Premise of the book, from Amazon.com: Krueger's second novel features ex-sheriff Cork O'Connor of Aurora, Minnesota, and plenty of harsh weather. Here, a top-of-the-charts but depressed, ex-druggy country-western girl singer, Shiloh, disappears into the two-million acres of the Quetico-Superior Wilderness on the Canadian border. Cork, an old buddy of Shiloh's mother, whose murder remains unsolved, heads a search party that includes include two FBI agents, an ex-con, a ten-year old kid, and Shiloh's father. Permeating the tale is the spirit of the Anishinaabe Indians, while the heavy pelts on the muskrats point to a huge, bitter winter ahead. Meantime, some bad guys have tortured to death Wendell Two Knives, the Anishinaabe guide, trying to get him to tell where Shiloh has gone, since they want her just as badly as Cork's search party. Shiloh witnessed her mother's murder, then had amnesia, and through regression therapy seems to have brought up the killer. Was he her mother's lover, a Vegas casino owner named Benedetti, who now wants Shiloh dead? Why was Shiloh's therapist murdered as well? Will Shiloh survive to rebuild Ozark Records into an outlet for indigenous music? Cork remains a spritely, intriguing hero in a world of wolves, portages, heavy weather, and worrisome humans, with a third entry on its way.
This is the third book I’ve gotten on audio tape in this series. I read them a bit out of order – Purgatory Ridge (#3), then Iron Lake (#1) and Boundary Waters (#2). I’m actually glad I did, because if I had gotten to Boundary Waters without knowing something of what was coming, I would have stopped “reading”. I thought this was about as well written as the "description" above.
The audio pronunciations aside (not the authors fault but still distracting), there were small things that were just not quite right. Here we have a chase happening in the BWCAW (Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness) – everyone is carrying a firearm, nobody checked in with the FS, we probably have an illegal cabin, and then we have helicopters and planes flying overhead toward the end. I don’t mind fiction set in real places, but I DO mind when too many liberties are taken with the setting to make it fit the story.
My next complaint lies with the Italian “gangsters” followed by Vegas sheisters descending upon Aurora - one man each claiming to be the father of the missing Shilo. It was like no one thought to get a paternity test yet everyone was convinced they were the father, except her adopted father who knew he wasn't.
There were other issues – the whole spirit wolf and bear following the characters. The obvious clues being dropped to the reader but the characters couldn’t for the life of them, figure it out. Half the people paddling these canoe’s solo – unless you’ve got the right kind of canoe and the experience, then it’s not as easy as it sounds. Nobody thinking to do a police check on all these people making demands until after the fact or after it was too late.
So why did I keep reading? Because I know that Purgatory Ridge was much, much better, and after a while, even despite the inconsistencies and errors, one develops an almost vested interest in the main character and you find yourself hanging on grimly till the conclusion rolls around with something akin to relief. So, on one hand I want to say Not Recommended – just start with book three; But if you like Cork’s character and can tolerate some regional issues, then Reluctantly Recommended.
I need to read some science fiction now....
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