Reviews

A Cold-Blooded Business, by Dana Stabenow

bibliobabe94's review

4.0

Kate takes on The Slope. Another wonderful story weaving in tradition and the importance of honoring the past.

vgillispie's review against another edition

4.0

Again, I get to visit a world totally unlike my own—this time an Alaskan oil extraction company and their cocaine and turtle races. And lots of punching and frostbite! Fun fun fun.

martha_w's review against another edition

4.0

Prudhoe Bay was certainly a fascinating setting for this one. I could have done without most of the scenes outside of Prudhoe (or, really, they could have been good if Stabenow had spend more time on them, they seemed wedged in for a bit of continuity). All in all, a thoroughly entertaining read.

nocto's review

I'm up to the fourth installment in the Kate Shugak series; in this episode Kate is working undercover on the Trans-Alaska pipeline way north of the Arctic Circle, she's trying to discover who is importing and dealing cocaine on the oil companies property.

These books are a really quick easy read, this one only comes in at just over 200 pages in paperback, but they've got far more substance to them than many thicker tomes have and I'm really surprised how much interesting stuff is packed between the covers. Kate has a habit of forgetting what she's supposed to be looking into but the rather minimal mystery plot isn't a problem because it gives Stabenow enough breathing space to explore other things: Kate's Aleut heritage, life on the pipeline (a lot cushier than I'd have thought and definitely a step up from the last book where she Kate was working on a crab fishing boat), archaeology in the Arctic, and so on.

This was definitely the best in the series so far and I'm pleased I have further to go with this series than I've come.

luffy79's review against another edition

4.0

It's a return to form, thrice welcome, that I celebrate. I didn't lose faith in this series. After the previous book got one star, I kept my faith and my peace and waited while reading this book - what will happen?

How will I review the book? How will I understand the geopolitics of the book? How will I cope with references that I don't understand?

Despite such lapses in memory, concentration, and understanding, I made amends with this series. I'm very optimistic about what is going to be a great series and I revel in the superior quality over most pulp literature.

amanda31's review

4.0

Well done and thankfully the ending does not follow suit with the first in the series. Off to the next!

tctimlin's review

3.0

the best of the Kate Shugak adventures yet. I would like to know why her grandmother showed up in Anchorage, though. also, I have now read books 1-4, yet still feel in need of a prequel because there is so much backstory to Kate's life (and Jack's) that I find myself saying "huh?" an awful.lot.

emjrey's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

scwmoore's review

4.0

Another very good novel in the series by Stabenow. Marguerite Gavin is the narrator, and she is very good also.
4 stars, and recommended.

littlemainelibrarian's review

5.0

I am so enjoying this series! I don't think I've ever read them in order, just one or two here and there. I love the heroine and I always learn so much about Alaska! A really terrific mystery series!