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Title: Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger ISBN: 0-671-04754-X Publisher: Pocket Star Pub. Date: 01 April, 2002 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.73 (11 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Kent Krueger's 3rd novel delivers fine characters
Comment: Years ago, plot was the thing in mystery novels. Over the last several decades, authors have relied less on plot and more on character to carry their work. Two current authors who are especially proficient with character driven mysteries, but who also don't scrimp on the twists and turns, are Michael Connelly (see my review of A Darkness More than Night elsewhere) and William Kent Krueger.
William Kent Krueger's third Cork O'Connor book, Purgatory Ridge is set in Aurora a town in northern Minnesota not far from Lake Superior. Krueger's novel runs several plots simultaneously. But each is propelled more by their respective character's backgrounds and motivations, and less by finding a solution to a traditional mystery puzzle.
When an early morning explosion at a lumber mill kills a respected Anishinaabe tribal leader, the stage is set for confrontation over the logging of old-growth white pines. The trees are considered sacred by the Anishinaabe, but the townsfolk rely heavily on money from logging and environmental extremists have swarmed in to stop any logging at all.
Meanwhile, a man who is the sole survivor of a shipwreck on Lake Superior, obsessed with guilt over his brother's death in the same wreck, vows revenge on the family-run shipping line even if it leads to kidnapping and murder.
Into the mix is O'Connor, the former sheriff of Aurora, a man who, like Connelly's McCaleb, is beginning to realize how much he misses police work. He is encouraged by several prominent citizens to run again for office, but his wife, a prominent attorney, dreads the affect it would have on their fragile marriage.
Krueger's handling of his character's thoughts and motivations is deft and he never lets the tension of the subplots falter. O'Connor, his family, and especially the Anishinaabe people are appealing because they are delivered fully alive to the reader.
Rating: 5
Summary: Can't wait for the next Krueger book.
Comment: I was introduced to Iron Lake, Krueger's first book through a St. Paul/Minneapolis Radio show (Garage Logic with Joe Soucheray). It was a great read. I read Boundary Waters, the next in the line of the Cork O'Connor books and just finished Purgatory Ridge.
Purgatory Ridge has everything you want in a good suspense mystery, great character development, excellent story line (this one actually had two), a couple of twists, and edge of your seat, page turning suspense.
It is obvious Krueger has done his home work. This may be a fiction novel, but the places he describes (Boundary Waters Canoe Area, North Shore of Lake Superior, Sawtooth Mountains) are all accurate. I spend a lot of time in Northern Minnesota. I associate with many of the landmarks in his books, and that makes me feel like I am part of the action.
Upon finishing the book, it is apparent that Krueger is going to follow up with another Cork O'Connor novel. I CAN'T WAIT!
Rating: 3
Summary: good mystery; boring people
Comment: The bad guys were the most interesting characters in this story. The good guys are pretty boring. This puts me in position of deciding whether to continue reading this series as I don't expect the O'Conners to get very interesting but the stories are very well written with no idiotic endings. The main characters are Cork O'Conner, the ex-sheriff of small norhern Minnesota town who is part Ashinnabe (sp?) and his wife Jo, a lawyer who represents the local tribe.
This mystery evolves around the arson of a logging company and arson-related death of a tribal leader. Was it murder or an accident? Was he the arsonist or innocent? The story leads to the kidnapping of the logging company's owner's family and the kidnapping of Cork's wife and son.
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Title: Boundary Waters by William Kent Krueger ISBN: 0671016997 Publisher: Pocket Star Pub. Date: 01 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger, Will Krueger ISBN: 0671016970 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: The Devil's Bed by William Kent Krueger ISBN: 0743445856 Publisher: Pocket Star Pub. Date: 01 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Blood Hollow by William Kent Krueger ISBN: 0743445864 Publisher: Atria Books Pub. Date: 03 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: North of Nowhere : An Alex McKnight Novel by Steve Hamilton ISBN: 0312983816 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 18 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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