Windigo Island by William Kent Krueger

-->

Cork O’Conner is part anglo and part Anishinaabe of Tamarack County in upper Minnesota. He is an Ogichidaa - one who stands between good and evil. A local who went to Chicago to be a cop, returned to be the county sheriff and is now quasi retired as a private investigator. Lives with his daughter Jenny and her adopted toddler son Waaboo and his son Stephan. A third daughter is a nun in training.

Two 14yo girls disappeared a year ago from the Bad Bluff reservation just outside of Superior, Wisconsin. Indian kids run away all the time, some never to return. One of the girls washes up on the shore of a tiny Apostle Island, dead. The other girl, Mariah Arceneaux, is still missing and her family wants Cork to try and track her down. A local game warden/Ojibwe, Daniel English (and hopefully, a new continuing character), knows the girl’s family and joins the hunt. But so does Jenny. This case strikes a cord with Jenny because of some circumstances that brought Waaboo to her. Henry Meloux, the 90ish Ojibwe healer recognizes the danger ahead and wants to join in on one last hunt.

The search begins routinely talking with neighbors, extended family, friends, classmates, local cops, about the 2 girls bringing Cork, Jenny, and Daniel to a single conclusion. Mariah was enticed to leave the reservation where there is no future to go to Duluth and ends up in a child prostitution ring run by a particularly vile and violent man known as Windigo – more devil than human.

Digging through the underbelly of Duluth, they find that prostitutes have worked the far western end of the Great Lakes for decades. The slowdown in lake shipping hasn’t stalled the trade because tourist boaters have picked up the slack. A meeting with the head of a halfway house for these girls narrows their search eventually to a trailer outside of Williston, North Dakota, one of the many oil-rich boomtowns in the region.

Henry Meloux explains a common theme in the few Cork O’Connor books I’ve read. There are two wolves fighting within each of us – one of love and peace and the other of fear and anger. The one that is winning is the one that is being fed. In Windigo Island, the fear and anger wolf inside O’Connor grows with each page to the point where coldblooded murder looms large. What would justify such an act? Revenge, justice, blood lust, or as they say in other lawless places, ‘he just needed killing’?

This is my 4^th book by Krueger. While trolling Barnes and Noble a while back, the jacket blurb for Trickster’s Point brought me in. Krueger’s publicist must’ve liked what he read because since then, the good folks at Atria Books (a Simon and Schuster imprint) have sent 3 other Krueger books for review (this one plus Tamarack County and the 2014 Edgar Award winner for Best Novel, Ordinary Grace – one of the very best books I’ve ever read; for those not familiar with book awards, that’s the equivalent of winning the Best Picture Oscar, at least to me it is).

But here is my personal quandary. Each of us here at MRB maintains our own ‘power rotation’ of authors (you have to dig deep in the website to find our individual lists). Implicit in each list is that each author is currently active (e.g., Lee Child, Stephen Hunter, Brad Thor, et al.). With the unfortunate death of the great Vince Flynn, I’m thinking I need to move him to my emeritus list that includes people like Tom Clancy and Tony Hillerman, which would open up a slot in my power rotation. While I’m not ready put Krueger there just yet, he certainly is one of my hole cards for right now. Jonathon King? Roger Smith? Maybe, if they were more productive. Krueger has 14 O’Connor books in his bibliography now and I’ve read 3. My plan is to start actively prowling the local library to see how many I can find.

Here is my other quandary on Krueger. Years ago (very pre-blog), I got hooked on the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee novels by the late Tony Hillerman. Once hooked, I tore right through his catalogue of writing. Hillerman wrote of the Navajo in the Four Corners region of the southwest US. To me, his writing was evidence of him being almost ‘inside’ the Navajo nation. I loved it and have since looked for an author to fill that void. Krueger’s books, while consistently excellent, seem to be more by one who is a very keen observer, but not quite from the ‘inside’ in the manner of Hillerman’s books. But comparison with Hillerman is probably not fair because I seriously doubt we will ever see one with his feel for Native Americans. If you know of one, PLEASE let me know.  Why do I like these types of books so much? I don’t know, maybe it the 1/16 of me that is Cherokee. 

Release date is August 19, 2014.

East Coast Don

Fox Creek by William Kent Krueger

Krueger returns to his 'roots' with another (19th!) Cork O'Connor mystery . . . sort of.

As you may recall, O'Connor is half Ojibwe from the lands surrounding Lake Superior. He did a stint as a Chicago cop and returned to northern Minnesota to become sheriff. He's retired now and fills his time as a cook for a local burger/dog joint for tourists and locals alike as well as starting up a private investigation practice. He's a grandfather, has remarried to Rainy, is still very close to his mentor/healer Henry Meloux, and watches over his brood and those important to him. 

Stranger comes into town. Stops in the burger stand. Asking around about his wife, Delores. He said they've been having some 'issues' and that she was heading up this way to meet up with an Ojibwe healer goes by the name of Henry Meloux. Cork says he'll check around, but doesn't see a 'case' here. 

But he still makes the trek out to see Henry, now at around 100 yrs old, but still sharp as a tack, still living alone in his cabin, still out walking the Boundary Waters area almost daily. Yes, Delores has been to see Henry. In fact, she's taking a sweat right then with Cork's wife. When questioned, Cork learns that the man asking is an imposter and she's no idea why anyone would be looking for her. When he returns to town, he learns that more than one man is asking about Delores.

So, who's Delores? She lives in the Minneapolis area. Married to an Ojibwe (who has sort of rejected his heritage) who practices mostly commercial/real estate law. Does a lot of work in Canada. Yes, they've been having problems. Yes, she sought out Henry to help her find her way. She was prompted to find Henry when her husband went to Canada on business and hasn't returned. 

Lots of reasons why that might've happened. But a few more questions and an altercation convince Cork that this is way more than a domestic squabble. It might even be deadly. With that in mind, Henry takes Delores and Cork's wife into the Boundary Waters wilderness to put some distance between them and those trying to find Delores. 

