The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Theo Cray is trained to see patterns where others see chaos—he is a computational biologist. When one of his former students is found apparently mauled to death by a bear, things about the case don’t add up. He sees things the cops missed, or refuse to see. It bothers him enough that he starts investigating similar events and is able to discover the victims’ bodies where no one else could or, if they could, no one ever bothered to look for the victims. He is determined to prove to the cops the deaths were not due to bear attacks, but to a serial killer.
Another novel that just ended. Nothing about what happened following the ending, which was pretty hard to believe as it was. A whole major character just disappears. The statistics, if true, were interesting though sad. The science behind his “discoveries” was interesting as well, if the science is valid. I haven’t had time to do any research to see if any of it is even valid. Patterns are my thing, so it might be that it is.
So much of it was far-fetched. I find it hard to believe that all of the cops in Montana are so stupid or corrupt, even the one Theo Cray decided is smart. Even the FBI guy that suddenly appears is an asshole.
It was really easy to figure out who the killer must be—not exactly an original concept (saw it on “Criminal Minds” not so very long ago). It was a compelling read—and I’m glad I chose it as my September First book. But after I finished it the plot holes and “science as magic” aspects of it keep bugging me. I will say I was glad to see the Frog in the Pot of Water myth shot down. And I’m wondering why Theo didn’t end up brain damaged from all of the times he gets beaten up (even a beatdown by a cop he deliberately provoked).
So, it was promising. If the second Naturalist book doesn’t cost much, I may even give it a shot when it’s published. Maybe one of his magic-centered books would be interesting—but I don’t know since I’m not very interested in magic.