With
his latest novel author, Alex Grecian is moving in a new direction
with a new series, a new era, and a new setting, Kansas. Another
book that took place in that state, Wizard of Oz has a famous
line “Lions, Tigers, and Bears. Oh, My.” Replace
that with The Saint of Wolves and Butchers and readers have
the title of this new book.
This intriguing story involves Travis, a man who chases down
evil-doers with help from his trusting companion, a dog named
Bear, and a Kansas State Trooper, Skottie who join forces
to track down a Nazi in hiding.
Grecian wanted to write more of a modern-day contemporary
story than his past series, set in Victorian England. “While
driving through Western Kansas to visit my wife’s family
I saw a lot of ranch/farm country. Regardless of where I am
I look for angles, I can use to write a story. I found out
that German POWs captured in Africa were sent to Kansas. After
the war, most of these people were allowed to become farmers
and stayed here as authorities turned a blind eye. It occurred
to me this would be a great place to hide if I ever committed
a crime. Since Travis and company will hunt for evil-doers,
for the next book I would love to have Skottie, Bear, and
Travis searching for the bad guy behind the funding of the
Nazi in this book who runs a human trafficking ring. I think
I will set it in Alaska.”
The plot begins in 1951 when wanted war criminal Rudolph Bormann
succeeds in making his way from South America to rural Kansas,
where he begins a new life as Rudy Goodman. In the present,
Travis Roan, the head of a family foundation devoted to bringing
war criminals to justice, comes to Kansas after a report that
the German was recognized by Ruth Elder, a concentration camp
guard. Aided by his canine companion, Bear, a massive dog,
and another ally, Kansas Highway Patrol trooper Skottie Foster,
the search continues for this horrific figure who had performed
medical research on unwilling victims. To make matters worse,
Goodman decides to become a Church Pastor for a Nazi-type
cult where he continues his cruel experimentation.
All the characters are either very likeable or very unlikable.
The character that stole all the scenes was Bear, a Tibetan
mastiff who understands Esperanto and became mute after poachers
cut off his vocal cords. He is brave, smart, and loyal, where
everyone except the antagonists has complete trust. Surprisingly,
Elder was written as sympathetic considering she was forced
into becoming a guard by the Nazi regime, after refusing to
have sex with German military officers. The main character,
Travis is calm, intellectual, unfailingly polite, and very
moralistic.
Because Grecian wants this to be a series he plans on developing
each character’s backstory as the books progress. “Travis
keeps to himself so we do not know where he has been in the
world and where he has come from. He is mysterious and I purposely
did not say if he is Jewish. I do hint at the terrible tragedy
he has gone through. As time goes on readers will find out
more about him.”
An interesting aspect is that the Nazi was hit by lightning,
not once, but twice, while in Kansas, and lived to talk about
it. After being struck people have their bodies affected in
unexpected ways, such as a person’s hair and toenails
will not grow back, and they can have hearing loss. Goodman
used it to claim he could heal people because it gave him
energy and insight. This for some could be the fantasy part
of the book.
Hopefully, readers also understand that guns are tools. Grecian
explained, “This is why I put in the book quote, ‘These
chunks of metal that were largely useless without a hand to
point them.’ The evil comes from the person who uses
it to their advantage. It is the person that needs to be blamed.”
Readers will yearn for the next book to see how Grecian flushes
out the characters’ backstory, especially Travis Roan,
whose mysteriousness is intriguing. Hopefully, this does become
a series, because of the unique characters and storyline.
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