A child is missing in the wilderness. Two-year-old Zachary Fischer has vanished from a Utah campground. Sam Westin can never forgive herself. She nudged the boy down a dark path toward a man she presumed was his father. Summer Sam Westin, wildlife biologist/writer, promised to energize Save the Wilderness Fund's public presence with a series of daily online reports from Heritage National Monument. She focuses on the cougars she helped to rehabilitate and release a year ago. Thrust into the spotlight by Adam Steele, Sam's TV ...
Read More
A child is missing in the wilderness. Two-year-old Zachary Fischer has vanished from a Utah campground. Sam Westin can never forgive herself. She nudged the boy down a dark path toward a man she presumed was his father. Summer Sam Westin, wildlife biologist/writer, promised to energize Save the Wilderness Fund's public presence with a series of daily online reports from Heritage National Monument. She focuses on the cougars she helped to rehabilitate and release a year ago. Thrust into the spotlight by Adam Steele, Sam's TV reporter boyfriend, Sam's first cougar story be-comes the centerpiece of a media campaign that targets the cats as prime suspects in Zack's disap-pearance. There's no evidence of a cougar attack; there's no proof the boy is dead. Now the public is pressing for revenge instead of continuing to search for the child. If Sam and the park rangers can't redirect the investigation, both Zachary Fischer and the big cats will be sacrificed. When the FBI joins the case, humans join the list of suspects. Teenagers try to collect a ransom for Zack. Sam discovers a suspicious camper, a history of campground thefts, and a problem with long-term squatters in the park. Zach's adoptive father, Fred Fischer, with a history of alcoholism and domestic abuse, becomes FBI Suspect Number One. After a chaotic forty hours, Zack's sneaker is found on a trail leading to the plateau. Sam heads for the high country. She is surprised when FBI Agent Chase Perez arrives by helicopter to team up with her. They comb the rocky canyons for evidence of Zack and for one man who may be a vital witness: Coyote Charlie, a nature-loving oddball who haunts the plateau above the ruins. As hours pass, the media frenzy escalates. Sam's television reporter friend, Adam Steele, is thrilled with their teamwork and continues to pump out ever more sensational television and internet sto-ries. Sam would like to push Adam and the rest of the media hounds off a cliff. Illegal hunters invade the park, hysterical citizens arm themselves, and in D.C., bureaucrats promise to control the mountain lions. What started off for Sam's dream job assignment has turned into Sam's worst nightmare, and it's being broadcast over the television networks from coast to coast. Can Sam uncover the truth in time to save the child and the big cats?
Read Less
Add this copy of Wild to cart. $10.99, very good condition, Sold by Gardner's Used Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tulsa, OK, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by WildWing Press.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Softcover book is in great shape. Clean with strong binding, little to no visible wear. Tulsa's best used bookstore. Located on South Mingo Road since 1991. No-hassle return policy if not completely satisfied.
Sam Westin, reporter for the Save the Wilderness Fund, is in Utah?s Heritage National Monument anticipating a sighting of Leto, a female cougar who had survived a bullet shot a year before. After meeting Ranger Kent Bergstrom, she runs into Zack, a friendly 2 year old boy, with a ?truck? (actually a small black plastic wheel.) Sam hears a woman calling. Taking Zack's hand, she heads to return Zack but Zack takes off. Sam spots a man at the end of the trail. He waves as does Zack and Sam heads back, hoping to get to Sunset Canyon early. This reminds her of ?Cougar Charlie? a man who lives off the land, has rarely been seen and is a legend.
After setting up camp, Sam spots and watches Leto for awhile. A smaller cougar appears, Leto?s cub Artemis. Taking several pictures, her camera beeps. The memory card is full. Slowly she unzips a pocket, alerting the cougars, and when she looks up, they are gone. Hustling to make the 9 SWF deadline, she finds a perfect picture. Working fast, she gets a signal and makes deadline. The next morning, Sam calls Kent. She discovers Zack is missing. She reports her encounter with the little boy yesterday and the last time she saw him.
Sam heads back, covering campgrounds and parking lots. Meeting Wilson, he shows her a red cap he found by the river. Sam remembers Zack had a red cap, told the man she needed to take it and went on only to run into FBI agent Perez who takes the cap for evidence. The next day, no sign of Zack again, and Sam returns to her hotel room. About 11 she awakes and sees Perez and Boudreau dressed in black outside. Sam follows the two agents. An envelope is placed in a metal garbage can and all three hide waiting. A yellow truck pulls up. A person heads for the garbage can. Perez stops the man, until a mishap, giving the man enough time to take off. The chase is on, ending when the truck slams into a vintage Pontiac. The two turn out to be kids. All they can give was a vague description of a man, promising $1,000 for the envelope and to drop it off at The Burger house at Fifth.
The next day Sam is directed to search a wilder area of the park. As the day passes, she meets a man who apparently lives in the aea. He offers a bunch of grapes which she acccepts. After a brief conversation, the man leaves and Sam continues. Later Sam and Perez decide Coyote Charlie might help find Zack. They then hear howling and see Charlie. They try to stop him, but fail. Traveling to the ruins Perez sees for himself the history, and Sam chances on a black plastic wheel, Zack's toy!. She contacts Rafael. He says to evacuate and tells her Fred Fischer, Zack?s father is believed to have a part in the disappearance of Zack and might have a gun.
Sam warns Perez The Curtain is dangerous. He must trust her and do exactly as she says. Teaching Perez how to rappel, they reach the canyon bottom. The going is rough and trecherous. In a tunnel, rain begins to fall as they spot Coyote Charlie on a ledge. The tunnel begins to fill with water; Sam thinks fast and instructs Perez how not to drown or be sucked back through the tunnel and thrust down onto the rocks below.
What happens next is both heart stopping and intense. The torture Sam and Perez must endure to survive is horrendous yet they escape. The ending of the book will leave the reader with a sense of awe and sympathy for Coyote Charlie as well as a sense of heroism and bravery Perez and Sam endured along the way never straying from their search for Zack.
