A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Edgar Award-winning author William Kent Krueger delivers another heart-pounding thriller filled with “dynamic action scenes” (The New York Times) as Cork O’Connor and his son Stephen work together to uncover the truth behind the death of a senator on Desolation Mountain and the mysterious disappearances of several first responders. There are more things in heaven and … responders.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
To Stephen O’Connor, Hamlet’s dour observation is more than just words. All his life, he has had visions of tragedies to come. When he experiences the vision of a great bird shot from the sky, he knows something terrible is about to happen. The crash of a private plane on Desolation Mountain in a remote part of the Iron Lake Reservation, which kills a United States senator and most of her family, confirms Stephen’s worst fears.
Stephen joins his father, Cork O’Connor and a few Ojibwe men from the nearby Iron Lake reservation to sift through the smoldering wreckage when the FBI arrives and quickly assumes control of the situation. As he initiates his own probe, Cork stumbles upon a familiar face in Bo Thorson, a private security consultant whose unnamed clients have hired him to look quietly into the cause of the crash. The men agree to join forces in their investigation, but soon Cork begins to wonder if Thorson’s loyalties lie elsewhere.
Roadblocked by lies from the highest levels of government, uncertain who to trust, and facing growing threats the deeper they dig for answers, Cork, Stephen, and Bo finally understand that to get to the truth, they will have to face the great menace, a beast of true evil lurking in the woods–a beast with a murderous intent of unimaginable scale. Krueger delivers yet another “punch-to-the-gut blend of detective story and investigative fiction” (Booklist, starred review).
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Kent Krueger does it again with another quality addition to his Cork O’Conner series. The set-up calls upon the real-life death of Senator Paul Wellstone as the United States voted to authorize war in Iraq, but Krueger makes it his own. I love the characters in this series, and they get deeper in each book.
I love this writer and all of his books. Just when you think there could be no more stories for this family to tell out comes a new book.
BEST KRUEGER WORK YET
I just finished William Kent Krueger’s newest entry in the Cork O’Connor series, Desolation Mountain. I have to say this is his best work yet and I don’t say that lightly. I must confess Krueger is one of my favorite authors and I’ve read quite a few of his works. I particularly liked Blood Hollow, Trickster’s Point and Windigo Island. I was especially impressed with Sulfur Ridge and found it not only engaging reading, but also noticed it held clear insights into the issue of immigration. Desolation Mountain takes all this one step higher.
What begins as a tragic plane crash becomes one of the most enigmatic episodes in the North Woods, with soldiers with mysterious markings descending on the area and roping off the disaster site. Then the FBI muscles their way in. One by one, the volunteers from the Alouette reservation and town, who were the first on site after the crash, including Cork’s son Steven and his son-in-law Daniel, start going missing. Cork combines efforts with an old colleague, Bo Thorson, who’s investigating the incident for an unknown client, to get to answers to questions. What if the plane crash wasn’t an accident? Who is behind the paramilitary group controlling the mountain? What are they so desperate to find that they will attack, kidnap and even kill anyone who stands in their way?
Desolation Mountain has all the great hallmarks of Krueger’s fine writing—incredible descriptions of the remarkable scenery of the mountain and the North Woods, an intriguing puzzle and memorable characters. One trick Krueger pulls off better than almost any other author is that even his minor characters, like Ned Love and Winston Goodsky, are complex, textured individuals who contribute in important ways to the narrative. But the last few chapters about did me in. They were some of the most tension-filled and chilling pages I’ve read.
All the way around, characters, plot, setting, theme—Desolation Mountain is Krueger best to date, and that’s saying quite a lot.
This book features a protagonist, Cork O-Connor, that William Kent Kruger has featured in earlier books, and picking up a book later in the series is always tricky, will I catch the nuance needed to appreciate the full story? But, now I’m hooked and will go back to the beginning. A great hook!
William Kent Krueger is such a wonderful author with great descriptions, hard to figure out mysteries and great characters. I love all his novels may they be in a series or stand alone books. The writing style is unbelievable!
I loved the setting, but more importantly, I loved the story.
It all seems to begin with a troubling vision Stephen O’Connor has that is burdening him. He seeks answers from Henry Meloux but when a plane carrying their US Senator crashes on nearby Desolation Mountain, Stephen believes that event is connected to what he’s seen. When he, Cork and his brother-in-law Daniel English head to the crash site to help search for survivors, that sets off a chain of dangerous reactions.
I so love this series with its strong sense of setting expertly connected with the indigenous Anishinaabe culture. I’m 17 books in and continue to learn about the region and customs. The characters have evolved so naturally, especially Stephen as he embraces his heritage and attempts to find his way into his own identity. Cork is also learning how to parent his now adult children and his joy in helping raise his grandson, Waaboo, is just lovely. These are the subtler and finer points of the story in the midst of a confounding, suspenseful mystery. While the plane crash brought out every alphabet agency, all trying to assert their authority, there were rogue operators in their midst who weren’t above taking drastic measures to forward their agenda.
This was an extremely puzzling mystery, moreso because you really couldn’t figure out the good guys. Tip of the hat to the author for inserting some of the sentiments currently dividing our country without taking a point of view and making it relevant to the people in this Minnesota region. It rang so authentic and was in keeping with the characters we’ve come to know. For me, the narrator, David Chandler, has become an integral part of this series. He’s just wonderful and I’ll always listen to these stories. I loved everything about this one, even the awful parts because they kept this true and authentic.
Another page-turner!
The imaginery and character development take me away to the northern region of MN every time. A great wat to leave home from the comfort of your favorite reading spot.
Have read all books by this author. Feel as though I’m friends with the characters.
Another of the Cork O’Conner series. Excellent, as usual.
Good read
This is about average for the WKK series. Decent plotting, good character development of the main characters, and a couple of good plot twists. The plot is a bit of a reach, but that is what suspension of disbelief is for. The author brought back Bo Thorsen, who was the protagonist in the stand alone “The Devil’s Bed” but he remained obscure and distant throughout the book. Insightful social commentary about mining and poverty on the reservation.
It’s just another left wing slant of a book on mining in Minnesota. His last two books have just been politicsal statements I used to by his books as they were about Minnesota and family, now he has twisted his good writing for political grandstanding in a suttle way. Go back to writing intertlaning stories. Won’t buy another book from him!
One of his best
Have read all of William Kent Krueger’s books. Although I really enjoyed this one, I did not think it was one of his best. Too much government conspiracy to which we are powerless for me, although that may be true. Who knows?
I always look for to this author’s new releases. Cork O’Connor and his family have become almost like family to me. Fast, interesting read.