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HomeShop at BookSurgeFictionAction & AdventurePuma |
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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 11 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Amazing Jul 26, 2006
By Wendy G. Belcner
Brilliantly written, captivating, and wildly entertaining. People with even a passing interest in wildlife will find themselves drawn into this story.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Puma Jul 25, 2006
By Jerry Strange
Ted L. Gragg is a talented writer. He has presented Puma in a similar style as Jack London's Son of Big Red and Call of The Wild. It was quick and exciting reading. His knowledge of the wild is almost unrivaled. A must read for any outdoorsmen or anyone with a curisoity of the wilderness. Gragg has a bright future ahead of him.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
PUMA Jul 19, 2006
By Holly G. Sasser
The believable plot features a modern setting with realistic characters. The suspense builds from the first page to the last. Whether you reside in the city or the forest, regardless of the region, after reading this tale, you realize that you could also be stalked by this predator.
 TECHNICAL EXPERTISE 10, DRAMA/ATMOSPHERE ZERO Sep 13, 2007
By LionLady
"Pam"
The author absolutely cannot be faulted on his expertise and technical knowledge of places, government agencies and policies and, to a lesser extent and leaving aside some major flights of fancy, cougars. This certainly gives the story realism and body. Where the prose style fails is in the creation of suspense and atmosphere. There isn't any. While there are many grisly bits, to be sure, there was never anything that lent a little tingle or made the hairs on the back of my neck stir. It seemed as though the author was so concerned about injecting all the information he could that he had no room left for emotion or characterization and that left the book feeling very flat to me.
Be aware also that the author does have an ax to grind concerning the policy of re-introducing predators to areas where they have been exterminated (such as wolves to the western national parks). I'm on the fence myself - I embrace the theory but would not like to embrace an actual mountain lion in my driveway. The author is definitely not on the fence.
Also, the passages giving us the mindset of the cougar are interesting; they show understanding of the animal but too often drift off into anthropomorphism/fantasy - as when the cougar turns over in her mind the fact that motherhood is no fun and so she's not going to get pregnant ever again. He also demonizes the puma to the point that it becomes a sort of furry "Jaws," leaping on everyone it sees and plotting revenge. It contrasts oddly with the determinedly factual nature of the rest of the book and seems more suited to a sort of gruesome Disney-esque
"creatures of the forest" adventure gone bad.
That being said, I found the information interesting and the story itself readable, though never compelling. If you're interested in cougars, hunting, environmental "experiments" or people vs. animal encounters, I think you'll enjoy the book. And for a non-fiction account of people vs. mountain lions, I highly recommend "The Beast in the Garden." It's informative, factual and, unhappily, true, and it will make you look over your shoulder whenever you take the garbage out after dark - especially if you live in the western United States.
"Puma" launches the career of novelist Ted Gragg Jul 03, 2007
By William Jeffery
Ted Gragg has exhibited his mastery as a wordsmith in this spellbinding and thoroughly captivating novel. Anyone who has gotten to know Ted, listened to his delightful and amusing recounting of his own adventurous childhood and adult experiences, or read "On Target," his monthly column in "Waccamaw Outdoors" knows he can spin a yarn with the ease, ability, tongue-in-cheek humor and down-home common sense of the likes of Will Rogers. "Puma" launches Ted's legendary story-telling reputation into a whole new realm.
Ted calls upon his vast depth of experience with and knowledge of the geography, wildlife, law enforcement agencies and human culture native to South Carolina in general and the Horry County area in particular, as well as firearms and their properties and usages in fleshing out the various facets of this gem of a novel. He paints layer upon layer of insightful and varicolored scenarios as the gripping suspense, constantly shifting between human and animal drama, and never far from the surface, transports the reader from opening sentence to epilogue with no perceptible break in the action and precious little letup. It's not hard to see the horror/drama/suspense/thriller movie playing out on the big screen as Ted's words come alive off the page. I hope it won't be long in the making!
Ted avoids the common error of anthropomorphism when putting us in the mindset of the various animals portrayed, particularly the villain of the story, the man-killer cougar. I'm sure he got help in this area from long talks with Thomas, the guardian of the gate, right Ted?
A "can't put down" white-knuckle thriller that leaves you hungry for the next offering from this very talented author.
See all 11 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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