Roosevelt's Beast: A Novel - Hardcover

Bayard, Louis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805090703 ISBN 13: 9780805090703

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., 2014

Synopsis

A reimagining of Teddy and Kermit Roosevelt's ill-fated 1914 Amazon expedition―a psychological twist on the smart historical thriller that first put Louis Bayard on the map

1914. Brazil's Rio da Dúvida, the River of Doubt. Plagued by hunger and suffering the lingering effects of malaria, Theodore Roosevelt, his son Kermit, and the other members of the now-ravaged Roosevelt-Rondon scientific expedition are traveling deeper and deeper into the jungle. When Kermit and Teddy are kidnapped by a never-before-seen Amazonian tribe, the great hunters are asked one thing in exchange for their freedom: find and kill a beast that leaves no tracks and that no member of the tribe has ever seen. But what are the origins of this beast, and how do they escape its brutal wrath?

Roosevelt's Beast is a story of the impossible things that become possible when civilization is miles away, when the mind plays tricks on itself, and when old family secrets refuse to stay buried. With his characteristically rich storytelling and a touch of old-fashioned horror, the bestselling and critically acclaimed Louis Bayard turns the story of the well-known Roosevelt-Rondon expedition on its head and dares to ask: Are the beasts among us more frightening than the beasts within?

About this title

About the Author

Louis Bayard is the author of the critically acclaimed The School of Night and The Black Tower, the national bestseller The Pale Blue Eye, and Mr. Timothy, a New York Times Notable Book. He has written for Salon, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, among others. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Reviews

In 1914, Teddy Roosevelt and his son, Kermit, set off to map Brazil’s Rio da Duvida (River of Doubt). What was supposed to be a lark for the “Colonel” and his son ended up almost killing both of them. Indeed, the former president never completely recovered. What happened on the expedition is the subject of many memoirs and scholarly books. But Bayard decided to take three days out of this time period and have the Colonel and Kermit kidnapped by the Cinta Larga, a fierce indigenous tribe. The tribe is being ravaged by a “beast” that kills its prey, guts it, drinks its blood, and then leaves nothing but a husk. The beast leaves no footprints, and no one has actually seen it. The chief will release Kermit and his father if they kill the beast. The Colonel sees it as just another hunting expedition, but Kermit (the Roosevelt in the title) sees it as something much more, something that will haunt him the rest of his life. Bayard has written a riveting thriller and psychological study wrapped around historical events and people and gives the reader a real existential puzzle to put together. --Elizabeth Dickie

Edition details

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805090703
• ISBN 13: 9780805090703
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320