Broken Fields by Marcie R. Rendon

 

First Line: Cash stepped out of the cab of her Ranchero onto the soft, black dirt of the field she was to plow under.

It's spring in the Red River Valley of 1970s Minnesota, and Cash Blackbear is out working the fields of a local farmer... until she finds him dead in a rented farmhouse on his property. The Native couple renting the house are nowhere to be found, but Cash finds their young daughter, Shawnee, hiding under a bed. Shawnee, a possible witness to the killing, is too terrified to speak.

Cash is suspicious of the farmer's grieving widow, and she spends every spare second scouring the countryside for Shawnee's parents before the little girl is put into the foster care system. When another body turns up, Cash knows she has to find out the truth of what happened in the farmhouse before the clock runs down.

~

Cash Blackbear is a young Ojibwe woman I've come to care about deeply in this series (of now) four books. Broken Fields is a tapestry tightly woven with details of Native American life in northern Minnesota, abusive farm labor practices, and women's liberation. 

Rendon's depiction of the landscape and farming aspects takes me right back to my childhood in a small farm town in central Illinois. Sights, sounds, smells-- Rendon's descriptions are incredibly vivid. 

Equally vivid are her characters. There's Sheriff Wheaton, the great rescuer, who keeps a close eye on Cash and is doing his best to further her education and work experience.  No one wants to see Cash succeed more than he does. But no character shines more brightly than Cash, battle-scarred survivor of the harsh foster system. Her fierce protectiveness of little Shawnee shows how deeply she cares-- and sometimes she cares so deeply that her anger takes control of her actions. After what happened in the previous book (Sinister Graves), Cash doesn't trust her intuition the way she used to. She sleeps with the lights on. She drinks too much. It's been a long time since I've been so invested in a character. I want this young woman to succeed. I want her to thrive. 

And I want this series to continue for a good long time. If you like good mysteries with a strong main character, a superb sense of place, and a writing style that draws you right into the heart of each book, you have to make the acquaintance of Cash Blackbear. Start with the first book, Murder on the Red River. You can thank me later.

Broken Fields by Marcie R. Rendon

eISBN: 9781641296595

Soho Press © 2025

eBook, 272 pages

Historical Mystery, #4 Cash Blackbear

Rating: A+

Source: Net Galley

Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon

 

First Line: Quill ran the snow-covered trail.

 

Ever since she saw Jimmy Sky jump off the railway bridge on the Red Pine Reservation in Minnesota, Quill hasn't stopped running. Now in training for the Boston Marathon, she's running in the woods when she hears a scream that chills her to the bone.

 

When she returns to search the area, all she finds are tire tracks and one beaded earring. Quill is filled with dread for the woman who screamed. She knows what happens to women who look like her. She also knows how fortunate she is. She has two good friends, Punk and Gaylyn, a loving husband, Crow, and two beautiful children. They all challenge her to be the best she can be. So when Quill learns that a second woman has been abducted, she knows she must do something about it.

 

As Quill closes in on the truth about the missing women, someone else disappears. When will she stop losing neighbors, friends, family? She's putting everything on the line to make a difference in this bystander culture... to do something about the long-lasting trauma of being considered invisible.

 

~

 

Just like in Marcie Rendon's hard-hitting Cash Blackbear trilogy (Murder on the Red River, Girl Gone Missing, Sinister Graves), When They Last Saw Her gives readers an unflinching portrait of life on the reservation for Native American women. It's a life filled with danger-- especially when "man camps" for pipeline workers are built on reservation land. Even tribal police don't do their due diligence when Quill reports the heart-stopping scream she heard when out running in the woods. When more women disappear, she and fellow runners must go in groups guarded by husbands, brothers, and boyfriends in pickup trucks. 

Rendon not only paints a portrait of women living in fear, but she also shows us the loving family life Quill has with her husband, Crow, and her two young children. Quill's refusal to "let it go," to let "boys be boys," is admirable and frightening all at the same time. Readers know how easy it would be for her to disappear, too.

Readers can also learn how government policies, like the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, have changed family dynamics within the Native community. Rendon's books are poetic, life-affirming, informative, and compelling. Quill is a force of nature every bit as strong as Cash Blackbear, and I didn't want When They Last Saw Her to end. I can't wait for Rendon's next book.

Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon

eISBN: 9780593496510

Bantam Books © 2024

eBook, 272 pages

 

Amateur Sleuth, Native American Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

Wilderness Vacation by Todd Borg

 

First Line: Josie Strong was holding a fork when it slipped from her fingers and clattered to the floor.

