The Bangtail Ghost

By: Keith McCafferty

Narrated by: Rick Holmes

Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's Summary

In Montana's Gravelly Range, paw prints and a single whisker discovered at a scene of horrific violence suggest a woman has been attacked and carried away by a mountain lion. Sheriff Martha Ettinger employs her fiancé, sometimes-detective Sean Stranahan, to put a name to the gnawed bones comprising all that is left of the body. The woman's is the first of several deaths that Sean suspects are not as easily explained as they appear. 

As a reign of terror grips the Madison Valley, blood in the tracks will lead him from the river below to the snow-covered ridge tops, as Sean finds himself on his most adventurous and dangerous quest yet. For as he comes closer to unearthing the secret shared by the dead and missing, the tracks he is following will turn, and the hunter becomes the hunted.

©2020 Keith McCafferty (P)2020 Recorded Books

Awful

I could not recommend this book to anyone. It needs a map to direct the reader where the author is going. It starts out with a lady being killed by “something/someone “. A private investigator, not police officer or game warden investigates the killing by tracking down a man whose license plate image was imprinted in a snow bank. Really? All the while the killing is pointing to a mountain lion. All the signs point to a mountain lion attack. The lion attacked a maybe maybe not prostitute that’s staying in a friends travel trailer that has a surveillance camera trained on the front door if the trailer. Supposedly the purpose this fact is to help the private investigator, not the police, to identify who the victim was. Even though the attack took place in the front yard of the trailer she was staying in. What, no wallet, no personal effects? That’s just a sample of the problems this book has. I’m just so frustrated that I spent a credit on this book.

Awesome, as usual.

Every Sean Stranahan book I read from Keith McCafferty deepens and grows and delights from the human characters to the magnificent animals to the stirring descriptions of the Montana settings. Add murder and bad guys to the above mix and I sit back and soak it all in while I am wincing at Sean and his tireless refusal to listen even to his own reason when confronting murder. Great story and Rick Holmes as narrator honors the words.

unnecessarily graphic

listening to this book feels like being in a dog's mouth. I wanted to bathe.

no fishing....

there's no fishing. not even a little. no madison river no casting no catching. good story but it would be nice to keep fishing as an integral part of the story

Super boring

I have been searching for a series equal to CJ Box, William Kent Krueger or John Sandford. Rick Holmes does not cut it. This book is boring. I kept reading in hopes that there would be something exciting happening, but no. I remain so disappointed.

Good Read

loved the story. Characters were really interesting and different. Montana , the great outdoors and learning about mountain lions was exactly what I love.

Loved it

Love these books! Can't wait to see the next one! Love these characters! Not soon enough

Be aware of large cats always

Liked in every way. Good story and good narration. Story is also timely with the growing presence in many areas of mountain lions in none mountainous places

Best mystery of the last couple years.

This one roars. Many clever details are woven into the plot. Now when I ride in the hills, I feel like lions are watching-- as they may be.

Another Sean Stranahan Success

Laced with beautiful descriptions of characters, scenes, and pivotal moments, this mystery set in Montana is an absolute delight. I love the way McCafferty keeps moving his characters along their respective arcs, from one book to the next, as the series unfolds. This story stands alone just fine, but I recommend reading the books of this series in order. The pace is brisk, but not rushed, and the story is intricately woven. A true page-turner, this book keeps the reader intrigued and connected, feeling empathy for the characters and their challenges. The story rests on foundational questions about life in the rural west, the impact of humans on ecosystems, and the redemptive power of being in wild places.

Rick Holmes does an excellent job of performing this text. He's a talented narrator, and he brings Sean Stranahan and the rest of the cast of characters alive in a convincing, appealing manner. As a Montanan, I wish he'd had a little more help with correctly pronouncing words like "crappies" (a kind of fish) or "Ronan" (a town in Montana), and a few other words, but overall, his reading of this tale is outstanding.