The Fourth Bear Hug

Book excerpt: The Fourth Bear Hug is a continuation of the stories in The Bear Hug, The Final Bear Hug, and The Third Bear Hug. The story in the latter book concludes with Deborah Czermak dying and John Czermak recovering. However, Andrei’s brother, Alexei Pushkin, is determined to kill John since he is convinced that John was responsible for the deaths of his brother and two nephews. However, Alexei is unsuccessful in killing Professor Czermak. John then returns to work at Clemson University. The story in The Fourth Bear Hug begins after Czermak retires from Clemson, sells his two homes, and moves to Colorado. He then starts working as a part-time professor at the University of Colorado and shares an office with a visiting professor from Moscow. He and Professor Lara Medvedev start traveling together to meetings, and a loving relationship develops. They attend a conference in Sweden followed by going to Moscow so John can meet Lara’s parents. During this time Czermak visits a good friend at the Academy of Sciences where they go to the roof of a tall academy building to take some pictures. Then Alexei shows up and tries to push Czermak off the building, but instead Alexei falls to his death. Since John now thinks that no one is trying to murder him, he asks Lara to marry him. She happily agrees. A few days later they have a wedding reception at Lara’s parents’ home. The party has a tragic ending. Globe-trotters should especially enjoy reading about some of the author’s travels to various places in the world.