"Visceral, powerful, finely crafted" - review of BEARTOOTH

BEARTOOTH by Callan Wink (Spiegel & Grau, April 2026)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

Thad and Hazen live off the grid, struggling with debt after the death of their father. Thad, the elder brother, is the capable one, while Hazen is a dreamer, more in tune with the wilderness than with people. Then a shadowy out-of-towner called the Scot appears—dressed in a kilt and with a mysterious young woman in tow. He makes the brothers a proposition that is both lucrative and a federal crime—removing resources from Yellowstone National Park, a scheme that becomes more appealing when their long-gone mother shows up, raising troubling questions about the past. 

A contemporary tale with a timeless feel, Beartooth explores the bonds between brothers, the natural world versus society, and what happens when everything you believed to be true is turned on its head—for worse and for better. 

There’s a deep contrast between the stark beauty of Callan Wink’s writing and the visceral nature of what he describes at times in his sublime novel Beartooth. A literary rural noir centred on the (mis)adventures of a pair of backwoods brothers, we initially meet Thad, the relative brains of the duo, and younger Hazen, the intuitive one, as they’re elbows deep in an eviscerated bear. Freshly poached, emitting smells “with a flavour of nightmare”; the brothers are willing to get bloody as they grasp for the golf-ball sized gall bladders that can bring in as much cash as ten truckloads of firewood.

But how much would they risk in order to preserve their family home and way of life? 

Initially Thad doesn’t entertain the notion put forward by their menacing buyer, ‘the Scot’ to surreptitiously enter Yellowstone National Park to harvest elk antler sheds. Federal land and felony crimes = big time prison time. But as things worsen, Thad and Hazen must make some tough choices, that could have deadly consequences.

Those who enjoy ‘grit lit’ are likely to love Beartooth. 

It’s an atmospheric, vivid and finely crafted tale of family relationships, desperation and death set against a ruggedly magnificent backdrop. Wink, a fly-fishing guide in Montana as well as literary starlet, expertly soaks readers in “nature, red in tooth and claw”. 

Compact and powerful.

Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned writer, editor, podcast host, awards judge, and event chair. He's the founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards, co-founder of Rotorua Noir, author of Macavity and HRF Keating Award-shortlisted non-fiction work SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, editor of the DARK DEEDS DOWN UNDER anthology series, and writes about books for magazines and newspapers in several countries.