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The Case of the Missing Game Warden
"Best First Novel” Award Finalist for 2022
—Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Veteran Northern California game warden Norman Bettis and his wife, Martha, lived an idyllic life in the small Sacramento Valley farm town of Gridley. On the morning of December 13, 1956, Norman kissed Martha on the forehead and drove off to work. He had no way of knowing he was destined to stumble into a rat’s nest of commercial duck poachers and disappear–patrol car and all.
Three years later, a gifted eleven-year-old named Henry Glance confronts two goose poachers near the Southern California town of Temecula, preventing them from leaving before game warden Ned McCullough arrives. Impressed with the brave young man and his compassion for wildlife, McCullough suggests he become a game warden when he grows up. He also shares the story of Warden Bettis’s strange disappearance.
McCullough’s mournful tale leaves a lasting impression on Henry as he grows up, suffers disappointment, works his way through Chico State College, falls hopelessly in love, and eventually becomes a game warden himself. Unexpectedly, he’s assigned to Warden Bettis’s old patrol district.
While conducting a number of classic wildlife investigations and honing his skills, Glance remains obsessed with his predecessor’s untimely demise. Unfazed by a mountain of obstacles and determined to succeed where so many others had failed, Henry sets out on an adventure-filled quest to find the missing game warden and solve the thirteen-year-old mystery of his disappearance.
—Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Veteran Northern California game warden Norman Bettis and his wife, Martha, lived an idyllic life in the small Sacramento Valley farm town of Gridley. On the morning of December 13, 1956, Norman kissed Martha on the forehead and drove off to work. He had no way of knowing he was destined to stumble into a rat’s nest of commercial duck poachers and disappear–patrol car and all.
Three years later, a gifted eleven-year-old named Henry Glance confronts two goose poachers near the Southern California town of Temecula, preventing them from leaving before game warden Ned McCullough arrives. Impressed with the brave young man and his compassion for wildlife, McCullough suggests he become a game warden when he grows up. He also shares the story of Warden Bettis’s strange disappearance.
McCullough’s mournful tale leaves a lasting impression on Henry as he grows up, suffers disappointment, works his way through Chico State College, falls hopelessly in love, and eventually becomes a game warden himself. Unexpectedly, he’s assigned to Warden Bettis’s old patrol district.
While conducting a number of classic wildlife investigations and honing his skills, Glance remains obsessed with his predecessor’s untimely demise. Unfazed by a mountain of obstacles and determined to succeed where so many others had failed, Henry sets out on an adventure-filled quest to find the missing game warden and solve the thirteen-year-old mystery of his disappearance.
281 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 8, 2021
2 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Steven T. Callan
4 books5 followersSteven T. Callan is the award-winning author of The Case of the Missing Game Warden, a 2022 "Best First Novel” Award Finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards and published by Epicenter Press. Callan’s first two books, both nonfiction and published by Coffeetown Press, earned excellent reviews and captured awards. His debut book, Badges, Bears, and Eagles—The True-Life Adventures of a California Fish and Game Warden, was a 2013 “Book of the Year” Award Finalist (Foreword Reviews). His second book, The Game Warden’s Son, was named “Best Outdoor Book of 2016” by the Outdoor Writers Association of California. Steve’s second novel in the Game Warden Henry Glance series, The Outlaw from Newville, was released by Epicenter Press on June 10, 2025. Steve is currently writing the third novel in his Game Warden Henry Glance series.
Steve grew up in the small Northern California farm town of Orland, where he spent his high-school years playing baseball, basketball, hunting, and fishing. With an insatiable interest in wildlife, he never missed an opportunity to ride along on patrol with his father, a California Fish and Game warden. Steve went on to graduate from CSU, Chico, and attended graduate school at CSU, Sacramento. Hired by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1974, he began his career as a game warden near the Colorado River, promoted to patrol lieutenant in the Riverside/San Bernardino area, and spent the remainder of his thirty-year enforcement career in Shasta County. Callan earned numerous awards for his work in wildlife protection.
Passionate about the environment, Steve and his wife, Kathy, are avid anglers, kayakers, bird-watchers, and scuba divers. They live in the Redding area.
Learn more about the author and his books at steventcallan.com.
Steve grew up in the small Northern California farm town of Orland, where he spent his high-school years playing baseball, basketball, hunting, and fishing. With an insatiable interest in wildlife, he never missed an opportunity to ride along on patrol with his father, a California Fish and Game warden. Steve went on to graduate from CSU, Chico, and attended graduate school at CSU, Sacramento. Hired by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1974, he began his career as a game warden near the Colorado River, promoted to patrol lieutenant in the Riverside/San Bernardino area, and spent the remainder of his thirty-year enforcement career in Shasta County. Callan earned numerous awards for his work in wildlife protection.
Passionate about the environment, Steve and his wife, Kathy, are avid anglers, kayakers, bird-watchers, and scuba divers. They live in the Redding area.
Learn more about the author and his books at steventcallan.com.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 12, 2021
Great outdoor story!
This story is built upon great knowledge of the environment and the wildlife found there. I live in the area the story takes place in so I can attest to the authenticity of the wildlife descriptions. I really enjoyed the use of geography I know and love. I recommend any graduates of Chico State college to read this book as so many memories will enrich the story.
This story is built upon great knowledge of the environment and the wildlife found there. I live in the area the story takes place in so I can attest to the authenticity of the wildlife descriptions. I really enjoyed the use of geography I know and love. I recommend any graduates of Chico State college to read this book as so many memories will enrich the story.
August 7, 2023
I am from and currently live in Glenn County! This was a fun read for me, because of the locality references. Even though the story line is amazing, there were a few typos that turned me off a few times. All in all, this was a great read!
June 12, 2023
Recognized so much of the area ...brought this story to a personal level. Fun!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews