HUNTED: A True Story of Survival

Fletcher, an experienced climber and adventurer, recounts 10 days of terror in the Alaskan wilderness with this rather unspectacular telling of an otherwise spectacular tale. Fletcher offers a step-by-step account of his ultimately successful attempt to hike into the backwoods of some of America's roughest terrain and reach the summit of Mount Hess. Early on, he is startled by a grizzly cub and reacts by hurling his ice-ax and killing the animal. From there, he is ruthlessly tracked by the cub's mother. As if that weren't enough, his life is also put in danger when he is nearly entombed in a sinkhole of rubble and, later, when he pushes to the summit in the face of an approaching blizzard. The best parts, however, deal with Fletcher's encounters with the enraged grizzly, particularly in the final confrontation, which occupies the last quarter of the book; the story of his battle with the mother bear makes for some good page-turning nonfiction. While the travails of Fletcher's summit attempt pale in comparison to the intrigue of the predator awaiting him on his descent, readers will marvel at the author's ordeal with the bear and his resourcefulness, determination and, perhaps most of all, good fortune. (June)