All that happens in the first quarter of the book. From here on, the story focuses on Henry, Delores, and Rainy's path through the wilderness as they attempt to elude those after Delores. Thing is that the guys looking for Delores have their own Native who's sole purpose for this job is to track Henry's wandering in the woods. So we have Henry in the lead, 'The Wolf' and several creeps tracking them with Cork tracking The Wolf et al. Weather impacts the local authorities from participating via off road vehicles or through the air.

One of the things I really liked about this book was the 'deep dive' into the Ojibwe culture. Much more than what Krueger's done in the past. This book really is about Henry. And it's flat out terrific. One of the things I learned while reading this is that Anne, the daughter of the late great Tony Hillerman (who based his stories in the 4-corners area of the southwest and featured a couple Navajo tribal policemen) appears to have her father's storytelling gift and is continuing his story lines.  Since she started in 2014, she's published 7 or 8 books that I'll soon be diving into. How did I miss her entry into writing?

Atria Books turned me on to Krueger some time ago. While I've not read all the Cork O'Connor books, I've read a bunch. When I'm in read of a quality mystery, I head to the library for an O'Connor book. Krueger also writes standalone novels. One of which, Ordinary Grace (reviewed by us), is one of the very best novels I've ever read. And it won the 2014 Edgar Award for Best Novel (think of that as fiction's version of Best Picture). Not many better at telling a compelling story than Krueger. Don't just focus on the mainstream titles in the grocery story rack. Pick up any book by Krueger. You can't go wrong and won't regret it. 

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy. Due to be released August 23. 2022.

ECD

God's Country by William Kent Krueger

Cork O'Connor is busy loving life in Aurora. Gratefully retired from decades as a police officer, mostly as the Sheriff of Tamarack County, MN way the hell up in the North Country. Second wife (1st killed in an earlier book), sons and daughters (direct and in-law), couple of grandsons, close lifelong friends. Still runs a hamburger stand on the nearby vacationland lake (in northern MN, lakes are everywhere). He's what used to be called a 'half-breed,' half Irish (father) and half Ojibwe (mother). That term has gone out of style.

Aurora is part of the gateway to to the massive Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Several thousands acres of trails, lakes, portages, rivers, forest on the border with Canada. Solitude with a capital S. The state birds are mosquitoes and black flies. Cork and the 'menfolk' are all going on a canoe outing. Taking the grandsons on their first camping trip in the Boundary Waters. 

In prep, they stop in to check in with this local guide. Good thing to do when heading into the wilderness. The wife says her husband was just hired by a couple guys to head into the area for a few days. She was curious about these two characters. They were dressed like they'd just left LLBean. Not their usual clients. Cork said he'd keep and eye out for the party of 4 (a 2nd guide aide joined them), but given the size of the Park, it's doubtful.

Off goes the O'Connor party. They paddle a route infrequently used by visitors, reaching their first campsite. Exploring the campsite area, they come across evidence something untoward may happened, recently. They set off the next day and paddle to the next campsite. From the water, Cork sees smoke from a campfire. Through his binoculars, he sees his friend tied to a tree. Fearing the worst, Cork convinces the rest of his party to head back as protection for the boys. Cork presses on alone because that is what a sheriff, current or retired, would do. He pulls in and quickly learns that the 2nd guide has been killed and his friend has been badly beaten. 

These two goons want to be taken to a rock formation known to the locals as The Devil's Ass. They have a rough map that isn't detailed enough to find the rock formation. Unable to convince their guides, one guide is shot and Cork's friend beaten to give up the information. Cork mostly just ambles in and talks these two losers into letting the injured guide paddle (mostly float) back in exchange for Cork taking them to the rock formation.

Now Cork has no intention of taking them where they want. He just wants to keep them out in the open on the water for a few days until a search party finds them. They guys want to find something hidden in the rocks and then hightail it for Canada. Over the next 3-4 days, Cork has to keep these two fools calm, hopefully not see any other park visitors, and still find a way to subdue them for arrest (or worse).

As you might guess, things have a way of spiraling down allowing Cork lots of time for self reflection about his inner wolf leanings as he considers his options. Has to be careful. The two guys, one in particular, are stone killers.

This is Krueger's 22nd O'Connor book. I've read a bunch, maybe a dozen or so. Honestly, Krueger has never failed to disappoint. We've watched O'Connor's life as a cop, both the good and the bad, spelled out in smooth lyrical prose. Krueger's writing appears effortless. This story is told as though O'Connor is relating the tale over a campfire. The reader is a comfortable friend who is mesmerized by a close friend's history. Very readable. I'd definitely put this at the top of my Cork O'Connor experiences. Have to love it because it's primarily three main characters trying to survive the wilderness and each other. 

Krueger's also written some standalone books. One of which, Ordinary Grace, won the Edgar Award for best fiction novel of 2014 (Fiction's version of Best Picture). That book was astonishing (reviewed by the MRB boys) and remains one of my top 5 reads . . . ever.  You can't go wrong with Krueger. Solid, reliable, highly skilled, expertly plotted and presented. A storyteller's storyteller. You'd be wise to put this on your 'to-be-read' shelf.  And add him to your personal list of must-read authors. 

 But . . . 

It's not available until 18 August 2026. It's too bad you can't get to this sooner.  Don't forget. Make a note on your August calendar. Trust me. You can take my opinion to the bank.

Thanks to the good folks at NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance reviewer copy.  

ECD 

Spirit Crossing by William Kent Krueger

#20 in the Cork O’Connor series set in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota by the prolific and award-winning William Kent Krueger. He also presents several standalone novels to considerable acclaim. Cork is mostly retired but still available to help local law enforcement, be it state or tribal, when needed or when trouble finds him. 

