Category: Books-Fiction

Northwest Angle: A Cork O’Connor Thriller Review

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So you know I love books that take mw to places I’ll never see or teach me things I didn’t know and Book 30 of 2011 Northwest Angle is one of them.

Author William Kent Krueger set this book, the 11th in the Cork O’Connor series in the area of Minnesota known as the Northwest Angle. This pennisula juts into the Lake of the Woods and is the farthest point north in the lower 48 states.

You can not reach this piece of the United States by land without going through Canada! It can of course be reach by air or water, and by by water is how the O’Connor clan got there.

As the novel begins Cork O’Connor has brought his family together daughters Jenny and Anne and son Stephen and his sister-in-law Rose and husband Mal to the Lake of the Woods on a houseboat for a restful family vacation. On the day Jenny’s boyfriend Aaron is set to arrive, Cork takes Jenny on a side trip to an island he once visited with his spiritual guide Henry Meloux.

The island has pictographs of Ojibwe children on the cliffs of the island. But soon the day turns tragic as an unexpexted “Derecho” hits the area. A derecho is another thing that I didn’t know about. It is a powerful storm a bowed line of thunderstorms with wind speeds of a hurricane and causes massive destruction. A derecho hit the Northwest Angle area in July of 1999 you can read about it here.

Soon Cork and Jenny are separated and Jenny lands on an island and finds shelter after the storm she finds a cabin that has been mostly destroyed by the storm a young mother lies dead in the cabin a search of the cabin reveals

diapers and formula all neatly arranged and soon Jenny finds a baby. Soon someone else comes looking for the baby and Jenny must flee the area of the cabin.  But where is her father and are Rose, Mal and her sister and brother safe and who is the man returning to the cabin? Is he the killer or someone who has been helping the dead mother? All these questions and many others are answered as the story unravels.

Like all of William Kent Krueger’s books “the sense of place is great” as are the characters and the book addresses many other issues outside of the murder, including religion and spirituality and the presence of good and evil. I’ve loved each and every one of Krueger’s books, since the first one I read Purgatory Ridge, for just that reason. So give his work a try!

Here’s William Kent Krueger, who can tell you more about the book then I can

Book 27 – Arctic Chill – Arnaldur Indridason

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A freezing wind pierced Erlendur’s clothes as he stood by the swings where Elias had died, and his mind roamed over the mountains and moors to another child who had once slipped from his grasp and now followed him through life like a sad shadow 

Book 27 of 2011 is Arctic Chill by Arnaldur  Indriðason and is the 7th book featuring Icelandic detective Erlendur Sveinsson and his colleagues Elínborg and Sigurður Óli. (It’s actually the 5th book in the series that has been translated.) From Wikipedia:

Arnaldur’s books have been published in twenty-six countries and have been translated into Russian, Polish, German, Greek, Danish, Catalan, English, Italian, Czech, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, Finnish, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian, Chinese, Croatian, Romanian and French. Arnaldur received the Glass Key award, a literature prize for the best Nordic crime novel, in 2002 and 2003. He won the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger Award in 2005 for the novel Silence of the Grave.

In this installment Erlender and his collegues are called on an icy January day to a garden where a body has been found: a young, dark-skinned boy Elias is frozen to the ground in a pool of his own blood.  Elias is a ten year old boy, whose mother a native of Thailand, has married an Icelandic man and moved her family Elias and his older brother Niran to Iceland. As Erlender’s team investigates the brutal murder they uncover the racism faced by immigrants to Iceland like Elias and his family. The story is a good police procedural as Erlender,  Elínborg and Sigurður Óli try to piece together the events that led to the senseless murder. But I love this series, like many others, for the devlopment of the characters. They not only have to deal with work but their personal lives too. As  Elínborg deals with a sick child,  Sigurður Óli deals with the prospect of adopting a child and Erlender deals with the death of his long time mentor, his releationship with his adult children, and the spector of   his brother whose hand Erlender lost on the moors during a freak blizzard so many years ago.

While  I do think that you can pick up any of Arnaldur’s books and enjoy them, I think they are more enjoyable if you start at the beginning! So go find Jar City and get busy you won’t regret it!

