When Man is the Prey

December 15, 2007
We like to think that we are the supreme species on this planetthe top dogs, impervious to all that nature can throw at us. What we fail to remember is that, without any of the weapons we have invented to make up for our lack of natural armament, we are soft and very easy targets. Disaster writer Tougias (The Blizzard of 78, 2003; Ten Hours until Dawn, 2005) has assembled some of the most harrowing tales of humans confronting the power of animals ever found in one collection. Many of the stories involve hunters who in turn become the huntedwily leopards who turn on their stalkers, bears who wont go down even after several shots, and tigers who have learned to hunt humans. Others tell of people in the right place at the wrong timebears surprised by hikers, crocodiles pulling water gatherers under, and sharks mistakenly hunting surfers. Full of the breathless prose typical of the hunting-magazine school of writing, this is an exciting collection for dipping into.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)