The daughter of a State Senator has gone missing, last seen in the north woods around Lake Superior. Th search for her cross nearly every jurisdictional line in Minnesota and so far, has come up empty. But that doesn’t minimize the search efforts.

Cork’s grandson, who goes by Waaboo, was out hunting for blueberries. While staying with Ojibwe healer Henry Meloux who lives the simple life of a hermit and is a de factor father figure to the locals, Waaboo stumbles across what appears to be an Ojibwe grave. Waaboo is a unique in that he has a gift of seeing and describing visions and voices he hears. When word gets out, the media swamps the town on the assumption that the body in the grave is that of the politician’s lost daughter. Cork and family are worried that Waaboo might be in the crosshairs of both the media and the killer(s).

Problem is that the autopsy reveals the woman was “just” a local teenage Ojibwe. As far as the media and the police are concerned, that case is not as important as the politician’s daughter. The cops continue their investigation while Cork and the tribal police focus on the Ojibwe corpse.

There is a side story going on. In the area is awash with construction workers working on an oil pipeline that is on track to cross spiritual grounds of the Ojibwe. That brings two fronts on conflict: the politics of state approval of the affront to the Ojibwe’s land and the crude roughnecks on the job.

The pressing question is whether the demise of the two women is related

Krueger is pressing the cases of missing and dead indigenous children as well as the attitude that ‘whites’ take in dismissing any concerns expressed by the local indigenous population. His case in compelling and important. He has dealt with these themes in numerous earlier titles of his. See This Tender Land and The River We Remember.

Many times, a title in a mystery series can be read as a standalone. Not this time. The narrative assumes that the reader is familiar with Cork’s history, his family, his neighbors, and the town. Go to your library, look at the copyright dates back at least about 10 years so that the history is laid out. Leave no doubt that this story is consistent with Krueger’s story-telling gifts. Top shelf. Heck, he’s an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel for Ordinary Grace. Saying he’s good is an understatement. But if this is the first Krueger book, a reader might feel a bit lost and dissatisfied. 

 

ECD

Apostle's Cove by William Kent Krueger

Krueger has a long history with Cork O'Connor - this is his 21st O'Connor outing.

O'Connor is the retired sheriff in Aurora, MN. From there, left for a few years to be a Chicago cop, then came back. Joined the force for a few years, won an election, make that a lot of elections. Now retired, he lives with his immediate and extended family way the hell up nort' near the legendary Boundary Waters. He took over a local hamburger stand but still does some PI work when the need arises.

His son, Steven, is in law school and moonlights a bit for a non-profit dedicated to freeing the wrongly convicted from prison. When shuffling through the stacks of potential cases, he finds one from Aurora. Axel Boshey is serving a life term in the Stillwater, MN prison. He confessed to the brutal murder of his wife.  The first capital case for the newly elected Sheriff O'Connor.

At the time, it seemed an open and shut case. Blacked-out drunk Indian (who already beat a manslaughter charge years earlier), a philandering wife. While all the evidence pointed to Boshey, some seemingly trivial details were left hanging. At the time, the evidence and confession pointed only at Boshey. 

In the light of 25 years, those details don't seem so trivial, at least to Steven so he asks his dad if he might review the case to see what might've been missed or overlooked or lost in the shuffle of a quick closing of the case.  Cork agrees. The thought that the wrong man was incarcerated and that the real killer might still be free drive him to make things right. 

That's the premise. The narrative breaks into two parts: Then and Now. 'Then' is told in first person as it happened. The killing, investigation, confession, incarceration; takes upwards of 60-65% of the book. A significant backstory. 'Now' is told similarly. First person, as it's happening.

The main characters are Cork and family, a hippie flake (Aphrodite) who moved into area and formed a bit of a commune (replete with hipsters, alcohol, drugs, and free love), the cops of the time (one of whom Cork defeated in the first election, other is a racist pig against the native population), and various colorful locals, their kids and grandchildren. In particular, Chastity (Aphrodite's child) and Boshey (her husband) and two of Chastity's kids (neither by Axel; Moonbeam and Sunny).

Axel gets sentenced to life and turns his life around from being an unreliable drunk to becoming a bit of a healer for inmates. Comes to realize this calling may be why was really locked away. When Cork sees Axel 25 years later, Axel tells him he doesn't want to be released, that he's needed in the prison more than Cork needs to set him free. 

That the real killer may still be around, Cork goes off on his own trying to piece together a complex interaction of what turns out to be a series of seriously demented people Cork thought he knew.

As stated above, this is Krueger's 21st book featuring Cork O'Connor. That means he's got a following and must be pretty successful to boot (lots of NY Times bestsellers).  He also have four other unrelated novels, three of which I've read and reviewed here. One of which, Ordinary Grace, is one of the best books I've ever read and won the 2014 Edgar Award for best fiction (the book version of the Oscar for Best Picture. If you've not read Ordinary Grace, you really owe it to yourself). Not really sure how many Cork O'Connor books I've read and reviewed here. Whatever that is, there are more. 

While reading this book, I had a feeling that this is a book he'd started way back when, put it aside and never got back to it. But after a while, he resurrected the manuscript, and reorganized it to be a cold case book. Regardless, Krueger has presented loyal readers (and newbies, too) with another memorable outing filled with concrete characters, the emotional edge needed for such a story, a comfortable rural setting, native characters and the mysticism that permeates their soul. 

Can't go wrong with Krueger. Betting your local library has a shelf full of his work. It's about time you get to it.  

ECD 

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

Go to Thesaurus.com for all the ways to say ‘spectacular' and you’ll still come up short looking for words of praise.

