Who's dropping the cows? Cattle mutilation happens far more often than most people think—and author Brad Steel thinks he knows why

Author Brad Steel advances some stunning-and frighteningly plausible-theories in his new book Mute (Hushion House, ISBN 0973642106), to be released widely this month in the United States.

It's happened at least ten thousand times since the mid 1970s, and yet no one has ever been charged—or even arrested in relation to a case.

Mysterious cattle mutilation incidents are very real, says author Brad Steel. And they happen all the time.

“What compelled me to write Mute,” Steel says, “Is the fact that many of the mutilated animals have obviously been dropped a significant distance. We're talking about cattle weighing two thousand pounds plus, yet there they are lying belly-up in a bluff of trees, with eyes, sex organs and all the blood removed. And it happens all the time. Not far from where I live, a farmer lost a cow a month for two years. Think about the financial loss.”

But who would want to—or be capable of such a thing? Not aliens from outer space, according to Steel, who spent two years researching his book—which included meeting face-to-face with expert investigators of the phenomenon. It's that other usual suspect, he suggests: the government.

“For years, there have been consistent reports of unmarked helicopters being spotted near mutilation sites, even followed to military installations. There's a vast amount of evidence pointing to an agency with very deep pockets and a lot of autonomy. And that fits perfectly with the plot of Mute.”

In Steel's novel, prion diseases such as mad cow are being monitored by a covert government agency-one also grooming them for a much more sinister purpose: winning the war on terror regardless of the horrifying consequences.

So the government is at the bottom of it, with the worst of intentions. But still, one might wonder, why drop the carcasses? Steel has an answer to this, but won't say what it is. “For that,” he says with a chuckle, “you've got to buy the book.”

For more information, visit http://www.bradsteel.com. Mute was first published in Canada last month. Though it will be available in stores throughout the United States June 15, copies presently ship worldwide same-day by Amazon.ca:
http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0973642106/officialbrads-20/702-2710365-8787218

Please contact Darlene Montgomery (416) 696-1684 for more information or to book an author interview.

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