Note: Starting in January 2025, we began publishing long-form book reviews written by GFPL staffers. The books are all available to check out at the Library, or from one of our Partner Libraries. We post a new review each month! Come back next month to find the next review.

‘Sleeping Bear’ is a Modern, suspenseful journey about the Alaskan triangle

Review by Debbie Stewart
Book by Connor Sullivan

A quote on the epigraph page leads the reader to wonder, what’s next?

“Since 1988 more than seventy thousand missing person reports have been filed by the Alaska State Troopers. Many of the missing were last seen in and around a gigantic, triangular-shaped wilderness above the 60° North Parallel latitudinal line that forms the raw, unforgiving heart of the most remote state in America”

The author’s story is a current day, realistic, suspenseful journey of what might be taking place in the Alaskan triangle. Cassie Gale goes there and what happens isn’t good.

Two storylines merge together beautifully. The first is centered around the main character, Cassie Gale, a former member of the military. She has come to Alaska for a new job as a guide for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Trying to start a new life since the recent death of her husband, Cassie is traveling with her dog Maverick and wants to forget the grief in her heart. The second storyline focuses squarely on her father, Jim Gale, an ex-agent for the US government.
Chapter one begins, “32 hours before Cassie Gale went missing…” How is that for a snappy beginning? I remember my English teacher in school instructing the class in writing a story to stick to three rules; start with a snappy beginning, continue with a meaty middle and end with a satisfying conclusion. Maybe Connor Sullivan had the same teacher!
Cassie is indeed drugged and kidnapped by a criminal outfit and taken to Russia; there she and other prisoners are forced to take part in a “Hunger Games” scenario.
Once Jim Gale discovers his daughter has gone missing, he begins tracking her movements. There are some backstory surprises here. Her father’s past comes back to haunt them both. Cassie is put in a more dangerous position by a Russian general who has a vendetta against her.
Landing in Russia, all Cassie thought was, “I went to Alaska, drove north. Stayed at that hotel, the Northern Breeze. The campsite by the river in Eagle… it had been nighttime. A loud bright orange flash! And…”
“Cassie’s eyes flew open and she sat up, gasping for breath. She didn’t know where she was.
Two men stood not twenty feet away.
They were shirtless.
Tattoos covered their bald heads, faces, and chests.
They gazed right at her with hungry eyes and smiling yellow teeth.
One had a knife.
The other started sprinting right for her.”

Will Cassie’s dad rescue her in time? Will she strategize her own way out? Will she figure out her dad’s connection to her horror and torture in this Russian prison?
Stick with this one to the end. It is truly a no holds-barred thriller with plenty of espionage, murder, intrigue, and suspense.

Editor’s note: Debbie Stewart retired from the GFPL in December.