Summer 1932. The country is still reeling from the Depression. Southwest Minnesota is home to the Lincoln Indian Training School. One of hundreds of such schools that existed to “Kill the Indian. Save the man.” Indian children were snatched up and placed in these ‘schools’ where their clothes and belongings were burned, the customs were mocked, and their language was banned all in the name of assimilation. Work was the cure. Area farmers would get cheap labor while the Brickman’s, the school directors, pocketed any money. Any deviation would get the children beaten by Mr. Dimarco and sent to the ‘quiet room’ (the Brickman’s term for solitary). The only bits of sunlight are Mrs. Frost (widowed music teacher) and her 6yo daughter Emmy. And Mr. Volz, a German handyman/small-time bootlegger. Mrs. Brickman is The Black Witch based on her wardrobe and unyielding demeanor.

Odie O’Banion, 12, and Albert, his 16yo brother, are orphans who ended up at this School; the only two white faced residents of the school. Odie has a talent for the harmonica and is a frequent resident of the quiet room. Mose, a Sioux, is a good friend and hard worker who can’t speak because his tongue was cut out as a child. Albert has a knack for most anything mechanical and is the leader. Odie, Albert, and Mose have worked out a sign language that most of the children at Lincoln can manage. Little Emmy is their defacto little sister.

Odie is due for another beating by Dimarco followed by a night in the quiet room. Dimarco drags him to the edge of a quarry, a place rumored to be the final resting place for children who had ‘disappeared.’ But Odie fights back and Dimarco falls over the edge. While hiding, a massive tornado hits the county, killing many, including Emmy’s mom. Odie brings up that God is a shepherd to which Albert asks, “What does the shepherd do when he’s hungry? He eats his flock one by one.” A fear that will haunt Odie throughout his search for home. For a family.

The Black Witch decides to bring Emmy into her home, terrifying Emmy. Fearing whatever the law would bring down on Odie and his accomplice-friends, the boys grab what they can and put a canoe into the Gilead River with St. Louis, and Aunt Julia. Emmy willingly joins and makes this a foursome of Vagabonds. The Black Witch spins a yarn about Emmy being kidnapped bringing Minnesota its own version of the Lindbergh kidnapping.

The Vagabonds plan to canoe down the Gilead River to the Minnesota River to the Mississippi until they reach St. Louis. Their odyssey gets them caught (but not turned in) by One-eyed Jack – a farmer who has lost most everything, including his wife and daughter, to the Depression. Sister Eve, a spiritual healer for the Sword of Gideon Healing Crusade tries to nurture this ragtag crew of kids, but an accident puts Albert in a dire situation. Outside of Mankato, in one of those ubiquitous shantytowns of the Depression era, Odie is befriended by the Schofield family and the charming Maybeth – Odie’s first crush. The West Side Flats of St Paul is where Gerte Hellmann runs a kitchen on the river. Gerte. Got to love Gerte. Anyway, for various reasons, Odie strikes off for St Louis on his own and does find his Aunt Julie where he learns more about his family than he could ever have imagined. But he couldn’t be more wrong that his search for home had been successful.

Krueger is the bestselling author of 17 Cork O’Connor books about a former sheriff set in northern MN and WI. He’s also done Two standalone books, one of which, Ordinary Grace, won the 2014 Edgar Award for Best Novel. That’s the book fiction version of winning Best Picture. Ordinary Grace was (very) favorably viewed by us here at MRB. Must be a terrible weight of expectation to follow-up such an impressive book with another equally so. When reading about This Tender Land, I found that Krueger had another book done, but he was dissatisfied and started in on what would become This Tender Land.

And Krueger has scored another winner. I am hardly the one to say how this book stacks up against Ordinary Grace. I can say that this is a spectacular outing. A deeply spiritual story without being a ‘religious’ book. This lengthy account of what these children were subjected to at the Indian School and what they faced each day in their attempt to reach St. Louis will tug at your heart like few books do. Think of this as one-part Huckleberry Finn and one-part Great Expectations with some Of Mice and Men waiting in the wings. I expect that other reviewers will say that this compares well with other Dickens’ classics. Pretty confidant that this will be many Best of 2019 lists. 

Regardless, read this before it becomes the fashionable book to be carrying under your arm. You won’t regret a single minute of the time needed to read this fairly big epic. What I say here doesn’t do this book any true justice. Read it for its telling of the inhumanity behind the treatment of institutionalized Indian children, for how it reveals the tender feelings in a coming of age story, for how Krueger delicately leads us on a road full of rejection, of the loss of family and freedom, of redemption, and finally, for the hardest thing of all . . . when all those emotions are tested . . . of forgiveness. 

Release Date: 3 SEP 2019.

And HUGE kudos to the good folks at Atria Books for the advance copy for review. You all are, without question, the best. 

East Coast Don

Lightning Strike by William Kent Krueger

Krueger’s longtime hero, Sheriff Cork O’Connor, lives way the hell up in upper Wisconsin where he deals with the locals, natives, and various out-of-towners attempting to upset the proverbial apple cart. This book is a departure. It presents some of O’Connor’s backstory (probably the first to do so, I think).

Lightning Strike takes place in one of those lazy summers when Cork was around 12. Most days are he and a couple buds biking around town and camping and canoeing in the Boundary Waters area. His dad is the Sheriff of Aurora, WI who sort of unwittingly is showing Cork the tools of the trade that will help him as an adult when he himself becomes the sheriff.

Cork and his friends canoe out for a campsite along one of the numerous nearby lakes. As they approach the site near sunset, they notice something terribly out of place. A man hanging from a tree. The evidence points to a suicide and Sheriff O’Connor tends to think so. And not just any man. A local legend around the Ojibwe peoples that most of the kids looked up to. He’d had issues with alcohol but seemed to have put that behind him. The Ojibwe people are suspicious of the Sheriff’s line of investigation despite the Sheriff being one-quarter Ojibwe.

Racial tensions percolate, most of which perplex young Cork. The Ojibwe and the whites have an uneasy truce. And within the whites, there is a noticeable gap between the haves and the have nots. Not to mention some mingling of the races and classes make seemingly dozens of possible suspects. Some rich folks want to develop the lakeshore with a swank hotel and its false promises of jobs and prosperity for all the locals. If the truth can’t be uncovered, Aurora may well explode in a long awaited civil war. Within these conflicting tensions, Cork and he pals pick at various clues trying to find out who killed their friend.