 

 

 

 

Book 26 – The Snowman – Jo Nesbo

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Although I’ve visited Norway several times through the books of Karin Fossum, this is my first trip to follow the adventures of Inspector Harry Hole of the Oslo Police Department. Book 26 for 2011 is Jo Nesbo‘s The Snowman. While I’ve heard about Nesbo for sometime I never seem to see his books at book sales or at the library. So last week when I saw this one at the library I picked it up and was certainly glad I did! This is the 7th book in the Harry Hole series and at times I thought I missed a little but for the most part I thought that the book stood on its own.

The story revolves around the disappearance of several married women with children in Oslo. The disappearances are accompanied by the presence of a Snowman. Soon Harry Hole an alcoholic inspector with the Oslo Police Department, who is one of the few if not the only policeman with experience catching a serial killer is drawn into the case, after receiving a taunting letter from The Snowman alluding to Harry’s past history tracking a serial killer!

The plot is riveting with several twists and turns throughout the book leading to a very tense last one hundred pages! I enjoyed the character of Harry Hole and will go back and read the other books that are available to discover his full history. I thought that the translation was good and the words flowed well. For me sometimes translations get choppy or overly simplistic!

So until I can pick up another Harry Hole book it’s off to Iceland and another favorite series by Arnaldur Indridason featuring Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson. The book is Arctic Chill and  is the fifth book in the series that has been translated and the 7th overall.

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The Snowman – Jo Nesbo

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Although I’ve visited Norway several times through the books of Karin Fossum, this is my first trip to follow the adventures of Inspector Harry Hole of the Oslo Police Department.

Book 26 for 2011 is Jo Nesbo‘s The Snowman. While I’ve heard about Nesbo for sometime I never seem to see his books at book sales or at the library. So last week when I saw this one at the library I picked it up and was certainly glad I did! This is the 7th book in the Harry Hole series and at times I thought I missed a little but for the most part I thought that the book stood on its own.

The story revolves around the disappearance of several married women with children in Oslo. The disappearances are accompanied by the presence of a Snowman. Soon Harry Hole an alcoholic inspector with the Oslo Police Department, who is one of the few if not the only policeman with experience catching a serial killer is drawn into the case, after receiving a taunting letter from The Snowman alluding to Harry’s past history tracking a serial killer!

The plot is riveting with several twists and turns throughout the book leading to a very tense last one hundred pages! I enjoyed the character of Harry Hole and will go back and read the other books that are available to discover his full history. I thought that the translation was good and the words flowed well. For me sometimes translations get choppy or overly simplistic!

So until I can pick up another Harry Hole book it’s off to Iceland and another favorite series by Arnaldur Indridason featuring Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson. The book is Arctic Chill and  is the fifth book in the series that has been translated and the 7th overall.

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Book 19 – Misery Bay – Steve Hamilton

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So I was all set last night to write about my run. How another rock band Voodoo Circle and their new album Black Heart Syndrome was the soundtrack for the 4.2 mile run complete in just under a ten minute per mile pace (which was not bad because I went uphill for parts of the run), but alas that was not to be! I sat down started to read Book 19 Steve Hamilton‘s latest Alex McKnight novel Misery Bay and continued reading until I went to bed,(except for that 1/2 hour nap). I finished the book at lunchtime today.<u> Misery Bay</u> is the eighth book in the McKnight series and the first since 2006 and is a worthy addition to the series.

The story starts when Alex gets a visit from an old nemesis Sault Ste. Marie police chief Roy Maven, who has appeared in past books. Maven asks Alex to do a job for his friend Charles “Raz” Razniewski. Razniewski and Maven were on the State Police force years earlier and recently Razniewki’s son had committed suicide. Razniewski wants McKnight to go to his son’s college and talk to some friends and generally try to find out why his son killed himself.  Alex does just that and when he returns he really doesn’t have any reason for the suicide. When he goes to report his findings to the senior Razniewski, who is staying at Maven’s home, he finds Razniewki laying on Maven’s kitchen floor with his throat slashed! The FBI soon sends two agents to investigate “Raz’s murder because he is now a U.S. Marshall. The agents soon determine that the murder is probably retaliation for some of the unsavory, well connected criminals Raz has put away. But Maven and Alex don’t think so and set of to investigate the suicide and murder. Soon they  connect another police officer’s son suicide to the case and the story moves on from there!