 

UCLA Medieval History professor Josie Strong is one of the few Black women professors in the country. She's made a success of her career, but when her daughter Samantha's friend is murdered and Samantha is thrown into an emotional tailspin, Josie certainly doesn't feel like a success as a mother. 

Josie books a wilderness vacation out of cell phone range to bond with her daughter. What she doesn't realize is that a killer will follow them into the wilderness, and the only thing she has to protect her daughter and herself is her knowledge of medieval weaponry.

~

Since I am a huge fan of Todd Borg's Owen McKenna series set in gorgeous Lake Tahoe, I immediately pre-ordered Wilderness Vacation as soon as I heard about it. Although it took me some time to warm to medieval history professor Josie Strong and her fourteen-year-old daughter, Samantha, I now know that I'm going to enjoy this series.

After all, who wouldn't like a book featuring an out-of-shape medieval history professor whose glasses are always fogging up? Josie is an intelligent woman. She's made a success of her classes by bringing in medieval weaponry to wake up her students and interest them in history; however, I do question her decision to book a vacation in a remote Canadian wilderness area. Neither she nor her daughter has the slightest knowledge of canoeing or how physically demanding it is to carry a canoe and supplies from one lake to another. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Borg is a master at writing thrilling, fast-paced action scenes, and as Josie and Samantha tried to escape a very determined killer through rough terrain, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. The author also has a fondness for dogs-- one that I share-- so it was good to see that these two women soon collected a canine companion. Another thing that I really appreciated is the behavior of the sheriff in the wilderness area. So many authors, in the same circumstances as this sheriff, would have Josie and Samantha treated as prime suspects. Not Borg. His sheriff is intelligent enough to gather all the facts and trust the two-- even though what they did was incredible.

And as the action returns to Los Angeles, another character joins the cast. Cumberland Durand, a former student of Josie's as well as a computer hacker, is an unlikely hero, but his skills shone when he teamed up with Josie and Samantha.

Strong characters, thrilling action, a vivid setting... bring on the next book!

Wilderness Vacation by Todd Borg

eISBN:  9781931296755

Thriller Press © 2024

eBook, 285 pages

Thriller, #1 Josie Strong

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey

 

First Line: That summer, the summer of '77, everything had edges.

 

The summer of 1977 is when everything changes for a group of friends in Pantown, Minnesota. Instead of nighttime swimming parties at the quarry, going to the county fair, and playing games in the tunnels underneath the town, Heather finds herself trapped in a nightmare. 

She and her friend Brenda see something they can't forget. Something they decide never to tell a soul. But then their friend disappears-- the second girl to vanish in a week. What Heather can't understand is why the police don't want to investigate. She's scared to death that the missing girls are connected to what she and Brenda saw that night, so she decides to start looking for answers on her own.

What she learns is that no one in Pantown is who they seem to be. No one. Not the police. Not the boys at the quarry. Not even her parents. But she can't stop digging. Those missing girls are in danger... and she knows that she may be next.

~

When you need to read something that takes your mind off the fact that you're lying in an emergency room bed waiting for test results, pick up a copy of Jess Lourey's The Quarry Girls. In reading the history of "Pantown", Minnesota, I learned that a factory owner built his factory as well as a town for his workers to live in. To prevent any work stoppages during the often brutal winter weather, he also built a series of tunnels between the factory and the housing development. I don't like being underground, so that was the first time my mental "red alert" siren went off. Then I learned that an "underground maze connected everybody's basements." With the addition of a few more little tidbits, my imagination went to town, and I read the rest of the novel feeling-- for the lack of a better term-- creeped out.

The Quarry Girls is told from the point of view of teenage Heather, who has a twelve-year-old sister, Junie, a manic-depressive mother who's zoned out more than she's zoned in, and a father who's the district attorney and spends most of his time at work. Heather has been the real caregiver of the family. She makes sure meals are on the table, the laundry is done, and Junie is doing what she should be, as well as keeping an eye on her mother. This young girl is not only the caregiver of her family but she also feels the need to protect her friends. That's an awful lot of responsibility for such young shoulders.

When her friends go missing, Heather waits for the police to do their job, but when they don't, she starts searching for answers. She must save her friends. The truth that she finds isn't very palatable. The people she thought she knew and could trust aren't who they seem to be. She learns that Pantown is the type of place where "If we didn't like something, we simply didn't see it." The more she learns, the more she realizes that "You can't live in the dark and feel good about yourself." The moment she weighs everything she learns and decides enough is enough almost made me cheer. Heather is that kind of character.

