.Note: Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow Publishing, and Stanley Milford Jr. for the advanced reader copy of the book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

When talking about the paranormal, people generally believe in the possibility of it or don’t. For those that do, Paranormal Ranger will provide reassurance that they aren’t crazy. For those that don’t, if the testimony by a person who was in law enforcement doesn’t convince them then nothing will.

Stanley Milford Jr. has appeared on several television shows such as Skinwalker Ranch and Unsolved Mysteries. He was a member of law enforcement on the Navajo Reservation which stretches from Arizona through New Mexico and Utah to Colorado. He retired after more than twenty years of service. Throughout his time as a Ranger, he dealt with normal law enforcement issues but became known for his thoughtful and thorough investigations into paranormal events on the Reservation.

Milford details what went into an investigation of a report of a paranormal event. With the culture steeped in stories alien to Western culture, there’s a lot more openness to the residents of the reservation to things most of the rest of us would dismiss. Although I have believed in ghosts and am open to many things paranormal for some time now, one thing I always dismissed was bigfoot sightings. It seemed ridiculous to me that a creature such as this could exist in our world with little to no evidence. However, Milford does have the evidence. In addition to casts of very large footprints that couldn’t have been made by any known creature of our world, he’s had experiences and sightings while investigating reports that frightened many members of the Native community. Milford also gives his own theories as to why there have never been any remains of a bigfoot found. I have to admit that after reading this, I find the existence of these creatures to be more plausible.

It comes down to the credibility of the author. Having been in law enforcement and reading his approach to investigating these cases, I found him to be credible. The fact that there were other investigators as witnesses to several of the events also makes the events more credible. If you doubt his testimony, then I don’t think there’s anything that will convince you to believe in that which you don’t understand.

I also liked that Milford included the Navajo creation story as a part of the book. It explains why the Natives are more open to possibilities that Western culture dismisses. I appreciated this context as well as the stories themselves.

I enjoyed reading the book and read it fairly quickly. I feel like there were some great explanations and conclusions that Milford and his partners came up with. Of course, it’s still a bit of a leap to be open to these possibilities. You either can allow for it or you can’t. For those of us who believe in the paranormal and/or have had experiences, there’s a lot of validation in Milford’s book. He states that assuring people they aren’t crazy and validating their experiences was one of the more important and fulfilling parts of his job, as well as his continued work. I recommend picking this up.