"Into The Mist" by David Brill

I found a copy of David Brill's "Into the Mist: Tales of Death and Disaster, Mishaps and Misdeeds, Misfortune and Mayhem in Great Smoky Mountains National Park Volume I" at the Sugarlands Visitor Center in the National park.

I have to admit that there was some hesitation about buying this one.  There are some other well written and researched books on this and similar topics (I've mentioned some of them here, here, and here).  AND I have read some material that pretty much rips off some of the previously mentioned works.....  I wasn't sure if much could be contributed to this topic.

Well, author David Brill has absolutely added a lot to the discussion of bad things that have occurred in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The first several chapters give stories about all sorts of things that have happened in the park.  Brill does a great job of looking into some obscure information too.  I particularly enjoyed the chapter on the park preparing for nuclear attack during the cold war.  Another area neglected by other volumes is weather.  Brill covers it here. 

To Brill's credit, even when he is covering familiar topics (bears/bear attacks) he tries to cover more ground, and he gives a lot of details.

The author is big on facts and statistics too, often noting where he gets his information from.  AND, this book includes a large section in the back noting all known fatalities that have occurred in the park.  He does do a breakdown of the deadliest years, places, and causes of death in the park.

Actually, after reading the book, I do feel that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a fairly safe place.  If you are careful, you really have little to fear (only ONE fatality by bear attack has ever occurred in the park).

The author does note at the beginning of the book that it was in production while the 2016 fires were occurring.  He suggests that he may cover that in a future volume.  I would like to see future volumes, as Brill has covered his topic thoroughly.