However, The Quarry Girls isn't only about Heather. Throughout the story, readers catch glimpses of a young woman named Beth, who's been kidnapped and knows her time is running out. With the underground layout of Pantown, Heather's search for the truth, and Beth's desperate situation, there were times that I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Lourey did an excellent job of keeping me guessing-- and I didn't always guess correctly. 

If you're in the mood for a thrill ride of a novel, The Quarry Girls just may be the answer for you.                                                                                          

The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey

ASIN: B09G6DMDVR

Thomas & Mercer © 2022

eBook, 335 pages

 

Thriller, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Sinister Graves by Marcie R. Rendon

 

First Line: Cash sat in a battered fishing boat on murky floodwater that was headed to the Red River.

 

When spring flood waters wash the body of a young Native woman ashore, Sheriff Wheaton asks Cash Blackbear for help. The nineteen-year-old Ojibwe woman has helped him in the past, and since she doesn't have any college classes she must attend, she agrees. The only thing that may help identify the body is a piece of folded paper found tucked in the woman's bra. It was ripped from a hymnal and is the words to a song in both English and Ojibwe.

 

Trying to track down information through that piece of paper, Cash finds herself on the doorstep of a rural "speaks in tongues" kind of church led by a charismatic preacher and his shadow of a wife. There's something not-quite-right about that couple, but what Cash finds much more troubling are the two small graves in the churchyard. When another young Native woman dies in mysterious circumstances, Cash knows that she must do whatever needs to be done in order to bring an end to these deaths.

 

~

 

Marcie Rendon has created a series with such authenticity, and such a nuanced main character, that I want it to go on for a good long time. I would recommend these books to anyone who likes a good mystery, a strong main character, a superb sense of place, and a writing style that draws readers right into the heart of each book. You could pick up Sinister Graves and read it without feeling lost, but to get the full effect of Cash Blackbear and the life she's had to lead in the Red River country of 1970s Minnesota and North Dakota, I highly recommend reading the books in order, starting with Murder on the Red River and continuing with Girl Gone Missing.

One of the best things about this series is watching Cash Blackbear's world open before her very eyes. This nineteen-year-old has survived a series of abusive foster parents and back-breaking work as a farmhand (since the age of eleven). Her life only began to take a turn for the better when she became emancipated at the age of sixteen. She's had an apartment of her own since then, and she's been under the caring, watchful eye of Sheriff Wheaton, a man I would love to know more about.

With Wheaton's encouragement, Cash has started going to college. She knows when she must study. She knows when she needs to get her laundry and housecleaning done. She keeps in touch with the farmers in the area so she knows when there will be work, and when she's not driving her Ford Ranchero, she spends the rest of her time shooting pool in a local bar. She's quite good, and the money she wins helps pay the rent. 

Cash is a young woman who knows a lot but doesn't want much. Why dream of things she can't have (or things that will be taken away from her)? This is what her life has taught her so far. But things can change, and they are during the course of this series. Cash has even begun thinking about buying her own house because, if she does, no one can ever tell her to leave. This young woman is sad, sharp, funny, and very intuitive. It's been a pleasure getting to know her.

In Sinister Graves, Cash works to find out what happened to the dead Native girls, and it's not easy. She's going to have to deal with a whole new kind of crazy as she searches for answers. This character and her investigations are so addictive that I can't wait for the next book in the series. Bring it on!

Sinister Graves by Marcie R. Rendon

eISBN: 9781641293846

Soho Press © 2022

eBook, 240 pages

 

Amateur Sleuth, #3 Cash Blackbear mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

 

The Stolen Hours by Allen Eskens

 

First Line: Lila Nash counted her steps as she walked from the kitchen to the bathroom of her apartment.

 

It's been a long, difficult road, but Lila Nash is on the brink of landing her dream job as a prosecutor for Hennepin County, Minnesota. There are just two obstacles in her way: a vindictive boss who's made it his job to force her to quit, and a case with strong ties to Lila's past and the secret she's been hiding for eight lonely years.

Police are convinced that professional photographer Gavin Spencer is responsible for assaulting a Minneapolis woman and then dumping her body in the Mississippi River to drown. Miraculously, the woman survived, and police want to work fast to bring the man to justice. But there's just one problem: no evidence. It's almost as though Gavin Spencer saw what was coming and went to extraordinary lengths to erase every tiny detail that would tie him to the crime.

