Of a Predatory Heart

Joe Parry
Infinity Publishing (2007)
ISBN 9780741444288
Reviewed by William Phenn for Reader Views (3/08)


Joe Parry is a Vietnam vet that is also an outdoorsman and a writer. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, son and daughter and writes his stories about this area. His stories have appeared in: Fins and Feathers, Turkey Magazine, Sports and Field, the Pennsylvania Game News, Field and Stream, Readers Digest, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Northwest Outdoors, the Philadelphia Daily News, and the Wellsboro Gazette.

Joe’s stories on hunting, fishing and the outdoors cover so many areas of this lifestyle, from rip-snortingly funny to tear-jerking and sad.  The tales that Joe recounts in his book are compelling and full of life. He mentions the torment within the heart of a hunter that has returned from the war, not wanting to kill again but missing the hunt -- taking that first shot and how it brought him back. Then there are the amusing tales of missed game, falling out of a tree stand and killing a tree with multiple arrows. The heartfelt stories of a young man’s first hunting rifle. Joe introduced his children to the outdoors and instilled in them the appreciation of nature. He tells of his daughter being all excited about going hunting and the excitement of his son’s first kill.

Joe does not limit his stories to just the people of the wilderness and outdoors, he also includes vignettes about his pets Bear and Tippy Two. He tells a very sweet story of how Bear saved his life by bringing him his Nitro when Joe left home without it. Out in the woods one day as the pain started shooting in his chest, who came to the rescue but his trusted hound Bear? Joe tells about his other hound Tippy Two, a little Beagle he bought for forty dollars. The story of her death is very sad and gives the reader an insight into Joe’s feelings for his animals.

“Of a Predatory Heart” is a great book of the outdoors and it’s more than just hunting stories. It is a book of love and feeling, sadness and courage, it is an emotional adventure.  I enjoyed “Of a Predatory Heart” and gave it a very well-deserved A; it was an enjoyable read.


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