Kruegar has given us (me in particular) two of the very best novels I’ve ever read. Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land. I first stumbled across Krueger through his Cork O’Connor series and this title is his 18^th in the series, but seeing as how this is a backstory book, call this one #0 and not #18.

Krueger is a smooth and skillful writer who can speak easily across genders, ages, and ethnicities. Start with Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land, then venture into the Cork O’Connor series. A gentle hook will draw you into a mystical and mysterious land. 

 

East Coast Don

 

 

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

It’s the dawn of a new century. And Frank Drum is reliving the defining summer of his life. He was 13, 1961, in New Bremen, Minnesota, about 40 miles west of Mankato on the south central prairie.

Frank is the kid in the middle. His older sister Ariel has the scars from a harelip and is bound for Julliard to study keyboard and composition. His younger brother Jake stutters and is far too insightful  for his young age.  His dad, Nathan, is a Methodist minister of nearly unimaginable, bottomless moral strength who also covers 2 other rural congregations with his mom, Ruth, who runs the choir and can’t cook worth a lick.

And there is Gus, Nathan’s war buddy who lives in the church basement, does odd jobs around town and is the surrogate uncle to Frank and Jake. The town royalty is the Brandt family. In high school, Emil Brandt and Ruth were really tight, but that went south and Ruth hooked up with hard charging first year law student Nathan Drum who, after the war, dropped man’s law for the Bible’s law. Emil suffered severe facial burns in Korea and is blind. He now lives with his deaf, autistic sister Lise in an old farmhouse. The real money is with his brother whose son Kurt dates Ariel. Then there is Doyle (a jerkoff deputy), Warren Redstone (old Sioux), and Morris Engdahl (local punk).

The summer doesn’t start well. Sweet looking Bobby Cole was lost in his own world while sitting on the railroad tracks when he was struck and killed. Not long after, Frank and Jake are rummaging around the train trestle and find a dead itinerant underneath. Over the course of the summer, we follow Jake and Frank’s adventures at Halverston’s Drug Store, the barbershop, ball field, the jail, the river’s edge, an old quarry, 4^th of July. And another death.

Make that 2 deaths. And the town starts to fall apart. Threats, innuendo, centuries old and modern prejudices and jealousy boils over as the investigation into deaths 3 and 4 unfolds. Then there is a 5^th.

Through all the turmoil, Pastor Nathan is a rock who bears the weight of his family, the town, and an unspoken tragedy carried from the war that neither Nathan nor Gus will speak about. And Jake. Too young Jake - in his silence and embarrassment of his stutter, correctly interprets events that no child his age should have to comprehend. It’s Jake, who during the town’s darkest hour utters a simple prayer that no adult can bring themselves to say that quietly begins the healing that the town so desperately needs.

This book is way off the typical themes reviewed here at MRB and was sent to me by an MRB friend at Simon and Schuster, somewhat because I had reviewed Krueger's Trickster’s Point; a more typical small town police mystery.  The themes and emotions explored by Krueger are rarely dealt with in the political thrillers or police procedurals normally reviewed here.

But make no mistake. This isn’t a book you will casually read at your leisure. It is far too engrossing to be viewed as anything other than an astonishingly deeply moving account of a defining period of time in the life of two young boys, a family, a town and the simple steps begun by the most innocent among them that begins the community's redemption. A book that you can't put down and don't want to end. Is this a modern take on some Greek or Shakespearean tragedy? I wouldn't know. 

What I do know is that Ordinary Grace isn’t a good book. Ordinary Grace is a great book. And it deserves as wide an audience as it can get. I’ve said to anyone that will listen that Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon was one of the very best coming of age books I’ve ever read. If asked now, I shall reply saying the best are Boy’s Life and Ordinary Grace.

Give it a chance. This really is that good.

East Coast Don

Sulfur Springs by William Kent Krueger

Been awhile since MRB last checked in on Cork O’Connor.

He got married to Rainy Bisonette a few months back and is looking forward to July 4^th in way upstate Minnesota. Both Cork and Rainy have kids from prior marriages. Rainy’s son Peter calls and leaves a cryptic message about him having killed a man and something about someone named Rodriguez. 

Peter lives well outside Tucson in Sulfur Springs, AZ, a nothing town on the Mexico border. He finished at the U of Arizona and then joined the Marines. He was wounded in Afghanistan and returns home addicted to painkillers. Rainy arranged for him to get rehab at a tony center in Cadiz, AZ. After getting clean, he knocked around at some odd jobs and eventually worked at the rehab center with other vets getting treatment. 

Rainy and Cork grab the next flights to Tucson to find out what’s going on. Peter no longer works at the rehab center and now works for a up and coming winery doing whatever needs to be done. But as with most all counties bordering Mexico, there is a constant stream of drugs, illegals, and human traffickers along with those who might see some profit in the cross border trades. All of which are being run by two main cartels, the head of one just happens to be Peter’s dad and Rainy’s first husband. Throw in the DEA, ICE, Border Patrol, a renegade biker gang, and the FBI and you get a pot cooking that is ready to boil over. 

Enter Peter. He takes on the task of humanitarian by helping struggling families make their way into the US, safely. And this doesn’t sit well with anyone. With no one able to trust anyone, standoffs lead to violence and a string of dead people. And plenty of folks think all would be well if that guy from Minnesota and his Ojibwe wife had just stayed home and not poked a den of rattlesnakes. 

MRB has reviewed a number of books by Krueger and all have been first rate, regardless of whether the book is about Cork O’Connor or not. The good folks at Atria Books turned us on to him and I know I've been grateful ever since. His 2013 novel Ordinary Grace was the Edgar Award winner for Best Novel – fiction’s version of Best Picture. If you love stories of the older wizened lawman out there in rural America (I’m thinking CJ Box’s Joe Pickett or Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire), you’ll quickly bring O’Connor into your galaxy. With nearly 20 books to his credit, you’ll have plenty to keep you busy. 

