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Contact of the Forestry Kin is the first story in the "Sheriff Wyler Scott Series" novels authored by "Mark Paul" Sebar. It is known as a "Odd Western" and a Modern Day Western combining action, adventure, with modern western detective and crime stories mixed with fantasy and fiction. The story was originall published in 1983 and takes place in the late 1970's in Eastern California's ski town of Mammoth California. PLOT SUMMARY |
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The story opens in the summer of 1974 Mammoth Lakes California in Mono County. A couple happen upon thugs in the nearby forest and a drug deal going wrong and the dealers shoot them, bury the bodies in shallow graves. The man Wyler Scott is covered with a plastic sheet, while his wife is raped and then murdered by the infamous serial rapist's murderer who later is dubbed the "Screwdriver Killer" Left for dead, the killers leave. Later that night, a large Sasquatch digs up Wyler who was still breathing under the cover over his face. He sits up startling the creature. The people who committed the crimes have the local coroners office burned down, which destroys the body and evidence. Fast forward to a wintery setting of March 1978 and we find that Wyler Scott is now the fictitional sheriff of Mono County California which includes the Mammoth Lakes area. The popular, tough no-nonsence sheriff is on the personal hunt for his wife's killer years later. The screwdriver killer has re-emerged, but that isn't all of the County Sheriff's Department's problems. It seems a local Real Estate agent "Clarence Culligan" has shafted the local Ute Indians of their holy lands and now they are rioting. This also is rumored to be tied into disappearances of local townsfolk by angry Sasquatches called Nünümusi by the Ute Indians. As the pressure mounts, the town wants answers and then there is the newsmedia riding the sensational stories on Wyler Scott and his department. Meanwhile, the Culligan's are setting up drug manufacturing operations in the local forests and have released a kidnapped Grizzly Bear from a city zoo, injected it with rabies and turned it loose on the community. However, all is not going the way the Culligan's want as the sheriff's department begins to find leads that lead right back to Clarence Culligan and his sons, thanks to a mock rape attempt on a local resident Linda Wright. Linda's toddler daughter Annie has befriended the local Nünümusi, who saves her life, but causes the rapist to retreat inside the cabin. The sheriff investigates and inflicts some pain on the injured criminal/rapist who carried a screwdriver, before the ambulance attendants arrive, but is he the real killer? With the Sasquatch kidnappings, the leader of the local Ute Indians, Ned tells his old friend Wyler of a cave near the base of Wheeler Mountain in the eastern Sierras. Wyler soon discovers it is true and walks right through a wall. He is now standing on the soil of an alien world with two suns and a giant moon. Behind him is a desert and distant mountain ranges and ahead of him a meadow with green grasses, grazing horses and it opens into a large valley bordered by hills to the north he presumes. The sheriff reaches the meadows, but cannot walk past some type of invisible shield protecting it from intruders, however a horse seems able to pass through this shield with ease. There are no kidnapped victims here and Wyler suspects it best to leave this place he calls "The Other World" The case begins to bust wide opened as the sheriff realizes this is much bigger than the evil serial killer. In his cabin at night, the Culligans are waiting and knock the sheriff onto the floor where one Clarence Culligan shoots Wyler almost point blank in the chest leaving the unconscious lawman for dead. This soon turns out to be a fatal mistake on Culligan's part as the sheriff had been wearing a bulletproof vest. Alive but injured, the local doctor tapes Wyler's ribs and the sheriff gets a wiretapping warrant issued on Culligan. Meanwhile, he is setting things up and decides to head south to the town of Bishop California and soon confronts Clarence Culligan in his real estate offices.. Clarence acts polite under his demeanor as he discusses "Climbing Mountains" with the sheriff, which will be repeated several times throughout the series titles as well as its offshoot series. Wyler has set the trap and now gains knowledge through the wiretap where Culligan's mercenaries and snipers are in the local forests. The sheriff deputizes townfolk's as well as the angry Utes and goes to confront the Culligan army. In the process, Culligan's daughter Angie is killed by Wyler's bullet. The sheriff had a earlier affair with this beautiful woman, yet wasn't aware of the direct tie to her father. As the good guys take down the mercenaries and henchmen, Culligan flees the town, his sons taken captive by the Nünümusi and disappeared to another alternate world. (Something we shall learn of in future Wyler Scott novels) The Other World! Several days have passed and there is a call. Sheriff, I have kidnapped your friend Kathleen (the local head Ranger for the area) and I'll kill her unless you tell nobody and agree to meet me in ...the Historical Ghost Town of Bodie California. Deviate this instruction and her blood's on your hands, sheriff! We are monitoring you, call nobody else. Deputy Wayne Steep spots the sheriff leaving Mammoth and has a notion. He gathers the other deputies. Wyler speedloads his Big Dan Wesson VH44 magnum revolver and takes out several of Culligan's henchmen in town before his capture. Clarence has Wyler brought to the saloon where he has Kathleen. Then he beats Wyler to the floor and tells Wyler he's going to do Kathleen with a screwdriver in his hand, that he is the real Screwdriver Killer who did the sheriff's original wife while holding the gun in his other hand. Having enough, Kathleen breaks down hysterically, arms the henchman, makes for a getaway and Wyler sticks a knife through Culligan's ankle, gains control of the fallen Dan Wesson gun, shoots both henchmen as Kathleen stands back and Culligan exits. On the hill, the sheriff's deputies hearing all of the shots have picked off Culligan's remaining thugs. Wyler tracks Clarence down and the tall man appears on the street, Wyler calling for Culligan to drop the weapon. But insane Clarence makes a run as both men come at each other, Wyler's forty-four magnum making fast work of Clarence arm and leg. On the ground, Clarence tells Wyler he'll be back and when he does he will get all of them. Wyler realizing this has to stop one way or the other takes his badge off and chooses the other, blasting a hole through Clarence head just as Deputy Wayne Steep and the other deputies arrive. Wyler tosses Wayne his badge and explains that Clarence was resisting arrest, case closed.
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Influence This story was originally according to Sebar influenced by several factors. One a Saturday kids matinee show called "Bigfoot and Wildboy" and also the actor Sam Elliott in the ABC T.V. Miniseries from 1977 called "Aspen" . Sam Elliott so impressed Sebar that he fashioned a physical model for Sheriff Wyler Scott, and equiped the sheriff with a Dan Wesson revolver finished in blue, a model VH44 as the sheriff's goto crime fighting tool in the field. Also, the 1970's saw many TV shows of the time incorporating Bigfoot as it was a very popular theme. Mentioned and tied to the plot of this story was alpine snow skiing, also very popular from the 1950's through the 1990's as Sebar claims to have once been an avid snow skier from that era. So the influence in the story is pretty telling. Sebar claims to have hiked the many trails and places such as Bodie, the Mammoth Lakes, the Devil's Postpile National Monument etc. investigates some sites of Bigfoot sightings as research for the original novel. MIXED REVIEWS: COTFK as this title is sometimes called reads like a mid 1970's story with many characters and subplots. Some readers may not like this while others will, which attributes to its mixed reviews however, the story really opens up and focuses midway till the edge of your seat ending. There have been discussions with some productions in the past on this story as a film project. Some characters from this story do show up in other titles within the series and even the offshoot series too. |
Author: "Mark Paul" Sebar Country: United States of America Language: English Genre: Action Adventure Western
Sci-Fi Publisher: Sebar Publishing Publication Date: 1983 Media Type: Paperback, EBook Pages: 352 (Paperback) ISBN: 978-1-930246-38-6
