Book Review: A Blizzard of Polar Bears

Henderson, Alice. A Blizzard of Polar Bears. William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, NY: 2021.

Before you read this book, or after you start reading it, I recommend going to YouTube and looking up Polar Bears International. The short video “Polar Bears International — About Us” talks about and has images of the area where this novel takes place.

I have some nonfiction books on climate change (including the one by Naomi Klein), but… my eyes glaze over sometimes when reading scientific nonfiction. Pandemic anxiety doesn’t help — it makes it harder to concentrate.

My eyes definitely didn’t glaze over while reading this thriller, the second in the Alex Carter series! This book is hard to put down… and has so much information about environment and polar bears. I had no idea they have clear hair instead of white hair — over black skin.

I could care less about human babies, but… polar bear cubs! Squee!

I love the story about how Alex decided at age four to dedicate her life to rescuing wildlife. Maybe “love” isn’t the best word choice — it was gut-wrenching. So was her recounting her mother’s death. I also highly appreciate the social commentary about sexist men. Ditto the environmental information, including the back material.

Page 180: Projecting your piece-of-shitness onto your targets fails to magically transfer it, psychopath.

Paul White’s last name is so appropriate. It’s short for “power-tripping white male.”