The Bushman's Lair - by Paul McKendrick (Paperback)

About the Book

"Some of Western Canada's most enduring legends involve wilderness fugitives like the Mad Trapper of Rat River or Gunanoot of the Skeena. This book is about one of the most mysterious and most recent fugitives, the Bushman of the Shuswap, who made national headlines while on the lam in the wilderness around Shuswap Lake during the turn of the millennium. For several years he played cat and mouse with the RCMP, raiding summer cottages for supplies and giving media interviews at the edge of the bush only to vanish like smoke. Who was the mysterious Bushman? What drove him? What happened to him? Author Paul McKendrick became obsessed with these questions after a group of houseboaters discovered a doorway built into a rocky outcrop above a remote arm of Shuswap Lake. It opened into an elaborately excavated nine-hundred-square-foot home, complete with electricity and other amenities--the Bushman's long-sought hideout. Intrigued by the ingenuity of the fugitive's lair and sensing that there was more to the story than what had been reported by the media, McKendrick began reaching out to people who knew the man, whose real name was John Bjornstrom. What had driven Bjornstrom to go on the lam in the first place, and why specifically to the Shuswap? Why did he escape from prison shortly before completing his sentence? The Bushman's Lair is the culmination of numerous interviews, court and RCMP transcripts and McKendrick's own experience of following the Bushman's trails. The stranger-than-fiction story that McKendrick has woven together is as full of twists and surprises as any reader could hope for: a child of Romani refugees raised by outdoor enthusiasts from Norway; a bizarre, top-secret US military program that recruited individuals with supposed psychic abilities; conspiracy theories and entanglements with shady characters; an alleged hit list tied to the infamous Bre-X mining scandal; and more. 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."--

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

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