I have always loved cryptids, specifically Bigfoot and Yeti. Maybe it’s because I’m drawn to stories about the unknown, or because I enjoy ones of survival in inhospitable or uninhabited settings, or maybe it’s because I’ve grown up with the legend of the Alabama White Thang. Either way, when I find a good cryptid story, I devour it, and Esau by Phillip Kerr is by far one of the best. A mix of action adventure, thriller, and science, it’s a read that gathers speed like an unstoppable avalanche. Set in the Himalayas, the story begins with the discovery of a perfectly preserved skull. The strange thing, it appears to be neither ape nor human. It’s this discovery that sets off a compelling chain of events involving tensions between two quarreling nations and the possibility of an alternate line of humanoids.
Kerr masterfully weaves convincing scientific details into an action-packed narrative that not only suggests the idea of the yeti’s existence but makes it seem plausible. Kerr’s complex and thrilling plot boasts a large cast of scientists, climbers, guides, and government officials that Kerr has no trouble directing throughout the story.
Jack Furness is a seasoned and rather daring mountaineer known for his illegal and dangerous climbing expeditions. It’s his discovery of the skull that sets the story in motion. After finding the skull, Jack takes it to Stella Swift, a paleoanthropologist at Berkeley and Jack’s former lover. Stella is immediately intrigued by the prospect of a potential new species. Now part of this two-man team, she works to secure funding for a return trip to the mountains. Eventually, a crew is assembled, and the journey begins but not without tension, past secrets, and deceit. Specifically, from a secret agent with a mission of his own to gather intelligence and ensure that any significant discoveries, especially those with military value, are controlled only by those who hired him. Between his willingness to do anything needed for his mission and the escalating tensions between two nuclear-armed nations, a hazardous environment develops and puts the crew in a race against time if they want to leave the mountain alive.
Furthering the story and solidifying the suggestion that an alternate evolutionary path may exist, the expedition crew is led by Sherpas, a group of Himalayan natives who act as guides, sumpters, and cultural intermediaries. These Sherpas eventually introduce the crew to an isolated tribe of ape-like men whose existence inspired the legends of the abominable snowman. Now the team faces the clock, the elements, the secret agent set on their demise, and the possible exploitation of this docile tribe.
In the end, Esau is a captivating blend of adventure and science and a plausible depiction of the yeti. Kerr uses a bit of scientific detail and international tension to create an edge-of-your-seat story.
Clinging to the Southwest face of Annapurna, the climber cuts another handhold. Suddenly everything goes still — then the mountain roars, shaking loose its killing load, tumbling the climber before it. In an ice cave high in the Himalayas, a perfectly preserved skull is found. A fossil from a long-ago era, it is neither ape nor man. Three hundred miles away in the Punjab, Pakistan and India rattle their nuclear arsenals, edging ever closer to catastrophe. And in a lab on the Berkeley campus, a paleoanthropologist learns that what she took to be a fossil find of the first order is in fact the scientific discovery of a lifetime — proof of an alternate line of hominid development. Missing Link. Yeti. New Species. Hairy Man. Call it what you will. Call it Esau.