Lila Nash wants to see Spencer put behind bars for the rest of his life, especially when his name comes up in possible connections to crimes committed in the past, including the attack on Lila that tore her life apart. Lila and the police are going to have to give it everything they've got because the clock is ticking.

 

~

 

As I listened to The Stolen Hours unfold, I was blown away by Allen Eskens' meticulous precision in putting this story together. The excellent misdirection he employed to lead me straight down the garden path to the compost pile. The shifting points of view that gave me so much insight into each character. The way Gavin Spencer saying, "All you had to do was be nice!" made my blood run cold. The way Eskens made me wonder how Lila Nash was going to succeed despite her awful boss.

Allen Eskens has never ever disappointed me with any of his books that I've read. He has an incredible gift for the one-two punch: a fantastic story paired with characters with whom I become emotionally invested. The Stolen Hours is no exception. I wanted Gavin Spencer to learn that he wasn't as smart as he thought he was-- and I wanted Lila Nash to be the person to prove it to him. This book, about victims and the long road to healing and forgiveness that they must travel, is an intellectual and emotional banquet.

 

The Stolen Hours by Allen Eskens

Narrated by MacLeod Andrews, Christine Laken, and Tina Huang.

ASIN: B09DDCXT32

Mulholland Books © 2021

Audiobook. 10 hours 1 minute.

 

Standalone Legal Thriller

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Audible.

Girl Gone Missing by Marcie R. Rendon

 

First Line: Cash pulled herself up and out of her bedroom window.

 

In the Fargo-Moorhead area of the 1970s, the age of peace and love is beginning to wane. Nineteen-year-old Cash Blackbear is in college. Two of her classes are boring; the only two she likes are psychology and judo. If she had her way, she'd just attend those two classes, shoot pool, drink beer, smoke cigarettes, and drive beet trucks for the local farmers. 

 

Then a local teenage girl goes missing, and Cash is troubled by dreams of terrified young girls calling to her for help. She doesn't know exactly what is going on, but she intuitively feels that it's something bad. Things become even more tense when Cash has an unexpected houseguest. It's the brother that she didn't even know was alive; the two were separated as children when they were taken from the reservation and put into foster care.

With the help of her guardian and friend, Sheriff Wheaton-- and possibly even her brother-- will Cash be able to discover the truth about the missing girl... and save her before it's too late?

~

If you want to read and learn about another culture's experiences, I highly recommend that you find Marcie R. Rendon's Cash Blackbear mysteries. You will be taken straight into the life of a young Native American girl in 1970s North Dakota and Minnesota. You will learn what commonly happened to Native Americans at this time and how their lives and hopes and dreams were (almost always) warped by the experiences.

In this second Cash Blackbear mystery, Rendon shines a light on the Indian Adoption Project that was in effect from 1941 to 1967 as well as the plight of missing and murdered indigenous women that still haunts the country to this day. Cash's brother, Mo, is full of surprises and shows us how life was for many returned Vietnam veterans. I think the best part of Girl Gone Missing for me-- outside of the brilliant characterization of Cash herself-- was learning more about her friend and guardian, Sheriff Wheaton. His backstory and motivations make him even more special.

 

There is an inevitability to Girl Gone Missing that is compelling. Even though the missing girls are young and white and blond and blue-eyed, readers feel that Cash will be the exception to the rule... and they will also feel that she will be able to survive whatever experience follows. How she does it is true to her indomitable spirit. No matter how many times she's knocked down, no matter how many times she tells herself not to wish for anything, this young woman will not give up, and I for one will always cheer her on. 

 

The third book in the series, Sinister Graves, will be released in October. I can't wait. Without a doubt, Rendon's Cash Blackbear mysteries are my favorite finds of 2022. Do yourself a favor and grab the first one, Murder on the Red River. How these books can be so bleak yet so full of hope, I'll never know. But I do know that Marcie R. Rendon is an incredibly talented writer, and I want to read more. 

 

Girl Gone Missing by Marcie R. Rendon

eISBN: 9781641293792

Soho Press © 2021

eBook, 214 pages

 

Amateur Sleuth, #2 Cash Blackbear mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

 

First Line: In the beginning, after he labored over the heavens and the earth, the light and the dark, the land and sea and all living things that dwell within, after he created man and woman and before he rested, I believe God gave us one final gift.

