California Bear

A Novel

By: Duane Swierczynski

Narrated by: James Urbaniak, Jesse Vilinsky, Duane Swierczynski

This "fresh, exciting, and brilliantly unpredictable" thriller (James Patterson) from a "great storyteller" (Michael Connelly) follows four unlikely vigilantes who pit themselves against the villain behind California’s coldest case when they decide to take justice into their own hands.

NONE OF YOU ARE SAFE

“KILLER”: Jack Queen has been exonerated and freed from prison thanks to retired LAPD officer Cato Hightower. But when guilt gnaws at Jack, he admits: “I actually did it.” To which Hightower responds: “Yeah, no kidding.” You see, the ex-cop has a special job in mind for the ex-con…

THE GIRL DETECTIVE: Fifteen-year-old Matilda Finnerty has been handed a potential death sentence in the form of a leukemia diagnosis. But that’s not going to stop her from tackling the most important mystery of her life: Is her father guilty of murder?

GENE JEANIE: Jeanie Hightower mends family trees for a living, but the genealogist is unable to repair her own marriage. And her soon-to-be ex may have entangled her in a scheme that has drawn the bloody wrath of…

THE BEAR: A prolific serial killer who disappeared forty years ago, who is only now emerging from hibernation when the conditions are just right. And this time, the California Bear is not content to hunt in the shadows…

From two-time Edgar nominee Duane Swierczynski, California Bear is clever, moving, and surprising as it takes aim at the true crime industry, Hollywood, justice, and the killers inside us all.

©2024 Duane Swierczynski (P)2024 Mulholland Books

Critic reviews

“Duane Swierczynski has written his best novel, and that’s saying something. From the tragi-comic opening sentence to the heartrending final paragraph, California Bear is fresh, exciting, and brilliantly unpredictable. The Girl Detective will live in my heart forever.”—James Patterson, New York Times bestselling author

"There's real truth at the core of California Bear, Duane Swierczynski's latest novel. And no, it's not some ripped-from-the-headlines true crime element. It's not even the crafty writing or the dead-on dialogue. It's heart. Plain and simple. This book was written straight from the heart, and I won't ever forget it."—Eli Cranor, author of Don't Know Tough and Ozark Dogs

"California Bear is a kick-ass serial killer thriller with heart. It's Veronica Mars meets Hannibal Lector, about a formidable girl-detective with a terrible sickness, her ex-con dad, and an elusive monster in crime-riddled Los Angeles. Swierczynski's written an utterly fresh take on LA noir."—Sarah Langan, author of Good Neighbors and A Better World

All the twists and the characters- Matilda and Hightower most memorable.

Really entertaining - enjoyed Matilda, even though her detection skills were hard to believe, especially for a 14-year-old. I also liked the interactions between Jack and Hightower and all the crazy scrapes that they got into.

The girl detective

I found Hightower most infuriating! I did get a little lost with Bear 1, Bear 2, Bear 3,etc, which added to the intrigue!

I'm confused

I'm not exactly sure what to think about this book. It was a bit of a thriller, with quite a bit of farce thrown in. The story itself had great potential, but the execution was a bit off. It seems that it was written in hopes of being turned into a movie of the buddy pic variety. I liked Matilde but wasn't too taken with the rest of the cast of characters. The narration was ... meh

Fantastically Done

This is one of the richest and most entertaining books I have come across in a very long time. Character development is so deep you really feel like you know the people and the storyline has many twists and turns. I often found myself laughing out loud at the suttleties of the humor. Must read.

Enjoyable

The pacing of the book was decent. For the first half of the book, none of the characters was likable which made the last scene — not fit. The afterword is important. The narrator— he’s always good.

Great story with a dash of attitude

It took me about ten minutes of listening to get hooked, but then I was all in. The story is tightly interwoven, with some fun twists and interesting characters. I particularly enjoyed that almost everyone in it had their own level of snark, stupidity or egotism.

The narrators were fantastic, not only bringing distinct voices to each character, but even capturing the right combination when one character imitates another.

Excellent!

Loved this entire story! Girl Detective is such an amazing girl! This is definitely going in my read again list.

Fun

I enjoyed listening to this book with the main characters so drastically different. I found myself laughing at times. The author's note at the end was heartbreaking.

New author for me

This was a very well written story with interesting characters. Odd characters for sure, but somehow things all came together in the end.

Great Book

You will not want to stop listening to this!!!! Story flows well even though it is from the standpoint of each character. It blends well.