The Bear Guardian by Rick Emmerson

This is a very clever novel by a first time novelist. It’s more of a new age conspiracy theory novel than a crime novel, although great crimes are committed in the course of the story. The author, Rick Emmerson, starts off with an interaction in the Congo among wild bonobos, also known as pigmy chimpanzees, the closest relatives of humans. The story quickly shifts focus to a research group in San Diego that is studying the use of experimental drugs to deal with overly aggressive behaviors, something a drug company supposedly wants to market to rich people to help them deal with their troublesome children. Blanton Research International Corporation is the owner of the operation, and their motive for Project Trooper is quickly under suspicion.

The conspiracy? The World Order of the Arcturus is a new and powerful cult-like (but not quite a cult) and religious-like (but not a religion) organization that is dedicated to preserving and respecting all living things and to making the earth a better and safer place to live. The threat that the order caused was that so many people were dropping out of their usual roles in society in order to live their lives according to its main tenets. As the result, they were less interested in earning money and spending it to support a lifestyle that was ultimately damaging to the planet and its inhabitants. Without the taxes earned from their income, western governments were on the verge of collapse, so a group within the NSA, by way of Blanton, created a way to target the founders of Arcturus and to undermine the validity of their beliefs.

The book quickly shifts to the Congo where most of the action takes place. As the researchers try to expand their work to bonobos in the wild, the leaders of Arcturus descend on the same remote jungle area as they look for their lost temple where life on earth is said to have begun. Devious behaviors abound, as well-meaning people try to understand what is happening. Emmerson created strong characters, and as the story unfolded, he disguised who were the good guys and who were not. He juxtaposed a tribe of bonobos with a tribe of natives who interacted and traded with one another in a working symbiotic relationship, and the natives thought of the apes as being superior to themselves. In contrast, the people from the most civilized and advanced societies were filled with ill intent and unable to get along with each other.

Emmerson used one of the founders of Arcturus to express the philosophy of the group: “The worth of my life does not depend on the truth of the existence of a larger consciousness; rather it depends on how well I play my small part in harmony with the things I can experience or know. If a belief in a larger consciousness guides me to be more content, more peaceful, or helps me harmonize with our exceptional planet, then it enhances the worth of my life. Others reach the same end through a belief in a god or the awe that comes with scientific discovery. In the end, science and spiritual quests have one thing in common: the pursuit of harmony.”

Arcturus is a reference to the brightest start in the constellation Bootes, also known to the Greeks as “The Guardian of the Bear” a detail that the author weaves into the story. I had a free day to read this book and thoroughly enjoyed my time. The book gets my recommendation.