 

On the banks of the Gilead River in Minnesota, Lincoln School is home to hundreds of Native American boys and girls who have been separated from their families. It is also home to two orphaned white boys, Odie and Albert. It's 1932. The country is deep in the Depression, and times are hard. They are made even harder by Lincoln School's cruel superintendent, Mrs. Brickman, whom all the students call the Black Witch because of her raven hair and dark eyes. Odie and Albert often find themselves in trouble and being punished by the superintendent, but they've made friends with a mute Native American boy called Mose and Cora Frost, a widowed teacher who's raising her little daughter, Emmy, by herself.

 

When tragedy strikes down Mrs. Frost, Odie and Albert are faced with a momentous decision. The two boys, along with Mose, rescue Emmy and escape in a canoe down the Gilead, leaving a dead body in their wake. All Odie and Albert want to do is make their way to St. Louis to an aunt who lives there. All they want is a place they can call home.  

 

~

 

This Tender Land is so much more than an homage to Huckleberry Finn. William Kent Krueger is so immensely talented at creating living, breathing characters and setting them in a landscape that you can see and hear and touch.

 

Mose's Indian name means "broken to pieces," and so many things are broken to pieces in this marvelous book, first and foremost the lives of the characters. It's how hard they try to put those pieces back together that warms your heart.

 

More and more, I'm coming across books that are set during the Depression. It's such an incredible time period, and Krueger brings it to life. Rootless people with no money, no hope, and no homes. One cataclysm after another that they must endure. No wonder thirteen-year-old Odie believes God is a tornado. Another of the strong elements in This Tender Land is showing what so many children were forced to endure in Indian boarding schools throughout the United States and Canada.

 

With a rock-solid foundation of a setting, I couldn't help but be swept along with those four children in their canoe as they paddled down one river after another. On the run, hungry, scared, encountering people from all walks of life, and being placed in all sorts of situations. Krueger is superb when it comes to depicting the strength of the human spirit and the beauty of the land. If you want to be fully immersed in the next book you read, pick up a copy of This Tender Land.    

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

Narrated by Scott Brick.

ASIN: B07S85YLDY

Recorded Books © 2019

Audiobook. 14  hours and 19 minutes.

 

Historical Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Audible.

Murder on the Red River by Marcie R. Rendon

First Line: Sun-drenched wheat fields.

 

Sheriff Wheaton has kept an eye on Cash Blackbear since he pulled her from her mother's wrecked car at the age of three. Now nineteen, Cash has had her own apartment for two years. She's been working as a farm laborer since the age of eleven and supplements her income by playing pool most nights at the local bars.

 

The sheriff can see how smart Cash is and how much potential she has, but he also knows she has a special gift: she can meditate and have out-of-body experiences that give her uncanny insight. That's why she's standing next to him in a field looking at the body of a dead man.

 

Soon Cash dreams of the dead man's house on the Red Lake Reservation and the wife and children who are waiting for his return. She knows she must go there in order to find out who killed him. What she doesn't know is how dangerous that journey of discovery is going to be.

 

~

 

Author, playwright, and poet Marcie R. Rendon's Murder on the Red River left me speechless at its power. This book should be required reading in our schools because of its authentic portrayal of Native American life. As hurt, as enraged, as I was while reading certain scenes, my emotions could in no way hold a candle to those of Native Americans who have actually lived through what is depicted in this book.

While important, the death of the man found in the field often takes a backseat to Cash's life story. She's survived a succession of foster homes, beginning work as a farm laborer at the age of eleven and getting her own apartment at the age of seventeen. Now nineteen, this five foot two woman with (as she tells us) black hair down to the bottom of her butt doesn't expect anything from life. If she doesn't need it, she doesn't buy it-- the cigarettes and beer she's smoked and drank since the age of eleven she considers necessities. She is very attuned to the land and nature because "the land had never hurt her or left her." She is a small, fierce bundle of rage, and as her story unfolds, readers understand why even though they may wish she could control herself better for her own safety. When she learns that there are seven orphans that will become a part of the foster care system, she rages, "You know, every one of these farmers is working our land. They got it for free. The government gave them our land for free... And now they'll have seven more farm laborers to work our land for them...for free." Cash doesn't want the same thing happening to those seven children that happened to her. 

The legal kidnapping of Native children into the government foster care system is injustice at its finest (worst?), and through Cash, Rendon makes us feel every bit of it. Cash thinks about many things. Of working in the fields since the age of eleven. Of both her parents running away from government boarding schools. Of Native women fake speaking Spanish in order to be allowed into bars. It's 1970, and something called the American Indian Movement is beginning to be heard from, but Cash has also signed up for junior college. What's she going to do? 

