Wild — Pamela Beason

A child is missing in the wilderness. Two-year-old Zachary Fischer has vanished from a Utah campground. Sam Westin can never forgive herself. She nudged the boy down a dark path toward a man she presumed was his father. Summer Sam Westin, wildlife biologist/writer, promised to energize Save the Wilderness Fund's public presence with a series of daily online reports from Heritage National Monument. She focuses on the cougars she helped to rehabilitate and release a year ago. Thrust into the spotlight by Adam Steele, Sam's TV reporter boyfriend, Sam's first cougar story be-comes the centerpiece of a media campaign that targets the cats as prime suspects in Zack's disap-pearance. There's no evidence of a cougar attack; there's no proof the boy is dead. Now the public is pressing for revenge instead of continuing to search for the child. If Sam and the park rangers can't redirect the investigation, both Zachary Fischer and the big cats will be sacrificed. When the FBI joins the case, humans join the list of suspects. Teenagers try to collect a ransom for Zack. Sam discovers a suspicious camper, a history of campground thefts, and a problem with long-term squatters in the park. Zach's adoptive father, Fred Fischer, with a history of alcoholism and domestic abuse, becomes FBI Suspect Number One. After a chaotic forty hours, Zack's sneaker is found on a trail leading to the plateau. Sam heads for the high country. She is surprised when FBI Agent Chase Perez arrives by helicopter to team up with her. They comb the rocky canyons for evidence of Zack and for one man who may be a vital witness: Coyote Charlie, a nature-loving oddball who haunts the plateau above the ruins. As hours pass, the media frenzy escalates. Sam's television reporter friend, Adam Steele, is thrilled with their teamwork and continues to pump out ever more sensational television and internet sto-ries. Sam would like to push Adam and the rest of the media hounds off a cliff. Illegal hunters invade the park, hysterical citizens arm themselves, and in D.C., bureaucrats promise to control the mountain lions. What started off for Sam's dream job assignment has turned into Sam's worst nightmare, and it's being broadcast over the television networks from coast to coast. Can Sam uncover the truth in time to save the child and the big cats?