ECD

The River We Remember

 The River We Remember is the third William Kent Krueger novel reviewed in this blog, all three of which have been given rave reviews. Considering that this novel is his 24^th, released in 9/2023, there’s a lot of excellentR reading ahead for us. This story takes place in fictional Jewel, Minnesota. Unlike the 19-book Cork O’Conor series, this is a standalone book. It’s a story of multigenerational dysfunction, a story of many broken people who are fighting their own demons while mostly trying to find a way to live in this complex world. It takes place mostly in the 1950s with time spent on the backstories of these troubled people. The protagonist, Sheriff Brody Dern, is a war hero although he’s terribly conflicted about his war activities. He investigates the murder of Jimmy Quinn, the biggest land owner and wealthiest man in Black Earth County. Quinn was also the most hated man in the county as the result of his great appetites for money, land, control, and sex. The first suspect according to almost anyone else in the county besides Dern was Noah Bluestone, a Native American and WWII veteran who, at the end of his 20-year military career, moved back to Jewell with a young Japanese wife. Being non-white people, Noah and his wife were both automatically seen as enemies of the local population. There were multiple subplots, and I did not see the ending coming until it happened. This book has already won numerous awards, and Krueger is a writer to be admired and for his work to be greedily consumed. Fortunately, there is a rich body of work here to be savored.

Tamarack County by William Kent Krueger

The wife of the retired Tamarack County judge is coming home after being in town. It’s December in Minnesota’s arrowhead region. Cold. Snow. They live out in the quiet woods that border the Boundary Waters.

She pulls into her driveway to find a man crouched over. Thinking her husband has gotten himself locked out, she walks over. The figure looks up and shoves a knife into her belly.

The sheriff has no clues to her disappearance. Cork O’Connor, former Chicago cop, Tamarack County deputy, sheriff and now a quasi-retired private investigator, gets added to the search.

Cork’s 17yo son Stephan has eyes only for Marlee, a local Ojibwe. He goes over to her house for a little high school tete a tete (wink, wink). She lets the barking dog out. Soon, they hear nothing.  They follow the dog’s tracks out to the lake and find that the dog has been killed; decapitated.

Cork’s daughter Anne has returned from San Francisco with strong questions about her commitment to becoming a nun. She needs time alone to sort out decisions about her future. Not to mention that Marlee’s mom is hitting on him. Lots going on in the life of Cork O’Connor.

Clues are few, but a couple of things point to a guy Cork arrested some 20yr ago, and the Judge sentenced to the max possible. Couldn’t be him. He’s locked up tight. But more and more points to him.

O’Connor is Krueger’s continuing character and is the focus of 13 other titles. The first I read was Trickster’s Point and was entirely impressed. Then Ordinary Grace (not an O’Connor story) blew me away. Tamarack County has, I suspect, convinced me the try and find the other O’Connor books, starting back at the beginning. Thanks to the good folks at Simon and Schuster for passing along a copy of this book and especially for the hook into the O’Connor series. Can you say Power Rotation?

East Coast Don

Wildwood by Amy Pease

 Welcome to rural northern Wisconsin. Small summer resort town. Main lakeside hotel is a pricey retreat for the 1% who value their privacy. The only real connection with the town is with the locals who quietly clean rooms, cook, landscape, etc. The law is maintained by sheriff Marge North and her PTSD afflicted (Afghanistan) son Eli.  

Also in the community are what seem to be a large number of group homes for recovering addicts, an in-patient recovery facility, and what appears to be a pharmaceutical distribution business. 

Trinity is a stunning 20-something artist wannabe recovering addict struggling with her addiction while trying to regain custody of her 4yo son from her prepper parents in Illinois. One of the hotel guests, Charles  Dawson, is a suave, handsome 'businessman' of note; he owns most of those group homes. And the FBI (Alyssa) and the DEA (Adam) are convinced he is part of a drug scheme that has made him rich from fraud and drug distribution. The investigation has been going on for a few years and getting no where.

After crossing paths with Trinity, Adam convinces her to be his CI. He cleans her up, dresses her, and sends her to the hotel to catch Charles' eye, get close to him, and try to find some evidence that will drive the investigation. 

And she does. 

But along the way, people are dying. A recovering addict is just the start. As the bodies pile up, the evidence against Dawson becomes convincing, but it also points to someone above Dawson who drives an international industry of drugs, trafficking, weapons, money laundering, and murder.

This is Amy Pease's 2nd book set in rural northern Wisconsin featuring Sheriff North. But in this book, Pease focuses mostly on her son's slowly resolving PTSD, a possible relationship between son Eli and Special Agent Alyssa (that appears to have begun in 'Northwoods', book #1), what appears to be real feelings between Trinity and Dawson. Not a whole lot about Sheriff North (maybe that was the subject of book #1). Lots of balls in the air that Sheriff North juggles right down to the last chapter. Have to say that I liked how Pease presents the primary actors here: Eli, Alyssa, and Trinity. Each seems real, with their own issues that sometimes both interfere and aid in the entirely entertaining resolution. I'm interested enough to try and dig up her first book, Northwoods. I like William Kent Krueger's books set in northern Wisconsin/Minnesota so I'm not surprised that I like this one, too. And having live in Wisconsin for 2 winters (they don't tell time by 'years', they use 'winters'), I guess I come by that honestly.

And don't forget northern Wisconsin and its flaky fall/winter weather, is also a critical character. Gotta love Wisconsin weather, its 2-week summer/mosquito season and the endless frigid winter. 

Publication date Jan 6, 2026 (in the winter, naturally). And thanks for NetGalley for the advance reviewer copy in exchange for an unbiased review. 

