jolie3467's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bethanyhyde's review against another edition
3.0
I love the characters in this series and learning more about the Native American tribes in northern Minnesota. The plot in this one seemed implausible and over complicated.
bookhawk's review against another edition
3.0
Desolation Mountain returns Cork and his family to northern Minnesota and the roots of the series. Stephen plays a bigger role and demonstrates more capabilities. I enjoyed this book far more than Sulfur Springs but less than earlier books in the series. While this book is a solid 3.5 stars, the books are tighter and better in this series when they relate to local things rather than bringing in ties to defense contractors and foreign affairs.
chazmo1431's review against another edition
5.0
William Krueger is one of the best authors I have read. This book is excellent as are all his books. If you have not read the Corcoran O'Connor mysteries series, put this on your bucket list.
achoward's review against another edition
2.0
Cork O'Connor and his family are back in Desolation Mountain, the newest release in the series. A plane carrying a senator and her family goes down in Tamarack County. Cork and son Stephen - who has had the same, recurring vision about an eagle being shot out of the sky by a young boy and an egg falling from it - end up at the crash scene. Various locals, including two tribe members who were the first to report seeing the plane go down, and Sheriff Marsha Dross and her people are at scene, but told to either go home (in the case of the locals) or back to their station (in the case of the local law enforcement). The official government entities, spooky quasi-government entities, and a private investigator known to Cork but with a hidden agenda are all present. Then the locals who were at the scene start vanishing and Cork realizes there's more afoot than meets the eye. He, Stephen, his son-in-law Daniel, and some other men start their own investigation, racing to find the truth and the abducted locals.
I've noticed of late that a number of the books I've read seem to be written with an eye toward the big screen. I don't know if it's just me or that really is the case, but this seemed to be yet another one, in my eyes. A convoluted story, a bunch of characters, spooky military people: it could easily be adapted for the screen.
At stake in the book is the reopening of an iron mine in the area, with half the locals against it for the obvious environmental reasons, and the other half in favor for the obvious economic reasons. It's clear that Very Big Interests want it opened, and that's probably why the plane was shot down.
But none of it makes sense - except Stephen's recurring vision, which he relates to Henry, the Ojibwe midi who is his mentor. I'm going to put the next part in spoilers.
The vision opened the book, and as soon as the plane went down, I connected the dots. It wasn't particularly difficult to understand the egg was the flight recorder and the boy an actual boy who witnessed it. It was, as usual, nice to watch Cork & Co. run around, putting everything together, getting into run-ins with the military people, etc., but it wasn't as an immersive experience as previous books have been.
It also strains credulity to think the media, both domestic and foreign, whouldn't have been all over this event. But in the book, you'd think they barely existed: they weren't crawling all over the mountains, they weren't camped out in a situation room set up by the local SO or FBI or NTSB. Nothing. In addition, the cheesy, mean, mission-centered military guy and his equally rigid and seemingly psychopathic bitch of a second in command were just over the top.
And that bitch brings up another issue I've also been noticing more lately: in books like this, or Steve Hamilton's Dead Man Running, the women are not characters in the same sense that Cork (in this instance) is: they exist to be ball-breaking parodies of their tough guy male counterparts, or victims of crimes, or to hang around and do things like cook meals or take care of people, or as a means to give information so the author doesn't have to info dump. This book has them all. It doesn't bother me in the sense of "I'll never read another book by this author" way, but it does bug me. And there was no mention at all (not that I recall) of Cork's other daughter. Not even a call after seeing the news?
I've been wondering when Kreuger was going to kill off Henry, and I suppose the ending of this book means that will be coming sooner rather than later. That's too bad, as he's become such an essential part of these stories that I'm not certain they can be as good as they are without him in them as a grounding point.
Overall, if you've read to #16, you'll read this one at #17 - it's almost an inevitability if you're anything like me. Perhaps you'll like it more than I did, and I hope you do.
Moderately recommended.
I've noticed of late that a number of the books I've read seem to be written with an eye toward the big screen. I don't know if it's just me or that really is the case, but this seemed to be yet another one, in my eyes. A convoluted story, a bunch of characters, spooky military people: it could easily be adapted for the screen.
At stake in the book is the reopening of an iron mine in the area, with half the locals against it for the obvious environmental reasons, and the other half in favor for the obvious economic reasons. It's clear that Very Big Interests want it opened, and that's probably why the plane was shot down.
But none of it makes sense - except Stephen's recurring vision, which he relates to Henry, the Ojibwe midi who is his mentor. I'm going to put the next part in spoilers.
Spoiler
The vision opened the book, and as soon as the plane went down, I connected the dots. It wasn't particularly difficult to understand the egg was the flight recorder and the boy an actual boy who witnessed it. It was, as usual, nice to watch Cork & Co. run around, putting everything together, getting into run-ins with the military people, etc., but it wasn't as an immersive experience as previous books have been.
It also strains credulity to think the media, both domestic and foreign, whouldn't have been all over this event. But in the book, you'd think they barely existed: they weren't crawling all over the mountains, they weren't camped out in a situation room set up by the local SO or FBI or NTSB. Nothing. In addition, the cheesy, mean, mission-centered military guy and his equally rigid and seemingly psychopathic bitch of a second in command were just over the top.
And that bitch brings up another issue I've also been noticing more lately: in books like this, or Steve Hamilton's Dead Man Running, the women are not characters in the same sense that Cork (in this instance) is: they exist to be ball-breaking parodies of their tough guy male counterparts, or victims of crimes, or to hang around and do things like cook meals or take care of people, or as a means to give information so the author doesn't have to info dump. This book has them all. It doesn't bother me in the sense of "I'll never read another book by this author" way, but it does bug me. And there was no mention at all (not that I recall) of Cork's other daughter. Not even a call after seeing the news?
I've been wondering when Kreuger was going to kill off Henry, and I suppose the ending of this book means that will be coming sooner rather than later. That's too bad, as he's become such an essential part of these stories that I'm not certain they can be as good as they are without him in them as a grounding point.
Overall, if you've read to #16, you'll read this one at #17 - it's almost an inevitability if you're anything like me. Perhaps you'll like it more than I did, and I hope you do.
Moderately recommended.
msseviereads's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoy this character and the story. I haven't read all the books in the series, and it is nice to be able to jump into a story without reading the whole thing.
petelefeet's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0