I love everything about this series. The setting Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which sounds like a wonderful place to visit (maybe for the three days of summer), the characters Alex, Maven, Alex’s friend Vinnie, Leon Purcell and Jackie, owner of the Glasgow Inn. The stories are always interesting and the pages usually fly by! While this the eight in the series, I think that it can be read alone and then the reader can go back and find out about some of the earlier events. Like how Alex’s cabin burned down and what happened to Alex’s love Natalie Reynaud:

Before I lit the match, I took one f the slats of wood and I rubbed the spot where the blood had seeped in forever. I said good-bye to Natalie Reynaud one more time. I kissed the wood once and then put it back on the pile.

So go and visit Alex and the residents of Paradise, Michigan and I’m sure it won’t be your  last visit!!

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Book 16 – Gideon’s Sword – Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

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Book 16 is the latest book from the writing team of Douglas Preston and Lee Child Gideon’s Sword.The book is the first book in a proposed series featuring Gideon Crew. I go back a long way with Preston and Child to the first book in the Pendergrast series Relic published in 1995! Unfortunately, I only read the first book and parts of the second Reliquary. That series is now up to book ten and I have several on my Mount to Be Read pile! Anyway rather than go back and catch up I thought I move forward with the new series! At twelve years old Gideon sees his father killed in a hostage stand-off involving his work for the government. On her death bed his mother his mother reveals that his father was a scapegoat concerning a failed project that left twenty six CIA agent s dead! Gideon sets out to clear his father’s name and does that rather quickly in the book. After revenging his father’s death Gideon returns to his favorite fishing hole and thinks he will just resume his normal life. Soon he is contacted by a subcontractor for the Department of Homeland security and offered an assignment to steal the plans for a new weapon from a Chinese scientist who is entering the country. This plunges Gideon into a whole new world, but he may have the talents for it because along the way the reader discovers that he is a master of disguises and a former Art Museum thief. The action is fast paced with several twists and turns. I enjoyed the read but in places found some events very implausible, but sometimes that in these types of books, so you just suspend belief and go along for the ride. The ride is pretty damn good so check it out! I enjoyed the character of Gideon Crew and along the way I learned a few things particularly about the Falun Gong and the Potter’s Field at Hart Island in Long Island Sound. So again check it out as for me I guess I need to go back and read some of those Pendergrast books!

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Book 13 – Vince Flynn – Consent to Kill

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Yeah finally finished Book 13 for 2011 Consent to Kill by Vince Flynn. Constent to Kill is the sixth book in the Mitch Rapp series by Flynn, The series is now up to Book 11, so I have some reading to do to catch up on the series! Mitch Rapp is a  CIA assassin working deep Black Ops. in the book prior to this one Memorial Day. Rapp saved Washington from a nuclear holocaust and along the way made some very powerful enemies! Now those enemies have put a price on his head and hired a very savvy assassin to do the job!

Overall I enjoyed the book like all of the Rapp books. I thought this book moved a little slow in the beginning and I kinda knew what was going to happen, but once “the event” occurred the book picked up and moved well from that point on! I enjoy Rapp’s character well as the supporting cast of Irene Kennedy, the Director of the CIA and Mitch’s friend Scott Coleman. I’m looking forward to the next adventure Act of Treason (#7) which is on my bookshelf along with books 8 and 9!!  But I’m sure I’ll find something else to read before diving into them!

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The Secret Soldier – Alex Berenson (John Wells #5)

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Ok, quick quiz , Who is the current King of Saudi Arabia? Who is his son? Brother? Dis everyone get it right! I wouldn’t have! But they are all main characters in Alex Berenson‘s new John Wells adventure The Secret Soldier. This is book 12 for the year, (boy am I way behind!) and the fifth in the Wells series. After several terrorist attacks in the Kingdom, King Abdullah contacts new ex-CIA operative John Wells to determine if his brother Saed and Saed’s son were involved in the attacks. Saed thinks that he is the rightful heir to the throne, while Abdullah wants his son Khalid to succeed him, and Saed is none to pleased with that.   Soon Wells is immersed in a mission not only to make the determination, but also to save US and Saudi relations!!

