Winter Prey - T. M. Simmons, Author

Winter Prey – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; A Book and A Dish; Think With Your Taste Buds
“Let’s get all of our cards on the table, Sheriff. You’ve got a monster due to start prowling the Northwood again in a few weeks. One that’s been around for three centuries and the same species of evil entity that I suspect killed my wife and son. But yours is – ”
“It isn’t mine,” Hjak interrupted in a level voice, but Caleb continued over the attempted disruption. “—on a different timetable than that Colorado bastard,. Maybe you aren’t even sure the rumors of this thing are true, since you were probably a kid the last time it appeared. On top of that, from what I could find out, not many whites know about this one. So far, it’s always focused its kills among the Native American population.”
Caleb McCoy is a paranormal investigator that is accustomed to talking to both believers and non-believers of the supernatural entities so his conversation with Sheriff Hjak can go either way. After the death of his wife and son Caleb is positive that the same type creature that took their lives will soon be waking from its forty year sleep in its lair hidden deep within the mountains.
Lieutenant Colonel Kymbria James, R.N. has resigned from her military career to do something she never thought possible. She will now devote her life to raising her daughter Risa, but first she has problems of her own that must be resolved if she has any hope of doing this successfully. Her time spent in Afghanistan trying to help the soldiers cope with their injuries both physical and mental, her own husband dying in her arms as he called the name of another woman and her own battle with PTSD must be sedated before she can become the mother Risa needs and deserves. The best way to accomplish this is to leave the white-world medicine and give the Old Ways a chance. And to do that she must go back to her origin and her own people – the Ojibway Tribe of Native American Indians.
As Kymbria will soon find out, the healing will be disrupted by Caleb and the beast he seeks to kill. The creature the tribe calls a Windigo.  Its existence has been known for over 300 years but no one has been successful in destroying a Windigo.  Its pattern consists of waking up every 40 years to feed, keeping the number of humans it feeds upon to 16, always Native Americans. With Kymbria being an Ojibwa, she just may be his next meal but if that’s true, why is it trying to communicate with her? What makes her different? The answer was a surprise to me as I believe it will be to you too.
When I first saw the word Windigo it sounded familiar so I googled it. Sure enough, it’s a Native American entity that is believed to be a cross between Big Foot and a Werewolf. This knowledge gave Winter Prey and an even more interesting appeal to me. The author has combined history with folklore to give a mystery that is believable. All through the book I found events taking place that were a total surprise to me as a reader. Winter Prey is a very enjoyable read that might just have you looking out the window at night to see if you might see a Windigo.

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