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Book Review of A Ghost of Caribou: A Novel of Suspense (Alex Carter Series, 3)

A Ghost of Caribou: A Novel of Suspense (Alex Carter Series, 3)
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Alice Henderson's Alex Carter novels have become my Go-To Reads whenever I need a vicarious adrenaline rush with a one-two punch of wildlife and the great outdoors. A Ghost of Caribou is no exception.

There's always the opportunity to learn with Alex Carter. In this book, it's remote locations, camping, caring for remote cameras, how to collar an animal... and how to avoid getting killed. I enjoyed learning about mountain caribou as well as the Selkirk Mountains and setting up remote cameras, and my craving for an adrenaline rush was certainly fulfilled.

Alex Carter is one of the best female characters in the thriller business. Her father may be a guest artist at a different national park each year (in A Ghost of Caribou, he's at the Grand Canyon), but her mother was a fighter pilot who played survival games with the growing Alex, and-- boy howdy-- does she ever use everything she learned at her mother's knee! (It's also nice to have a main character with two loving and supporting parents.) Alex is well able to take care of herself, and readers won't catch her doing anything stupid.

But there's more to this series than a kick-ass main character, thrilling action scenes (how about that ultra-scary "UFO"!), and wildlife. There's Sheriff Maggie Taggert, a capable, take-charge woman who works well with Alex. There are the unexpected laughs amid all that tension ("If she kept taking these gigs, she'd have to invest in a satellite phone"-- something that I'd been thinking), and the chilling hunt for a killer targeting older women. There's also the fact that Alex learns more about herself each time she takes one of these assignments, so she's not the typical "action figure" who never changes.

If you're in the mood for fast-paced excitement in the great outdoors with a strong, capable female lead character, head straight for Alice Henderson's Alex Carter books. They're fantastic.