Hunted Past Reason (Hardcover)

The writing is simply horrible - I've read other works by Matheson but this one seems as if it were churned out as a grammar school writing assignment and penned by a rather dim student. The plot, boiled down to a single sentence, might sound suspenseful but the execution is so extraordinarily bad (and not, unfortunately, in a bad way in which you can find humor) that reading the book is sheer mental torture - having this book as my only reading material almost made me want to cancel my trek the first night out.

As other reviews here have offered a synopsis (and - shudder - praise), I'll not go into an actual review of the book. But one example of a semi-major theme - and how terribly it's handled - might help to illustrate just how bad the book is: the main character knows nothing about backpacking (or, it seems, anything having to do with flora or fauna beyond his driveway or that found in restaurants) but, for some reason, he's writing a book in which backpacking is the theme. He's deathly afraid of encountering bears, snakes, coyote, mountain lions, (and, one would assume, squirrels), etc, on this trip so, naturally, he encounters more bears, snakes, coyote, mountain lions, etc., on a three night trip than one would normally encounter in three months in the wild. And although he's quivering in his boots at each encounter he finds that he has a sort of mystical communion with these creatures due, we're led to believe, to his highly developed spiritual awareness and general good karma.

Generally I'd say that a book this bad demands to be read - but, in this case, it's such a painful read that it should be reserved for those with only the most uncontrollable masochistic tendencies.

It is essentially a two character book for most of its length and the protagonists are well drawn .I am unpersuaded by some aspects of the book -Bob's almost mystic gift with animals and his rescue of a trapped mountain lion are out of place -but minor caeats apart this is splendid stuff .Lean and economical prose and a tart message about the heart of darkness that lies in us all .The experience reveals to Bob that he and Doug are not so different once survival is at issue .

Minor gem this one --I enjoyed it enormously

The idea is to hike through total "wilderness" for about 4 days in order to reach a cabin in the woods where Bob's wife will wait for them. Bob, knowing absolutely nothing about backpacking, and very little about Doug for that matter, lets his wife Marion drive them to a deserted spot where they can set off and meet Marion 4 days later at the cabin.

Almost from the start Doug seems to be quite bad with Bob, treating him with a superior attitude and constantly belittling his lack of knowledge for survival in the wilderness. Almost immediately Bob starts to realize that there is something deeply wrong with Doug but he is now totally dependent on Bob to survive the 4 days and make it back to civilization. Therefore, Bob has to constantly button his lip and just take whatever abuse that Doug lays on him from losing him in the woods and verbally abusing him.

The longer they go on Bob realizes that Doug has some serious psychological issues where he hates the world and seems to blame Bob for all his troubles in life. It won't be long before Doug goes over the edge and Bob will be involved in a "life and death" struggle with Doug.

Because of the reality of this book, it scarred me beyond reason! Anyone of us could be thrust in a similar situation. No matter what our convictions are we may find ourselves pushed to a point where we will go beyond our normal morals to survive. It is frightening to think this could ever happen to us and we can only pray that it doesn't.

While reading the book at the beginning I was wondering why someone would undertake to go on a 4-day hike with no experience and with someone you know very little about. Especially, without first getting into shape (Bob appears to be a couch potato). I would maybe go for a day at most, if I had been Bob.

Matheson outdoes himself with this book that is really impossible to put down and you also start to wonder how Matheson could have conceived of the situation without a real point of reference. Also, the depth of information on backpacking is so well researched it is worth reading the book just for that.