Thought I’d give a quick review on a book I recently finished, Mark of the Grizzly by Scott McMillion. Let me start by saying one of my favorite reads as a kid was about the gruesome grizzly attacks in Outdoor Life and Field & Stream. Not sure why, but I was always very intrigued by those issues.
This spring while in Alaska, I realized a friend has an even greater passion for bear than I thought possible. He has a personal library of over 250 books, specifically about bears. Browns, grizzly, blacks. Doesn’t matter, he loves them all. At the time of departure I noticed he was reading this book. I grabbed it and read a few pages. I definitely needed to read it, I hopped on my tablet and made the purchase.
The book covers several first hand accounts of grizzly attacks in the US and Canada. Detailed enough at times it’s hard to imagine anyone ever surviving, let alone living a normal life after such an attack. Some truly amazing stories of courage and will to live. I admire those folks! There are also several stories with very sad endings that leave me wondering about how I’ll go out some day. Hopefully in a much more peaceful and less graphic manner.
All in all I really like the book and couldn’t hardly put it down, which is pretty rare for me. The one “negative”, if I have one, the book is definitely written and the stories told from the bias that bears have as many rights as humans almost. I’m not against bears nor have I ever lived out west where bear attacks can happen, so I don’t know if the author’s agenda has merit. For all I know, there could be a very vocal contingent out west pushing to eradicate the grizzly.
If you are into reading some gruesome tails with amazing heroics, you’ll likely enjoy.