terrik_409's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Although written years ago the events in the book are timely given the rise in Christian fundamentalism. This book also doesn't have a neat ending.
Spoiler
Although Mutt doesn't die she does get injured and there is another dog death.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
katkinney's review against another edition
3.0
This is the fifth book in the Kate Shugak series. Kate, a former investigator for the Anchorage DA’s office, is picking mushrooms in an area of the forest formerly devastated by forest fire, when she discovers a body. She is then hired by a local kid to find his missing dad and it doesn’t take long to put the pieces together that the missing body is his dad. I am enjoying this series for the in-depth descriptions of life in Alaska and way the author brings the setting (different in each book) to life. This was not probably my favorite book in the series. Religious fundamentalist cultists take up most of the narrative, which quickly grew tiresome. 3/5 stars.
marilynsaul's review against another edition
4.0
May not be everyone's cup of tea as Stabenow lets loose on Evangelical religion, but I enjoyed it :-)
rclz's review against another edition
4.0
It was Kate so I liked it as always but it also didn't end in a way that I liked. It made sense and all the lose ends were tied up but......
Marguerite Gavin did her usual wonderful job narrating.
I do wish these were coming out quicker. The last one was last August and now this one in March. Hope we get another in August.
Marguerite Gavin did her usual wonderful job narrating.
I do wish these were coming out quicker. The last one was last August and now this one in March. Hope we get another in August.
nikchick's review against another edition
4.0
I almost skipped this book because of the negative reviews I skimmed on Goodreads. I am glad I didn't. Each book in the series reveals more of Kate's past, fleshes out the secondary characters in the book and builds on the happenings in previous stories and this novel was no different. Most of the negative reviews, it turns out, are from people made uncomfortable by the casting of a reclusive community of fundamentalist evolution-denying book burners in a villainous light, or the characters' meditations on how the Christian religion affected native populations (through boarding schools, through missionaries insisting cultural iconography equaled blasphemy and idolatry) and the book's secondary cast members. For some reason the previous books focusing on corrupt environmental practices or Kate's prolonged musings about the seduction of working the oil fields never caused a spate of reviews asking why the author has such an axe to grind, but make a fringe religious group the baddies and readers suddenly get the vapors. Well, I had no such reaction and look forward to more Kate Shugak in my future.
vgillispie's review against another edition
5.0
This book in the series is more meditative and less plot driven, but I really liked it. The descriptions of the natural environment are, as usual, incredible, but I also thought Kate’s reflections on coming from an indigenous community to an Anglo-university as a teen to be fascinating.
martha_w's review against another edition
4.0
Mushrooms, forest fires, extremist religious communities, and the Alaskan bush. Another fun read with some interesting discussion about religion.
nocto's review against another edition
Though it's the fifth in the series this is the first of the Kate Shugak books, which are set in Alaska, to be set somewhere where it isn't freezing cold. I enjoyed the change in scenery and seeing what Alaska is like when it isn't snowing. In fact in this book Kate stumbles upon a body while picking mushrooms on the site of a forest fire. The transistion from snow to fire works very well for me, it brought out a different side of the series characters.
In this book despite having less of a mystery to solve than has been the case before Kate seemed to be more involved and more interested in finding out the answers. This is all in character because she wasn't really employed as an investigator in this one, she was running off on more of a personal hunch for much of the book. Curiously the transistion from a professional to a near amateur made this book work better for me as a mystery than some of the earlier books. There was more logic to Kate's actions here I think.
I liked the viewpoint that the book took on fundamentalist religion and it's imposition on scientific teachings, you'd probably want to avoid this book if you're a die hard ceationist or can't see the other side of religious arguments. My line to take away from this book concerns the "Red Queen Theory of Religion": try to believe six impossible things before breakfast, it'll get you in practice for the Virgin Birth and the Second Coming.
The story telling and the characterisation are both improving as this series goes on. This book is more substantial in both plot and pages than it's predecessors. I'm glad that I have several more to read.
In this book despite having less of a mystery to solve than has been the case before Kate seemed to be more involved and more interested in finding out the answers. This is all in character because she wasn't really employed as an investigator in this one, she was running off on more of a personal hunch for much of the book. Curiously the transistion from a professional to a near amateur made this book work better for me as a mystery than some of the earlier books. There was more logic to Kate's actions here I think.
I liked the viewpoint that the book took on fundamentalist religion and it's imposition on scientific teachings, you'd probably want to avoid this book if you're a die hard ceationist or can't see the other side of religious arguments. My line to take away from this book concerns the "Red Queen Theory of Religion": try to believe six impossible things before breakfast, it'll get you in practice for the Virgin Birth and the Second Coming.
The story telling and the characterisation are both improving as this series goes on. This book is more substantial in both plot and pages than it's predecessors. I'm glad that I have several more to read.
luffy79's review against another edition
3.0
This was a book without a clever twist in sight. Yet it was qualified enough to engage my mind. I'm sure there are people who dislike the book. Or adore it. I give it 3 stars because there are some boring bits in the book.
I don't remember the entire cast of characters in this book, because I gave reading it a break at one point. I think the background of science vs religion was something that needs to happen only once in this series.
The murder of a nude man in nightmarish conditions is difficult to write about. Not because it's hard, but because it requires talent of the type that needs to be just right enough not to look artificial. A bash on the head resulting in death is a cozy mystery. A book like this is what? I don't really know.
I don't remember the entire cast of characters in this book, because I gave reading it a break at one point. I think the background of science vs religion was something that needs to happen only once in this series.
The murder of a nude man in nightmarish conditions is difficult to write about. Not because it's hard, but because it requires talent of the type that needs to be just right enough not to look artificial. A bash on the head resulting in death is a cozy mystery. A book like this is what? I don't really know.