The Grizzly Maze

BOOK: The Grizzly Maze

AUTHOR: Nick Jans

GRADE: C-

I picked up Jans’s exploration into the life and death of bear aficionado, Timothy Treadwell, from the dollar bin hope for a little more excitement than I ended up with. I walked away disappointed to say the least. However, not disappointed enough to put the book down.

Timothy Treadwell lived among Alaska’s brown grizzly bear population for years, several months out of every year. And when I say that Treadwell lived among the bears, I mean he literally camped out 10 feet from the most popular feeding spot for Alaska’s bear population. He did so without guns, bear spray or any other safety precaution. His life’s mission was to save the bears – which makes an excellent tag line. Through photo and video documentation, Treadwell brought viewers the up close and personal footage they crave. Unfortunately, Treadwell (and partner Amie Huguenard) died at the hands (or mouths) of these same bears.

Jans does do an excellent job in dissecting the controversy surrounding Treadwell’s life and death. His book is meticulously researched and concise but doesn’t lend itself to an exciting read. I would label it mildly interesting at best and be hard pressed to recommend it.