What a Bunch of Bull! Charles C. Anderson Presents Fourth Novel in Farm Series... Just Out!

Forty-six year old Andy Carlson, ex-SEAL, emergency physician, placed his infant son Caleb on his back in the crib in the nursery. He pulled the child's blanket to his chin. His wife Lindsey had sewn "U.S. Navy SEAL" on the blanket. Andy smiled. "You'll get used to the chilly air in this cave, son," he whispered. "If you hear moaning, don't worry about it. It's your Mom. I promised her a wild night."He walked out of the nursery into the Grand Chamber of the Confederate Cave, beneath the Carlson plantation. "Why are you still dressed?" he asked. "A motion detector alarm just went off from the plantation mansion hallway, in front of the spiral staircase," she said, "I don't see anything on the monitors yet." ...Two figures in diver's suits and night vision goggles appeared on the monitor screen and entered the master bedroom. They walked immediately to the armoire at the foot of the bed. They seemed to be whispering to each other..."They keep coming after us," Lindsey said. "You know the drill. Once you get mixed up with the CIA, the KGB, and the Iranians, you're a target the rest of your life. "Looks like a man and a woman," she said...

"I would prefer that the two on the monitor are not Nate and Tory," Lindsey said, shaking her head. "Me too...I think our family has suffered enough for what we did to Nate and Tory's family. Poor Jack and Ava. They can't put Nate and Tory behind them, even after a year."

~~~

Desperate Farm

By Charles C. Anderson

I don't mind telling you that this fourth novel simply blew me away! It surprised me in the direction the author chose to go and tossed me into a world  of young love...among warriors! Sure you'll see the latest activities of the Carlson family, who are constantly being placed in danger due to what they have access to and what knowledge and experience they both personally have.

Readers have watched the family expand when Jack and Ava were born and then watched them fall in love with Nate and Tory, only to lose them... Definitely YAs and Adults will both enjoy! It took me to almost the end of the book to figure out the rhythm I was experiencing as I read. Finally I realized that it was much like Burn Notice, where the main character must stop and explain as a narrator in order to ensure the audience knows what exactly is happening. Then, too, it wasn't hard to picture those main characters fitting right into the life of the Carlson family, don't you think?

If you haven't read Dr. Anderson yet, the above vid will help plus check out my reviews of  The Farm, Nuclear Farm, and Blue Farm. You'll learn about the Carlson's family home, the family, and how they were placed in danger. The Carlson's became a warrior family, and each member of the family, including Ben, work constantly to guard the Farm, the family and their very special underground world... Do bring yourself up to date, because this novel is a very beautiful, exceptional story that will first make you laugh and then cry all the harder later! Be prepared! Because this book is much about a bunch of Bull--Bulls, that is--Elk Bulls!

Jack Carlson's cell phone rang. He picked it up from the coffee table in the common space of the house he shared with his twin sister Ava in Charlottesville, Virginia. The name on the caller ID caused him to choke on the peanuts in his mouth. He coughed and swallowed while his ring tone played a favorite Carrie Underwear song. Why, after more than a year, would she call him?

Carrie Underwear had nearly completed her ring tone when he slid his finger over Answer. "Hello."

"Jack, this is Tory...Jack?"

"Hello."

"Your voice sounds faint," Tory said. "Do you have a minute to talk?"

He looked for something to lean on and chose the couch. Ava  walked into their common space as he slumped to the couch. "Go ahead, Tory."

Ava jumped around the end of the couch onto her knees in front of him. His face was losing color. This was the way he had looked that night...

~~~

Of course, the time planned in the Sparkle Room never happened for the Carlson couple. Once again everybody must go on ALERT! It was still a surprise for Jack, however, to hear his lost love's voice, Tory, on the phone... He was so shocked, he could hardly talk, but was certainly willing to listen. By that time Ava knew who was calling and swiftly pressed the speaker button. Nate and Tory were asking for help of the Carlson family--they had found papers that belonged to their grandfather, and they had to realize just what Alex had been involved with and why everything happened. Jack had cared so much that he was willing to listen, but Ava wasn't the forgiving type. Still, when they sent the papers to their  parents, it was confirmed that the papers were real and that there apparently were more warheads! Andy decided to have Jack and Ava head a team with Nate and Tory to go to another location while he visited the real site in New Mexico... Only thing was, Ava wasn't willing to help along as Nate was around..

Only when her father called her directly and requested her help did she reconsider.But that didn't mean that she wasn't going to make Nate pay... And she knew just how because Andy had suggested they combine their work with Elk hunting so that they could get in place, while waiting for her father to join them...Jack and Ava both loved hunting, but Ava had a special passion for it...you'll see why!

