Village of the Ghost Bears: Summary and book reviews of Village of the Ghost Bears by Stan Jones, plus links to an excerpt from Village of the Ghost Bears and a biography of Stan Jones.
Village of the Ghost Bears A Nathan Active Mystery
by Stan Jones
Hardcover: Dec 2009,
352 pages.
Paperback: Jan 2011,
352 pages.
Alaska State Trooper Nathan Active must figure out what connects a dead hunter on a remote Arctic lake with a year-old fatal plane crash in the Brooks Range and a fire at the Chukchi Recreation Center that killed eight people, including the town's basketball star. The case turns out to involve a lucrative polar bear poaching operation and the intense bond between a brother and sister from the village of Cape Goodwin, famous in the Arctic for twins, polar bears, and schizophrenia. The heart of the matter, he discovers, is a dead woman whose killer remembers her as having a mouth so sweet "it was like kissing a Hershey bar."
The series has many fans, and for good reason. The novel isn't just a mystery about who started a fatal fire, it's also a source of insight into the lives and culture of Native Americans in Northwest Alaska... If you have enjoyed the previous books, you will probably enjoy this one. If you are new to the series, and want to learn about Inupiat culture through these books, I recommend starting with one of the earlier books so that you don't feel too lost in the beginning of this volume. (Reviewed by Cindy Anderson).
The New York Times - Marilyn Stasio
A writer of muscular words and stark images, Jones sets up his scenes like film shots...[t]his kind of writing makes for strong reading, especially with a sturdy murder plot to give it structure.
Entertainment Weekly
Jones delivers a finely laddered plot...but the real fun, as always, lies in the dozens of mini-lessons he gives on hardscrabble Alaskan life, covering everything from the illegal trade in polar-bear bladders to the description of a potent indigenous chewing tobacco made from burnt birch-tree fungus.
Entertainment Weekly
Stan Jones delivers a finely laddered plot... but the real fun, as always, lies in the dozens of mini-lessons he gives on hardscrabble Alaskan life.
Booklist
Recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a stylishly written, solidly plotted mystery
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. His sympathetic portrayal of Alaska's mixed-ethnic traditions is a tribute to both the state and the states of mind it inspires.
School Library Journal
Jones provides a unique look at the Alaskan landscape and reveals many of the racial tensions that still exist in this part of the world. Ghost Bears leaves readers looking forward to the next "Nathan Active" installment.
Kirkus Reviews
Starred Review. Multilayered characters and an offbeat setting authentically rendered-Jones...bids fair to become the Tony Hillerman of Alaska.
Library Journal
Readers get a crash course in living in remote Alaska and a mighty fine mystery as well...this series should get more exposure than it does.
In Village of the Ghost Bears, Trooper Nathan Active and his fellow law enforcement personnel must discuss the problem of polar bear poaching, because at least one of the suspects in the arson/murder has been involved in the illegal trade of selling polar bear gallbladders to China...
The Value of Bear Gallbladders As the book correctly explains, gallbladder bile is highly prized in Chinese medicine. It is considered to be a cure for everything from fever and rheumatism to poor eyesight. Illegal trade exists between Alaska and Korea, and between Alaska and Russia (for eventual sale to China), and it is a lucrative enterprise. The Humane Society of America's website states: "The sum of saleable parts can make a dead bear worth in excess of $10,000. An average sized bear gallbladder commands as much as $3,400 in Asia."
Polar Bear Endangerment
In 2007 and 2008, the U.S. Department of the Interior put polar...
A brutal murder takes place in a small Alaskan community. People know who the culprit is, and he has evaded justice for many years. But Kate Shugak is determined to find the evidence needed to convict him.
The Reykjavik police are called on an icy January day to a garden where a body has been found: a young, dark-skinned boy is frozen to the ground in a pool of his own blood. Erlendur and his team embark on their investigation and soon unearth tensions simmering beneath the surface of Iceland’s outwardly liberal, multicultural society.
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(1042 words).
As the book correctly explains, gallbladder bile is highly prized in Chinese medicine. It is considered to be a cure for everything from fever and rheumatism to poor eyesight. Illegal trade exists between Alaska and Korea, and between Alaska and Russia (for eventual sale to China), and it is a lucrative enterprise. The Humane Society of America's website states: "The sum of saleable parts can make a dead bear worth in excess of $10,000. An average sized bear gallbladder commands as much as $3,400 in Asia."