ECD 

Trickster’s Point by William Kent Krueger

Cork O’Connor and Jubal Little are out hunting in the frontier that is the Iron Range in the spout corner of Minnesota. Unfortunately, Jubal has an arrow in his chest with all the markings of the equipment used by O’Connor. Jubal doesn’t want to die alone so Cork sits with him for 3 hours while Jubal unloads his failings on Cork.

Now Jubal was an exceptional individual. A charismatic type from the day he and his mom moved to Aurora, MN from Denver. Jubal tries to hide his heritage as half Blackfeet (actual last name is LittleWolf) even though he is growing up on the fringes of a reservation. Jubal becomes the star quarterback who gets a scholarship, is then drafted by the NFL and, after bouncing around a few teams, lands for a successful 10yr stint with the Vikings after which, he is tabbed as a future political star by a powerful family with generational ties to the DC power elite. He serves the good people of Minnesota in the US House and has come back to make a run at the Minnesota governor’s race and things are looking very good. Win this race, then it’s the US Senate and who knows where that might lead.

But it’s the weekend before the election and Jubal rests at the base of a rock monolith (Trickster’s Point), spilling his soul and blood out to his lifelong friend.

No local really believes that Cork fired the fatal arrow at Jubal, but he is all the law has and the press is going ballistic that the first serious Native American politician has been murdered in the hours before his ascension to the governor's mansion.

But Cork is no ordinary friend. A local who is also a veteran of the Chicago PD, former county sheriff, and now a respected PI – and part Ojibwe, Cork conducts his own parallel investigation even while being told to butt out. With each passing question, the author takes O’Connor back to dozens of connections with locals who might want Jubal dead.

Since the 2008 passing of Tony Hillerman, I’ve been on the lookout for authors that weave Native American culture into their mysteries (maybe it's the 6.25% of me that is Cherokee). The Kate Shugat books by Dana Stebennow about native Alaskans are one such series and this series about the Ojibwe in Minnesota looks promising. But, so far, no one has stepped up to the level of the late great Hillerman’s depth of understanding and incorporation of Navajo culture, beliefs, and mysticism as integral components of his books. If you’ve never read Hillerman, well then shame on you.

Kreuger is a new author to the MRB boys. This 2012 book represents the 13^th(!) book in the Cork O’Connor series so I have some catching up to do. And while he won’t get mentioned in the same breath as the original master that was Hillerman, and won't garner the lofty status in my personal power rotation (yet), Kreuger will do nicely.

East Coast Don

Nothing Short of Dying by Erik Storey

Clyde Barr . . . from rural Colorado . . . three older sisters, but Jen is a mess . . . father/truck driver ran off with a teenage parking lot floozie . . . mom had a string of violent, drunk, and abusive boyfriends . . . after high school, Barr joins the Merchant Marine as far as Africa . . . helping whoever needed help . . . as a mercenary . . . caught a boat to South America for more money as a merc . . . worked his way up through Mexico . . . last stop headed north was a three-year stint in a Mexican jail . . . back in Colorado after 16 years on the run . . . trying to straighten out his head by living off the land back home in the Colorado mountains . . . Jen calls . . . held captive . . . probably to be killed once a job is done . . . Barr promises to find her . . . and Barr always keeps his promises . . . all while carrying a ton of baggage from what he's done and witnessed.

Sounds like Jen is somehow mixed up with the head of a major new drug cartel muscling in what had been the territory of some  Mexicans. Barr's stay as a guest of the Mexican government introduced him to some pretty shady characters with Colorado connections who describe a particularly violent new player named Lance Alvis. Got meth labs hidden in the deep backwoods canyons and deals out of his younger brother's bar. But Lance has his eyes on a bigger prize that will drastically ramp up his production quantity. The bulk supply of chemicals he needs can be found in a federal energy facility where Jen works. So he grabs her and drugs her up until the deal goes down.

Barr shuffles into the beer joint, puts a few bikers in their place, and crushes Lance's brother. The bartender, Allie, has no love for the Alvis family or his kind, so she ditches the job and takes up with Barr, much to his continuing chagrin. With what little he learned, he starts heading up into the higher elevations around Leadville.

The feds pick up on him, Lance's crew of soldiers try awfully hard to deter Barr from getting any closer, and Allie turns out to be pretty handy in all things outdoors; she's not a bother and certainly not a hindrance.

Barr faces countless skirmishes with Lance's security, some he wins, other times not so lucky. But even though he seems to go 5 steps forward and 2 steps back, he is still inching closer to finding Jen and extracting a little mountain justice on Lance.

The prerelease publicity on this debut book is about the most impressive I've seen. Storey has been a ranch hand, wilderness guide and dogsled musher. A Colorado native, Storey shows us both the beauty and the underbelly of the Rockies. Apparently, as like so many authors, he'd been turned down by other (idiot) publishers and on a lark, sent Lee Child a copy of the manuscript. No sooner had he read it, that Child told his agent to sign this guy . . . NOW. Thus, Storey's first book comes out under an imprint of publishing giant Simon and Schuster. When Lee Child says that Jack Reacher is looking for Clyde Barr in his rear view mirror, who am I to argue?

Now I know that other authors get paid to write those cover blurbs on the back cover, but I also know those authors actually do read the book. And the authors offering praise on the cover are a who's who of current mystery/thriller chieftains: Lee Child (Jack Reacher), William Kent Krueger (Cork O'Connor), CJ Box, (Joe Pickett) Nelson DeMille (John Corey), Craig Johnson (Walt Longmire), Jeffery Deaver (Lincoln Rhyme). No doubt all of those characters, as well as Mitch Rapp, John Wells, Scot Harvath, and Gabriel Allon had all better agree to set a place at the table for Clyde Barr, even though Barr would probably prefer some freshly shot game sizzled over an open flame under the watchful eye of the Rockies.

When it comes to thrillers, this is the real deal, folks, so my advice is to get in on the ground floor.