 

I can't wait to find out in the next book in this series, Girl Gone Missing. What a book! What a character!

 

Murder on the Red River by Marcie R. Rendon

eISBN: 9781641293778

Soho Press © 2021

Originally published 2017.

eBook, 202 pages

 

Amateur Sleuth, #1 Cash Blackbear mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger

 

First Line: Cork O'Connor first heard the story of the Windigo in the fall of 1963 when he hunted the big bear with Sam Winter Moon.

 

Cork O'Connor loses his job as sheriff of a small Minnesota town after a confrontation between whites and Native Americans on the nearby reservation causes him to shoot a local white resort owner. The loss of his job also led to the loss of his marriage. 

Even though he's begun a new relationship with Molly Nurmi, he hasn't lost hope of rebuilding his marriage-- primarily because of his children.

When a judge commits suicide and a local boy goes missing, Cork finds himself drawn to investigate regardless of the fact that there's a new sheriff in town. The long-buried secrets he's going to find are going to ignite a powder keg.

~

Having seen William Kent Krueger several times at events held at my local independent bookstore, I've always intended to read his Cork O'Connor 0mysteries-- especially since I loved his book, Ordinary Grace. A few years have passed since I first had that intention, so it was time to pry that particular paving stone out of my personal Highway to Hades. 

Iron Lake is the first Cork O'Connor mystery and introduces us primarily to Cork, his estranged wife, Jo, his girlfriend, Molly, and his mentor, Sam Winter Moon. Cork is one-quarter Native American, and I loved the way Krueger wove the Ojibwe and Anishinaabe culture and folklore into the story. The winter landscape of northern Minnesota also figured prominently, and I don't think anyone is ever going to be able to convince me that sweating myself silly in a sauna and then running out and jumping into a lake through a hole in the ice is a fun thing to do.

The mystery is solid, and the pacing is steady and true as Cork works his way through all the secrets that have been kept over the years by several of the townspeople. Some extremely suspenseful situations and a chase over the lake ice kept me glued to the story.

Was there anything that I didn't care for? Yes. The two women were a bit too stereotypical for me. Jo was such a "wronged woman" that I rolled my eyes so far back in my head that they almost stuck. As for Molly, she was the typical love interest of the hero. Even though I hate to admit it, I never really warmed up to Cork himself, and I'm not sure why. As much as I did like Iron Lake, I can certainly see myself reading the next book in the series to see if Mr. O'Connor improves upon acquaintance.

Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger

Narrated by David Chandler

ASIN: B003NGXOQ0

Recorded Books © 2010

Audiobook. 11 hours, 57 minutes.

 

Law Enforcement, #1 Cork O'Connor mystery

Rating: B

Source: Purchased from Audible.

Wolfman by Stanley Trollip

 

First Line: It was a cold Monday morning when Crystal Nguyen finally made up her mind to resign.

 

When her career doesn't move as quickly as she wants it to, young investigative reporter Crystal Nguyen decides on a risky approach: to create the news and then report on it. Her reporting goes viral when she suggests that there may be someone out there-- possibly part of the Hunt-the-Hunter movement-- who is determined to go after poachers who are killing Minnesota's endangered gray wolves. Crystal gives the person a name, Wolfman, and the television station's ratings soar. 

 

Then a man is shot, and Crystal begins to worry that she's created a copycat, someone intent on punishing poachers-- possibly even killing them. Now she has to downplay the Wolfman and try to convince the copycat to stop. But this only angers him. He feels betrayed, and now he's after Crystal.

 

~

 

I first met Crystal Nguyen in Dead of Night written by the writing team known as Michael Stanley. In Wolfman, one half of that writing team, Stanley Trollip, has written a prequel, telling Crystal's story prior to Dead of Night. 

 

In Dead of Night, I had some problems with Crystal Nguyen, and after reading this book, I don't think I'll ever be her BFF; she's just too self-centered and impulsive even if her heart is in the right place. Crystal wants to be an environmental investigative reporter for National Geographic, but she goes out of her way in Wolfman to jeopardize her chances. Career in television not moving fast enough to suit you? Well then, just create your own news and report it. What could possibly go wrong? 

 

In the first half of this book, Crystal spends too much time jumping in without thinking, and then she doesn't like the  consequences. Like most young people, she also thinks she's ten feet tall and bulletproof. Time and again, her actions put her in danger. A friend finally has to get in her face and say, "I don't think you get it. Just because you are in the right, doesn't make you safe!"

