Season of Death:: An Inupiat Eskimo Mystery

Inupiat officer Ray Attla, against his better judgement, goes hunting with his 2 friends also Barrow policemen Lewis and Billy Bob. Ray finds himself stranded in the wilds of the North Slope of Alaska with most of his equipment at the bottom of a lake courtest of likable but inept Lewis, and Billy Bob, a Texan transplant who doesn't have a clue of what survival in the Alaskan bush is all about. To complicate matters they find a severed head. Ray must somehow figure out how to get his friends out of the bush alive,and solve the mystery of the head despite being hunted by the bad guys. A very entertaining book. The author has impressive knowlege of the Alaskan bush and native Inupiat culture. Being a transplanted Alaskan myself, I can vouch from experience that the depiction of the native dialect was realistic. An excellent book!

As Ray and his buddies, Billy Bob and Lewis leave on their hunting trip, he thinks he hears his wife tell him they are going to have a baby. He is not sure about fatherhood and, when the gear gets dumped in the river, he is not sure about this hunting trip. Then they find a head without a body. The plot is well-constructed and entertaining but the attempt at dialect for Lewis and Billy Bob is annoying. Fortunately, Ray is the smartest one in the group and the trip he takes the reader on is most entertaining. Somewhat similar to John Straley in characterization but much more action. I found it worth the money!