The Bushman's Lair: On the Trail of the Fugitive of the Shuswap
A captivating biography of a fugitive with intriguing connections to a top-secret US military program, the infamous Bre-X mining scandal and more
In the summer of 2002, the discovery of a cave on Shuswap Lake in British Columbia by a group of houseboaters made headlines across the country. It had been the hideout of a fugitive known as the Bushman--real name John Bjornstrom--who had been arrested the previous winter after raiding cabins in the area for supplies.
Shortly after the cave was discovered, and before it was imploded by local authorities, author Paul McKendrick was able to explore the nine-hundred-square-foot bachelor pad. Its elaborate construction left the impression that the occupant was more than just a common thief with a preference for uncommon living arrangements.
Nearly two decades later, McKendrick set out to better understand what led the Bushman to the cave. The Bushman's Lair is the culmination of numerous interviews, reviews of RCMP and court transcripts, declassified us government files and McKendrick's own adventures in the Shuswap. The resulting book follows Bjornstrom's circuitous path: a child of Romani refugees raised by nature lovers from Norway; a bizarre, top-secret us government program that recruited individuals with supposed psychic abilities; an investigation into the infamous Bre-X mining scandal that led to an alleged hit list; and an ardent mission to safeguard vulnerable youth from abuse.
While some mysteries remain unsolved, McKendrick's exploration of Bjornstrom's story is an unexpectedly moving and unforgettable account of a man who decided to pursue a quest with boundless commitment.
Reminiscent of John Vaillant's The Golden Spruce and Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, this fascinating portrait of a far-from-ordinary fugitive makes for a page-turning read.
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Paul McKendrick lives in Canmore, AB. This is his first book.
The Bushman's Lair is a sometimes sensational true crime account of the adventures of an extraordinary cipher. --Foreword Reviews
In this stranger-than-fiction, intrigue-packed story, Paul McKendrick sets out to unwrap and understand the complicated and colorful tale of this enigmatic figure... --Vancouver Sun
The Bushman's Lair is a riveting, fast-paced, and suspenseful account of one of BC's most notorious and fascinating fugitives. Just as the Bushman carved out his own cave somewhere in the thick of woods along Shuswap Lake, author Paul McKendrick skillfully carves out the Bushman's engrossing story onto the page. The deeper McKendrick digs, the stranger the truth becomes. --Grant Lawrence, CBC personality and author of Adventures in Solitude
A fine telling of an irresistible wilderness tale. McKendrick is just as dogged in unearthing the Bushman's hidden trail and motives as the Bushman was in evading his pursuers. --Alex Hutchinson, columnist for The Globe and Mail and Outside Magazine, author of Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Performance
At a time when modern communications and GPS technology have made it unlikely you will find a blank spot on the map, reading Paul McKendrick's fascinating book is a rare treat. To say stranger-than-fiction is not enough; this story is stranger than most any reality we might imagine. Crack open this book, sit down in a comfortable chair, or somewhere with a view of the water lapping on the shore of a lake, and be prepared to settle in for a disquieting and mysterious read. --Stephen Legault, author of the Cole Blackwater and Durrant Wallace mystery series
A footloose misfit? A psychic in training for the US military? A private investigator for one of the principals in the Bre-X gold mining scandal? A fugitive fleeing an alleged death contract? A crusader for justice? A deluded thief and burglar? Who was the real John Bjornstrom? Paul McKendrick wanted answers, and his quest to unravel the mysteries of Bjornstrom's life artfully wends together an improbable historical backstory, recollections of friends and family, and police records to tell the tale of the enigmatic and curious Bushman of the Shuswap. --Stephen R. Bown, author of The Company: The Rise and Fall of the Hudson's Bay Empire
A must read. You won't be disappointed. --Sage Birchwater, The Ormsby Review
McKendrick's writing is lucid and workmanlike, and the narrative pulls you along nicely. --Winnipeg Free Press