Did my opinion of Crystal ruin the book for me? Not at all. I was thrilled to see that she actually did some growing up in the second half, and I really liked her attitude toward what she'd done. Sharing Crystal's relationship with a gray wolf she named Alfie also went a long way in helping me understand her. 

Besides trying to solve the mystery, I quickly learned to look forward to Crystal's biathlon scenes, which both illuminated her character and added depth and excitement to the story.

Will we be seeing Crystal Nguyen again? I don't know. One thing I do know is that, if she does make another appearance, I'll undoubtedly read it. I may not particularly like her, but I do like reading about the trouble she gets herself into in her quest to save the natural world.

Wolfman by Stanley Trollip

ISBN: 9780997968965

White Sun Books © 2021

Paperback, 246 pages

 

Thriller, Crystal Nguyen prequel

Rating: B+

Source: the author 

The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens

First Line: I raise the ax handle for the third time and my arm disobeys me.

Homicide detective Max Rupert has never stopped grieving for his wife. He's never accepted her death, even when he believed she was the victim of a hit-and-run driver. When Max learns that Jenni was murdered, he goes off the rails. 

Now he's got to balance his workload and tap dance around an impossible superior officer while he devotes himself to hunting down the people responsible for killing his wife. All this leads him to a frozen lake on the border of Minnesota and Canada where he will make decisions that will change his life.

I've been a fan of Allen Eskens' mysteries since the very first one, The Life We Bury. The four books so far are all loosely gathered around the character of Max Rupert. Readers have seen what a decent, dedicated, hard-working man he is from one book to the next, and now in The Deep Dark Descending, we all have front-row seats to watch what grief and rage can do to such a good man. 

The mystery is solid. Why on earth would anyone want to kill a woman who dedicated herself to helping endangered children? The official case Rupert is involved in deals with catching a man who killed a woman, put her body in a minivan, and then set the vehicle on fire. The two cases are a study in contrasts because the minivan murderer could easily be eligible for a Darwin Award. 

As with all of Eskens' mysteries so far, these books are about much more than merely figuring out whodunit. They are rich character studies. In The Deep Dark Descending, Max Rupert's descent into uncontrollable vengeance is told in two converging, clearly marked storylines. We see Max on that frozen lake at the Canadian border, and we watch Max in Minneapolis during the days leading up to his journey north. This is compelling storytelling that often elicits strong emotional responses. 

I look forward to Allen Eskins' next book with a great deal of anticipation. This man can write.

The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens

ISBN: 9781633883550

Seventh Street Books © 2017

Paperback, 285 pages

Police Procedural, #4 Max Rupert mystery

Rating: A

Source: the publisher

Shadow Girl by Gerry Schmitt

First Line: Mom Chao Cherry hunched forward in a broken wicker chair and stared anxiously across the Mississippi River toward the University of Minnesota campus.

A millionaire who made his fortune launching a home shopping network sees all his hopes dashed when the helicopter carrying his donor heart is shot out of the sky. Family liaison officer Afton Tangler and her partner find themselves investigating family members and business associates-- anyone who could want the man dead. They discover that he wasn't as squeaky clean as he was portrayed. He crossed the wrong person-- and revenge will be carried out until the killer is completely satisfied. If Afton isn't careful, she's going to wind up as collateral damage.

I found Gerry Schmitt's first Afton Tangler thriller (Little Girl Gone) to be quite good-- and much more to my liking than the cozy mysteries she writes as Laura Childs. I was eager to read this second book in the series, and I was not disappointed. Shadow Girl is a tense, fast-paced mystery with an appealing main character.

Afton Tangler wants with all her heart to be a detective, but her superiors keep making excuses even though they keep assigning her to work with Max, a seasoned homicide detective. Excuses or not, Afton's family liaison skills come in handy during investigations: she has a knack for calming distraught people and getting them to open up to her.

This case takes us all over the Minneapolis - St. Paul area. We know the identities of the bad guys, the trick is in apprehending them all. Shadow Girl is filled with good action sequences, and although there is violence, it is never graphic. Schmitt knows how to let readers' imaginations do most of the work.

I enjoy the rapport Afton has with Max. It's an important relationship, since Max has a lot to teach this wannabe detective. The investigation may be deadly serious, but there are flashes of humor throughout, and Bonaparte the dog has is a moment or two in the spotlight.

