Home – Steven T. Callan

At age eleven, Willie Radcliff is branded the worst outlaw in the Northern California hamlet of Newville. Molly Radcliff can’t handle him, and Preston Radcliff is too involved with his burgeoning agricultural empire to spend time with his rapidly growing son. In 1929, Preston moves the family to Radcliff Mansion, nine miles west of Chico, and thirteen-year-old Willie turns his attention from shooting the neighbors’ goats and chickens to poaching wildlife.

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THE CASE OF THE MISSING GAME WARDEN

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Veteran Northern California game warden Norman Bettis and his wife, Martha, lived an idyllic life in the small Sacramento Valley farm town of Gridley. On the morning of December 13, 1956, Norman kissed Martha on the forehead and drove off to work. He had no way of knowing he was destined to stumble into a rat’s nest of commercial duck poachers and disappear–patrol car and all.

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“Best First Novel” Award Finalist
– Next Generation Indie Book Awards, 2022

“Best Outdoor Book of 2016”
– Outdoor Writers Association of California

THE GAME WARDEN’S SON

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Retired game warden Steven T. Callan’s love of nature and passion for protecting wildlife took root long before he experienced the adventures described in his memoir, Badges, Bears, and Eagles. In The Game Warden’s Son, he recounts more of his own investigations, along with those of his game warden father and their colleagues. Intertwined with a half century of adventures and investigations is a story of the lifelong relationship between a boy and his father.

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BADGES, BEARS, AND EAGLES

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Over his thirty-year career as a wildlife protection officer for the California Department of Fish and Game, Steve Callan conducted some of the most fascinating, complex, and highly successful wildlife investigations in California history. He also collected a wealth of true stories—action-packed, suspenseful, and often humorous.

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2013 “Book of the Year” Finalist
– Foreword Reviews

Praise

- Dan Barnett, Chico Enterprise-Record

Callan’s story is a fascinating blend of detective work and chance encounters, and the kind of intuition needed to turn those encounters into actionable evidence.

- Ron Anderson, Sacramento Valley Mirror

“There is much nonfiction to be learned from this book, and it is grandly entertaining as well. . . . The book is a delight.”

- International Game Warden Magazine

“A first-rate ‘whodunit’ . . . Written with great detail in forming the primary characters, the first book in this series is well worth your time and money. I am looking forward to the next book!”

- Next Generation Indie Book Awards

“Best First Novel Award Finalist”

- Manhattan Book Review (5 star review)

”A witty and enlightening memoir, The Game Warden’s Son brims over with tales of stake-outs using disguises and subterfuge to trap transgressors. . . . The book’s slang or jargon related to wildlife is a fun bonus and makes the timely account of environmental protection even more enjoyable."

- Bill Karr, Editor, Western Outdoor News

“Filled with true-life stories, they are all written in an exciting manner that puts you in the middle of the action. And action there is! Fascinating book, and a must-read.”

- Frank Galusha, founder and former editor and publisher of MyOutdoorBuddy.com

“An exciting series of easy-to-read and gripping detective stories . . . It was extremely hard to put down. Callan is a fine storyteller. Each chapter stands on its own and is a fun read.”

- Publishers Weekly

“Engrossing . . . The vignettes are jaw-dropping, funny, tragic, enraging, exciting, and hopeful—sometimes all at once.”

- Dan Barnett, Chico Enterprise-Record

“A thrilling ride into the heart of bad guy country. Which is pretty much anywhere in the state, any place that people can abuse wildlife and habitats for a profit . . .”

- Randal Hendricks, sports agent, attorney, and award-winning author of Inside the Strike Zone

“Most people do not think of a game warden as a detective. In Badges, Bears, and Eagles, Steve Callan—Californian, detective, environmentalist, wildlife protection officer, and outdoorsman—takes the reader on a thrilling adventure, providing an inside look at what a dedicated game warden truly does.”

- McGregor Scott, former Shasta County District Attorney and former United States Attorney-Sacramento

“Callan is John Grisham for the Outdoorsman. Conservationists will applaud his sometimes ‘unique’ efforts to protect our natural resources from those who would abuse them. Whoever knew there was so much intrigue in Fish and Game cases?”

- Donald Koch, retired Director of the California Department of Fish and Game

“Callan’s chronicle of the life of a California Fish and Game warden stands out because in addition to the typical illegal hunting and fishing cases, he provides the reader with real life examples of wardens protecting wildlife habitat and conducting exhaustive undercover operations. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.”