"The Garden of Eden. Pristine wilderness, mountains, meadows, canyons, and ponds. We call it the Elk Farm."
...Ava pulled a latex diaphragm elk call out of her shirt pocket and licked it. She slid the call into the roof of her mouth with her tongue. Her twenty-four inch bugling tube hung by a leather strap around her neck,..She pointed the opposite end of the tube at Jack and Tory.
An incredibly loud, growling bugle erupted from the tube...She grabbed the scrub oak bush and shook it. Peeking through the bush, she could see them running. They were struggling to hold their britches up and keep their heads down...
It was time to reclaim her omnipotence on the mountain...She was still king of Prather Mountain, king of the Elk Farm. Nobody but her even knew who the king was. Each bow hunter who had heard her spent the rest of his hunt looking for a bull big enough, and old enough, and mean enough, and horny enough, to sound like her...

~~~

Ava arrived at the Elk Farm separately, in order to bring her and Jack's gear for the hunt. Then they bought everything Nate and Tory would need. Neither of them knew anything about hunting so they would learn as they hunted.

"That's a glunk," Ava said. "It's a noise a really old bull
makes to announce mis presence. Sounds like a large animal
swallowing something whole. He's saving his best bugle
for later, when he wants to show dominance. Elk bulls have
their own vocabulary. They bugle. They glunk. They grown
and moan. They whine, and they scream...

"I feel like we're lying down on the highway in the dark
and eighteen wheelers are converging on us."
"You'll get over it. It's no accident I brought you here.
This time of year the cows are not quite ripe. These
bulls are getting testy. The dominant bulls are already
collecting cows for their harem...
"Do you know why these bulls are getting frantic, Nate?"
"No."
"They're worried about the same thing you are."
She leaned to his ear and whispered, "No sex any time
soon...
"Think of this as a playground,mostly of adolescent
boys. Each one will beat on his chest, belt out some
challenge, and strut...
"What is that bull doing down there, the one rolling
around in the mud?"
"That's called a wallow...The bull stands in it and
urinates. Then he rolls around in it...A ruttin' bull
wants to stink as much as possible. He wants other
bulls to know he's coming...

"Ava, we need to talk."
"No we don't. You have to earn the right to talk with me in a civil tongue. I'm going to move to several
different locations and bugle several different ways.
Mostly I'll bugle behind bushes large enough to
conceal an elk. Try not to lose me...

At that point, neither Nate nor Tory knew it was mating season...

Ava had told Nate to pick out a bull for himself. She called him Dinky and then began to humiliate him in front of the herd...letting Nate know it was directed at him...

I must admit I was enjoying it so much that I began to feel sorry for Nate! LOL...I hope that makes sense! Finally, Ava went too far and they both suffered for it.

"What can I do to prove that I am your true love?"
Ava's gaze bored through him. "I can't think of
anything that would convince me." Her eyes
settled on the giant elk wallow behind him, the
one the size of a swimming pool. This would be the
ultimate bluff.
"Nate, if you have any true feelings for me, as you
say you do, take off your clothes and get into that
wallow up to your neck.
~~~

It wasn't long before hunting was interrupted.
Andy had been right that they were all being followed and soon they saw SUVs on the way to the farm! Readers will be thrilled to learn what happens when Ava leads the way, using her calls for Elk cows and a very special decoy! And a bunch of stampeding bulls!

But it seemed that no matter where, they learned that Russians had joined with Iranians and they were headed to the Elk Farm, the location in New Mexico, as well as at the Carlson Farm. The amazing thing is the cool way that this small family, this time with Ben and his wife, as well as an 80 year old wild cat hunter,  plus Nate and Tory, draws upon their skills to completely destroy their enemies...BTW, there is a new member of the family, Caleb, who is right there in the midst of what's happening...giggling at his first adventure!

This is an unbelievable series that keeps readers on the edge of their seats as danger circles,

encompasses, and ruthlessly demands extraordinary actions on everybody's part to keep the family alive. Got to say, my favorite addition in this novel was Orvel! He quickly pointed out to Andy and Lindsey not to let his wife know--not about what danger he might get into, but because he'd be around beautiful Lindsey, noting how jealous his wife was! LOL!

Ok, my thought for this particular book...it's a lot of fun, but probably not the best one to start the series with. Yes, it can stand alone, but, really, the family situations, in my opinion, are so predominant that new readers may feel a little lost. On the other hand, anybody who loves a very unusual YA love story and/or elk hunting are going to be the first ones reading and enjoying... Personally, I have a thing for series...I want to start at the beginning... That's MY recommendation! If not, then the previous novel is a good lead in to the relationships between Nate and Ava and Jack and Tory...  

Anybody willing to sink into an Elk wallow for their true love? I'm sure glad I've never been placed in the situation! Enormous fun in the latest by Charles C. Anderson! Enjoy!

GABixlerReviews

I am a retired Naval officer and emergency physician who has spent the last 38 years directing intensive care units, directing emergency departments, or working as a physician in trauma centers or emergency departments. I live on a family plantation which was purchased from King George II in 1743. This plantation has been at the crossroads of American history more than once, and I am the direct descendant of its original owner. My passions are history, reading novels, writing thrillers, visiting battlefields, building historical structures like covered bridges and grist mills, and honing my expertise in both primitive and modern weapons. 

In my first thriller,"The Farm" I utilized my Navy background and exposure to SEALS, my emergency medicine career, my knowledge of the Civil War, my expertise with weapons, and my childhood experiences growing up on a colonial plantation to weave a story of a modern patriot sucked into a nuclear conspiracy.
In my second thriller,"The First To Say No" I called on my years of experience in emergency departments to highlight a little known scandal in American medicine, the rising level of patient violence toward healthcare workers. Were you aware that healthcare workers are twice as likely to be assaulted on the job as police officers? Healthcare assaults account for over 60% of all workplace assaults in America. In this book, emergency department physicians and nurses in an inner-city hospital devise a unique and permanent solution for a local gang that preys on them. All of the evil people in this book were real patients of mine under different names. I didn't invent them. Every event in this book occurred in front of my eyes over 38 years. People who are unaccustomed to seeing evil are sometimes uncomfortable with the choices forced upon victims, especially if the victims are care-givers. Some people believe that care-givers are obligated to be victims.