Action/Adventure Novel by Local Illinois Author Released

Novel by Illinois Author D. J. Stephens has just been released by PublishAmerica. BEARKILLER is a fast paced adventure novel that takes a man from the present to over two hundred years in the past, to possibly a past life!

(PRWEB) December 25, 2003 --Do you believe in reincarnation?

Jeff Barkil has a passion for hunting. It seems to have been an integral part of his being since he was a boy. But he has never known why he is so drawn to it.
Maybe after this he will.

On a solo elk hunt in the Rocky Mountains, Jeff discovers something very peculiar. Although he's never even seen this place before, he seems to know all the landmarks. Somehow he's able to guess exactly what is in the next valley or over the next hill. Dismissing these amazing perceptions as a fluke, he carries on with his hunt-until he is attacked by a vicious grizzly.
Using a great deal of natural skill and determination, Barkil manages to kill the bear and survive. But he is badly injured; he feels close to death. With no one to help him, he struggles to get himself out of the mountains. On the second morning of his ordeal, he awakens with his mind in a blur. All he knows for sure is that he is young...in his late teens...and that he has just killed an attacking grizzly.
While he is trying to clear his head, he discovers that he has traveled two hundred years back in time and a hunting party of Blackfoot Indians has taken him to their village to honor him for his bravery.
Soon he is regarded as a splendid warrior and is given the name "Bearkiller." In the boy's subsequent adventures stealing horses and waging war against the Shoshone and the Sioux; he encounters and learns the landmarks he will recognize over two hundred years later as Jeff Barkil.        

In due course, Bearkiller rescues the beautiful daughter of a chief, falls in love with her, and takes her as his bride. But the life of an Indian in the 1780's was often brief. One day in a fierce battle, the old grizzly wounds are reopened and he is defeated. With blood pouring out of his body, Bearkiller lies down to die...and wakes up in a Forest Service rescue helicopter, as Jeff Barkil.

The woman attending him, a doctor from the Blackfoot reservation, is fascinated that he has come out of unconsciousness speaking fluent Blackfoot. He's even calling her by her Blackfoot name.
It's also the name of Bearkiller's wife.
   As the events of his life as an Indian slip rapidly from his mind, Jeff Barkil wonders if what he experienced was real. Was he dreaming? Or was he reliving a past life? What will always remain clear is the image of a great grizzly standing over him, looking down at him as if from the top of a mountain, seeming to know his soul, somehow communicating to him without saying the words: Until we meet again, Bearkiller."

Once I started I couldn't put it down, the story completely pulled me in and I couldn't wait to turn the page. When I finished I was exhausted, there are no pauses in the excitement. - Bill Johnson -- Author -- The Death Dealer --

Don lives in Elgin, IL a suburb of Chicago with his wife of nearly 35 years. He spent nearly 10 years in the Military. While in the Army, Don spent several years on a Division Rifle Team and Parachuted with the Post Sky Diving Team. He has always been an avid hunter and enjoys the outdoors and being in the mountains, especially when he is into a hunt. This is Dons first novel.

BEARKILLER
By D. J. Stephens
Publication Date: December 17, 2003
Cover Price: $19.95
Pages: 232
ISBN: 1-4137-0338-0

May be purchased through PublishAmerica, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Books-A-Million
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