Hopsquatch

An unusually inhuman suspect lends the main interest to this otherwise lackluster novel from Newton, the author of 241 books, including the Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology. When Paul Braithwaite, the obnoxious CEO of Paul Bunyan Logging and the major employer of Cascade County, Ore., is murdered, Sheriff Jason Pruett tries to keep the investigation under his control in order to help his re-election prospects. Pursuing both a confrontational and radical environmental group, Earth Now!, and leaders of the local Nahanni tribe, both known enemies of the company, is an obvious approach, but when the news gets out that the cause of death was the wrenching of the victim’s neck by an extremely large hand, newspaperman Todd Ransom publishes a speculative piece that the killer might be Bigfoot. But even with a potential monster on the loose, Newton’s stereotyped characters fail to convey the palpable sense of fear that would make this a thriller and not simply a procedural. (Sept.)