Best known as a master builder of the wood-and-canvas canoe (and the author of a book about them, p. 17), Jerry Stelmok has now revealed an equally remarkable talent at storytelling. Through these six stories the author takes you up into The County, deep into the North Woods, to western Maine, and down along the coast (and in one instance along the desolate wintry coast of Lake Superior) with convincing familiarity. On the way he introduces you to mostly ordinary people caught in extraordinary, escalating events?forced to confront strange circumstances for which nothing could possibly have prepared them. Review "These are magical tales of a Maine where deer transform into men, where an eerily intelligent dog metes out justice, and where the creature pursuing you just might be the Devil himself. In Jerry Stelmok's wonderfully imagined world, anything is possible--and nothing is predictable." ― Tess Gerritsen, author of The Mephisto Club "In these modern fairy tales set in sharply rendered#Maine forests, fields, and small towns, you'll meet the most evil-hearted of villains, the most noble-hearted of heroes, and animal envoys endowed with supernatural powers who see to it that the villains suffer the gruesome fates they so justly deserve. Pull your chair up to the fire, and listen to this master storyteller spin you one terrific yarn after another." ― Robert Kimber, co-author of A Place on Water, author of Upcountry, A Canoeist's Sketchbook, and others From the Back Cover * "These are magical tales of a#Maine where deer transform into men, est known as a master builder of the wood-and-canvas canoe (and the author of a book about them, p. 17), Jerry Stelmok has now revealed an equally remarkable talent at storytelling. Through these six stories the author takes you up into The County, deep into the North Woods, to western Maine, and down along the coast (and in one instance along the desolate wintry coast of Lake Superior) with convincing familiarity. On the way he introduces you to mostly ordinary people caught in extraordinary, escalating events?forced to confront strange circumstances for which nothing could possibly have prepared them. Review "These are magical tales of a Maine where deer transform into men, where an eerily intelligent dog metes out justice, and where the creature pursuing you just might be the Devil himself. In Jerry Stelmok's wonderfully imagined world, anything is possible--and nothing is predictable." ― Tess Gerritsen, author of The Mephisto Club "In these modern fairy tales set in sharply rendered Maine forests, fields, and small towns, you'll meet the most evil-hearted of villains, the most noble-hearted of heroes, and animal envoys endowed with supernatural powers who see to it that the villains suffer the gruesome fates they so justly deserve. Pull your chair up to the fire, and listen to this master storyteller spin you one terrific yarn after another." ― Robert Kimber, co-author of A Place on Water, author of Upcountry, A Canoeist's Sketchbook, #stories#fiction