though--I wanted to find out what happened, for whatever that's worth. It feels like we were given a first draft that needed feedback, clarification, and editing. Get some editing and correction, Stacey, then make the book available in an updated edition.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Sense of Place April 1, 2010

By E. J. Mcgill

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I don't know how long Cochran spent in this area, but he's nailed it in Claws. Every detail about the Catalina Mountains, Peppersauce Cave, La Ventana Resort and the surrounding environs the mountain lion terrorizes is accurate to a T. For this reason alone the book is worth reading, especially for people who have hiked extensively in the described areas. And if you've never gotten out of your vehicle to explore the area, recognizing the fact that you probably will never even glimpse a mountain lion, Cochran's descriptions will make you want to.

As for the mountain lion--well, I live in the Catalina Foothills and have spent thousands of hour tramping all over these hills from one end to the other and have never even seen a tuft of a lion's coat--although one morning years ago my wife spotted one peering into our mailbox. But I have seen them at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum with nothing more than glass separating them from a toddler, scratching and clambering to reach out, claw and devour the sweet young thing.

So Cochran's message is clear, and a good one at that. Don't mess with mountain lions, cougars, pumas, or whatever you want to call them.

A fun read.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars beyond belief July 11, 2009

By Barbara Mcauliffe

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm all for indy writers, and have enjoyed some of them, but this book was a little too much.

The idea was great. But to have two "expert" naturalists and one nature writer out in the woods, tracking a deadly cat then have it revealed that none of them knew how to shoot their weapons? I understand that in a panic situation, a person might not shoot with precision, but these guys didn't know how to use their weapons. Shooting is not that hard, with practice anyone can do it. This serves as an object lesson to all those naturalists out there who are anti gun--learn to shoot before tracking down a big dangerous animal.

Then to have two psychos running around, along with the cougar...Two? Isn't one enough, or none even. The author should hand this book over to an honest friend and get a really tough critique. There is nothing thats not fixable, the idea is great, it needs a some work before it's readable