Something that's said at the end of Shadow Girl lets readers know that things will be changing for Afton in the next book. Afton is a strong, intelligent woman who deserves to be a detective. I'm looking forward to finding out what's in store for her in book number three.

Shadow Girl by Gerry Schmitt

ISBN: 9780425281789

Berkley © 2017

Hardcover, 320 pages

Police Procedural, #2 Afton Tangler mystery

Rating: A

Source: the publisher

Escape Clause by John Sandford

First Line: Peck popped a Xanax, screwed the cap back on the pill tube, peered over the top of the bush and through the chain-link fence, and in a hoarse whisper, asked, "You see the other one?"

A pair of large and very rare Amur tigers have vanished from their cage in the Minnesota Zoo, and authorities are afraid they've been stolen for their body parts, which are prized in traditional Chinese home remedies.

When BCA agent Virgil Flowers is assigned to the case, he almost heaves a sigh of relief. His relationship with Frankie has been heating up, but Frankie's sister Sparkle is complicating matters. Sparkle is also working on a research project concerning immigrant workers which is guaranteed to be unpopular with some very violent people. Angry tigers... or angry Frankie? Virgil knows which one he'd rather face.

Shortly after the tigers are stolen in Escape Clause, one of the thieves makes a remark about the female which provided so much anticipation that it lasted throughout the book and helped me ignore my intense dislike of so-called medicine that relies on exterminating the wildlife of this planet.  

This was my first foray into Sandford's Virgil Flowers series, and I enjoyed the humor and the character of Virgil. I liked his quick, logical thinking and the way he got the investigation in high gear with very little fuss. It was also a pleasure to see that various law enforcement agencies could actually work together harmoniously for a common aim.

The pace did bog down a bit when Flowers had to wait for the bad guy-in-chief to come unglued and make more mistakes, but then there was Sparkle to worry about. Sparkle had a typical young person's lack of vision, with no concept of what her dissertation was getting her (and others) into.

Yes, indeed. I enjoyed my first visit with Virgil Flowers, and I'm sure that there will be more in the future.
     

Escape Clause by John Sandford

ISBN: 9780399168918

G.P. Putnam's Sons © 2016

Hardcover, 400 pages

Police Procedural, #9 Virgil Flowers mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen. 


 

The Heavens May Fall by Allen Eskens

First Line: The courtroom had fallen quiet, the judge's words lost behind a low hum that droned in Max Rupert's ears.

Minneapolis Detective Max Rupert is convinced that Jennavieve Pruitt was killed by her husband Ben. His longtime friend, attorney Boady Sanders, is convinced that Ben is innocent-- so much so that he is now Ben's lawyer. As both the case and the trial unfold, Max and Boady find themselves being put through a wringer.

For Max, this case is stirring up memories of the death of his beloved wife. For Boady, it's the first time he's taken on a defense case since the death of an innocent client. With student Lila Nash's help, Boady is determined to redeem himself for his past failure.

Told from two differing points of view, author Allen Eskens takes characters from his previous two novels (The Life We Bury, The Guise of Another) and weaves some literary magic. The title is from a Latin phrase: Fiat justitia ruat caelum-- Do justice though the heavens may fall. Max and Boady are both men who are committed to justice. When Boady explains the phrase ("If a person is ever presented with the choice, that person must always do what is right even though it may bring on great personal loss"), I got chills. Both men are capable of putting it all on the line to do the right thing, and they're on opposite sides in this case. What is going to happen?

I like Eskens' approach to writing a series. It's not exactly linear. Instead, he takes characters from previous books and puts them in different pairings and different scenarios in each successive book. It works. The writing is elegant, tightly woven, and swift moving. Moreover, if you're a character-driven reader, you're going to love him. Eskens' characters are flawed yet strong, and their emotional turmoil can be as visceral as a punch in the gut. It's altogether too easy for me to put myself in Max and Boady's shoes and feel everything that they do. I become lost in the world the author has created.

The story is brilliantly told. The two points of view do double duty: letting readers know what Max and Boady are doing while keeping us off-balance. And the ending? You're just not quite sure how things are going to turn out until they actually do.  Allen Eskens is a lawyer who knows how to write, and he has the awards to prove it. (With more to come if I'm not mistaken!) Do yourself a favor and read him!
  

The Heavens May Fall by Allen Eskens

ISBN: 9781633882058

Seventh Street Books © 2016

Paperback, 297 pages

Legal Thriller, #3 Max Rupert

Rating: A+

Source: Amazon Vine