Thursday, October 24, 2019

Desolation Mountain

I just read this recent installment (#17, published in 2018) of the "Cork O'Connor" series by William Kent Krueger. Over 5 years ago, I read the first book in the series, Iron Lake, and liked it well enough that I said I would follow up with sequels, which I did not do. Given what a compelling read this installment was, I think I will go back and pick up #2, Boundary Waters.
Cork's son, Stephen, has visions of things that come to pass--usually terrible things, such as his getting shot and crippled. A new vision comes to him repeatedly of a boy shooting an eagle out of the sky with an arrow. An egg drops to earth, and Stephen--the observer in the dream--feels a terrible menace approaching from behind, which he is too terrified to turn around and face. He is troubled that he does not understand what the vision means and consults his teacher in the healing arts, centenarian Henry Meloux. Henry also feels the evil approaching but can shed no light.
When a locally favored senator's plane crashes on the Iron Lake Reservation while she is en route to a town hall meeting in Aurora, Minnesota, the Native American first responders race to the scene. But they are quickly muscled out by the FBI and other unidentified federal agencies. When those who were first on the scene begin disappearing, Cork is convinced it is connected to the plane crash, and the urgency is heightened because his son-in-law, Daniel, was one of those first responders. Cork moves his daughter, Jenny, and his grandson, Waaboo, to a safer location, but Daniel and Stephen continue the investigation with him, along with an old acquaintance, Bo Thorsen, who Cork knows from his days as local sheriff. Although Cork trusts Bo, he is an outsider, and others are not so sure. Bo does indeed have divided loyalties, but is determined to find out who was behind the murder of the senator and her family.
This was a plot that gripped me right away. Characters are well drawn and the setting is immersive and as much a character as the people. Highly recommended. Positive reviews from Publishers Weekly, and NY Journal of Books, and an interview about the book with Krueger published in Booklist.

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