East Coast Don

p.s. Thanks again to the good folks at Simon and Schuster for the advance copy.  Available August 16, 2016.

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Kruger was a book I found in my Audible library. I think it’s been there for several years, and it might have come with my original subscription. On the other hand, it may have been sent by Atria Books, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster, and Atria has supplied this blog with one winning novel after another. The book was reviewed in this blog 9 years ago by ECD, and he raved about it. Check out his review because it’s more detailed and complete than this one. I had never even looked at it, but I had already listened to all the other books in my Audible library, and I was desperate to stop listening to news, politics, and current events podcasts. I continue to take long walks with my dog every day, so I needed something to listen to. I had already used up all of my Audible credits, so I gave this one a go.

 

And what a surprise for me – As ECD wrote, this is not a good book, it’s a great book. I’ll make this second review of the novel a short one because I wholeheartedly agree with that description. There are deaths and murders in this book, so technically it is a murder mystery, but it is so much more. Mostly, the story is about a pastor, Nathan Drum, and his family in rural Minnesota. Nathan was a charismatic man who was a devoted Christian. While he often talked of God’s grace and wisdom, he did so with compassion. His style was not preachy. But life was not simple. He had met his wife when his career was headed in a different direction. Both Nathan and Ruth thought he was going to be a lawyer until Nathan heard a different calling, and so a most compelling family story unfolds from there.

 

WCD

Unwanted by Kristiana Ohlsson

On an early summer day, the train from Gothenburg to Stockholm stops in Flemingsberg, the last stop before the end of the run. The stop is delayed a few minutes due to a switching problem. Sara Sebastiansson and 6yo daughter Lilian are headed home after a weekend in Sara’s hometown. Lilian has just fallen asleep and Sara needs to phone that they are running late. Cell reception on the train is poor so she steps on the platform just outside the window where Lilian is curled up. A distraught woman with a sick dog grabs Sara to help her . . . and the train starts to pull away. Sara quickly tells the train people what has happened and a call is made to a conductor to watch over the child. Sara grabs a taxi. A ruckus in the next car pulls the conductor away for just a minute as the train pulls into the Stockholm station. When he returns to where Lilian was sleeping, she is gone. The only thing left is her shoes.

The police are called in. Routine missing child case. She’ll turn up. Wandered off lost. Then is a report that the girl was carried out by a tall man. The assumption is that she was taken by her father (Sara and Gabriel are separated). That’s typical. It's usually a family member in a huff over something.

The Stockholm police unit that catches the case is headed by Alex Recht and supported by detective Peder Rydh, unit assistant Ellen Lund, and Fredrika Bergman, a civilian assigned to the unit. Apparently Sweden puts civilians in the police; cops tend to get tunnel vision and the civilian has proven to be a good resource.

The next day, a courier service delivers a box to Sara’s home. It contains Lilian’s hair and clothes. The direction of the case changes rapidly. Around midnight the next day, on the lawn outside the Umea Hospital’s ER, Lilian’s body is found, naked, with the word ‘Unwanted’ written on her forehead.

Within a couple days, a lost child has become murder.

Another child is abducted. An infant, right out of its baby carriage. This child turns up dead in the bathtub in the home of the child’s grandparents. Again, the word 'unwanted' is written on its forehead.

The police are running in circles trying to find information about Sara and her family, about her missing husband Gabriel and his family, about the other child’s parents and grandparents, about any connections with Flemingsberg, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Umea. Extra help is called in to take all the phone calls coming from the public. Who is behind all this? What are the motives? Why have these particular children been targeted? How does the killer know these children? Are more abductions coming?

Were you one of those people who faithfully carried around Steig Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and then The Girl Who Played With Fire and then (were disappointed with) The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest? Or are you a fan of Jo Nesbo or of Thomas Enger? If so, you MUST add Kristian Ohlsson to your list of must-reads.

Translating Scandinavian mysteries has become its own cottage industry and for good reason. I reviewed her 4^th book here just recently, the exceptional Hostage. Appropriately hooked, I started with this, her first effort.

And here is what’s either surprising or impressive. Ohlsson (who works in security for the EU) writes with a maturity of style, plot, and character development that is entirely atypical for first-time novelists, at least to me. Yes, the backstories of each of the police team are carefully presented. Ohlsson, however, continually brings up critical pieces from the background and current issues with which each investigator has to cope and allows those distinctly individual biases to potentially impact how each approach the case.

The story is paced rather slowly at the outset of the investigation, picks up dramatically with an anonymous call, then shifts into overdrive after a brief consultation with an American profiler in town doing a guest lecture at a university. Ohlsson then sends the reader on a sprint in a direction only considered by Fredrika.

And here’s something I learned when I started reading this book. A publicist for Atria Books (within the Simon and Schuster conglomerate) seems to like what were do here at MRB and has been nice enough to send us some books for us to review. He’s turned us on the William Kent Krueger and Thomas Enger to mention a couple notables. Shortly after getting Unwanted from the library, a pre-release copy of a book from a new author (OverWatch by Matthew Betley – next up in my pile) arrived. The note said Betley was ‘discovered’ by an Emily Bestler. The note casually mentioned that Bestler brought Vince Flynn and Brad Thor into the Atria/Simon and Schuster stable of authors. Tent Pole authors for sure both of whom are in my power rotation. And guess what? Kristiana Ohlsson is one of hers, too.

So I googled ‘Emily Bestler’ and find that she, too, has her own imprint under the Simon and Schuster umbrella. My point here is that if you are looking for new authors (and aren’t we all?), you might go to Emily Bestler Books website and check out authors in her catalog. Based on Thor, Flynn, Ohlsson, et al., I’m betting you will find more winners there.

Next up are Silenced and The Disappeared, the next two in Ohlsson's Fredrika Bergman series. Reviews should be posted not too far into the coming weeks.

East Coast Don