California Bear
A Novel
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California Bear
Narrated by:
James Urbaniak, Jesse Vilinsky, Duane Swierczynski
Buy Now for $26.99
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Narrated by:
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James Urbaniak
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Jesse Vilinsky
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Duane Swierczynski
About this listen
This "fresh, exciting, and brilliantly unpredictable" thriller (James Patterson) from a "great storyteller" (Michael Connelly) follows four unlikely vigilantes who pit themselves against the villain behind California’s coldest case when they decide to take justice into their own hands.
NONE OF YOU ARE SAFE“KILLER”: Jack Queen has been exonerated and freed from prison thanks to retired LAPD officer Cato Hightower. But when guilt gnaws at Jack, he admits: “I actually did it.” To which Hightower responds: “Yeah, no kidding.” You see, the ex-cop has a special job in mind for the ex-con…
THE GIRL DETECTIVE: Fifteen-year-old Matilda Finnerty has been handed a potential death sentence in the form of a leukemia diagnosis. But that’s not going to stop her from tackling the most important mystery of her life: Is her father guilty of murder?
GENE JEANIE: Jeanie Hightower mends family trees for a living, but the genealogist is unable to repair her own marriage. And her soon-to-be ex may have entangled her in a scheme that has drawn the bloody wrath of…
THE BEAR: A prolific serial killer who disappeared forty years ago, who is only now emerging from hibernation when the conditions are just right. And this time, the California Bear is not content to hunt in the shadows…
From two-time Edgar nominee Duane Swierczynski, California Bear is clever, moving, and surprising as it takes aim at the true crime industry, Hollywood, justice, and the killers inside us all.
Critic Reviews
“Duane Swierczynski has written his best novel, and that’s saying something. From the tragi-comic opening sentence to the heartrending final paragraph, California Bear is fresh, exciting, and brilliantly unpredictable. The Girl Detective will live in my heart forever.”
—James Patterson, New York Times bestselling author
—James Patterson, New York Times bestselling author
“Swierczynski is brilliant at fooling even savvy readers, and his jaw-dropping twists never compromise his exceptional character development. This is a tour de force.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The novel tackles a number of themes, including the current fascination with true-crime stories, the difficulties of reconciliation between people who have been estranged for many years, and the question of whether someone who acquires a taste for killing can ever really stop. The characters are beautifully designed, and the author offers up some tantalizing questions. . . . Swierczynski brings the story to a magnificent, surprising, exhilarating conclusion. An ambitious and deeply satisfying novel."—Booklist (starred review)
“Loaded with emotion, redemption, and comeuppance in sufficient measure to inspire the hope of encountering these characters again. . . . Compelling not for its solution but for the act of solving, with modern cultural references and screen-worthy action.”—Library Journal (starred review)
"There's real truth at the core of California Bear, Duane Swierczynski's latest novel. And no, it's not some ripped-from-the-headlines true crime element. It's not even the crafty writing or the dead-on dialogue. It's heart. Plain and simple. This book was written straight from the heart, and I won't ever forget it."—Eli Cranor, author of Don't Know Tough and Ozark Dogs
"California Bear is a kick-ass serial killer thriller with heart. It's Veronica Mars meets Hannibal Lector, about a formidable girl-detective with a terrible sickness, her ex-con dad, and an elusive monster in crime-riddled Los Angeles. Swierczynski's written an utterly fresh take on LA noir."—Sarah Langan, author of Good Neighbors and A Better World
“With all the wit and style of Elmore Leonard, but way more heart, California Bear is a can't-put-it-down caper, an incisive look at the dark side of true crime 'entertainment,' and a beautifully moving story of a family in crisis learning exactly how far they'll go for each other, all in one. I can't wait to see more of Jack and especially Matilda, who is the kickass twenty-first century successor to Philip Marlowe Los Angeles crime fiction needs. I loved this book!”—Halley Sutton, bestselling author of The Hurricane Blonde
California Bear
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