I enjoy the character of John Wells and have liked all of the previous adventures. I thought that this book started a little disjointed and slow but once it got rolling there was no stopping the action until the last page was turned!

It’s funny!  I wrote a couple weeks ago, that I picked up Vince Flynn’s Constent to Kill a Mitch Rapp adventure and Saed was also a character in that book! Because I was confusing the plots I stopped reading that book, but now that I’m finished I’ll go back and complete that adventure!

Oh, one more question do you know where the largest clock in the world is??

Here’s a picture of it! It sits atop the  Abraj-al-Bait hotel in a Saudi Arabia city! But you’ll have to read the book to find out where and how it ties into the storyline!!

 

Book 10 – The Breach – Patrick Lee

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Book 10 of 2011 was Patrick Lee’s The Breach.

The Breach is the first book of what’s now a two book series featuring Travis Chase, Paige Campbell and the Breach. The second book, which I read first is Ghost Country. The book is an action adventure book with some sci-fi thrown in.

The Breach itself is an anomaly, like a ripe in space, through which entities are sent to Earth from some other vastly more intelligent world. The entity that is the focus of this book is The Whisper.

The Whisper knows all and it’s mission is to cause trouble and in the book it certainly does! From the opening chapter when a plane carrying the Whisper and the First Lady of the United States goes down and the Whisper is stolen, to the last pages where the home of the Breach Border Town run by a group known as Tangent is attacked the action is fast and furious with lots of twists and turns.

I really liked both of the books and I’m looking forward to more books featuring the likable team of Chase and Campbell!

“It’s all here: brilliantly devious enemies; nifty, innovative gadgets and weaponry; hang-on-to-your-hat action; and razor-sharp plot twists aplenty.”
—Publishers Weekly (read the full review here)

Book 8 – The Ark – Boyd Morrison

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So this time a scientific word that was not coined until 1982, (well after my high school and college days were over and parenting was in year three of son number one and we were waiting for son two), is the center of Book 8 for 2011! The word is prion and the book is Boyd Morrison’s debut novel The Ark. So what is a prion? From Wikipedia:

A prion is an infectious agent composed of protein in a misfolded form.[2] This is in contrast to all other known infectious agents, which must contain nucleic acids (either DNA, RNA, or both) along with protein components. The word prion, coined in 1982 by Stanley B. Prusiner, is a portmanteau derived from the words protein and infection.[3] Prions are responsible for the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in a variety of mammals, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, also known as “mad cow disease”) in cattle and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) in humans. All known prion diseases affect the structure of the brain or other neural tissue and all are currently untreatable and universally fatal.[4]

The novel The Ark combines a little history revolving around Noah’s Ark and a lot of action adventure involving a madman whose plan is to destroy mankind except for those he has handpicked to save and restart civilization!

The action starts when archaeologist Dilara Kenner is contacted by Sam Watson an old family friend who says he has information about her missing father.  When Dilara meets Sam at the LA Airport rather than speaking about her father Sam starts talking about Noah’s Ark (her father’s archaeological obsession) and the possible death of billions! Before he is able to fully explain Sam is killed by a mysterious woman. With his dying breaths Sam tells Dilara to find Tyler Locke.

Two days later Dilara finds Locke on an oil rig off Newfoundland. After an attempt on Dilara’s life (her helicopter crashes) and an attempt to blow up the oil rig Locke is convinced that Dilara is in need of help and agrees to help her discover the secret behind Noah’s Ark and her father’s disappearance. Oh, and they also have to save the world from that madman! The more they find out and link together other attacks the more they realize that they have a short time to find this monster and save billions!  And how do prions fit into all this?  Well you ‘ll just have to read the book to find out!

The action is fast and furious and the pages flew by. I liked the lead characters Dilara and Tyler and Tyler’s associates.  The back cover is riddled with quotes from some of my old favorites like James Rollins and Douglas Preston along with  new favorite  Chris Kuzneski. Here’s what James Rollins says:

“Boyd Morrison’s novel is a stunning thriller with a premise as ingenious as it is flawlessly executed. Lightning Paced, chillingly real, here is a novel that will have you holding your breath until the last page is turned. One of the best debuts I’ve read this year.”

So if you want a good read that mixes, history and science and leaves you slightly concerned about the future of mankind,  read The Ark!