I borrowed the audiobook from the library.
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: August 30, 2011
Summary:
With his family caught in the crosshairs of a group of brutal killers, detective Cork O’Connor must solve the murder of a young girl in the latest installment of William Kent Krueger’s unforgettable New York Times bestselling series.
During a houseboat vacation on the remote Lake of the Woods, a violent gale sweeps through unexpectedly, stranding Cork and his daughter, Jenny, on a devastated island where the wind has ushered in a force far darker and more deadly than any storm.
Amid the wreckage, Cork and Jenny discover an old trapper’s cabin where they find the body of a teenage girl. She wasn’t killed by the storm, however; she’d been bound and tortured before she died. Whimpering sounds coming from outside the cabin lead them to a tangle of branches toppled by the vicious winds. Underneath the debris, they find a baby boy, hungry and dehydrated, but still very much alive. Powerful forces intent on securing the child pursue them to the isolated Northwest Angle, where it’s impossible to tell who among the residents is in league with the devil. Cork understands that to save his family he must solve the puzzle of this mysterious child whom death follows like a shadow.
My thoughts:
This is book 11 in the Cork O’Connor series and what I really love about this series is that I never know what to expect when I pick up the next book. I also love that in no way, shape or form are these books formulaic — yes, there is a mystery every time, but that is all that is the same book to book.
I loved that Cork’s family played such a large role in this one…I feel it’s been a while since we’ve seen some of them, especially the girls and Cork’s sister-in-law and so while things got a little hairy for a bit, I still loved that they were all present. I’ve always felt that WKK writes family dynamics so well and we really see that play out here. The storm created such tension and then what comes in the aftermath isn’t that much easier. Between Cork and Jenny finding not only a dead girl but a baby and then the religious fanatics, it really kept things moving and of course Cork gets Henry involved…oh how I love Henry and his wisdom!
As usual, this book had an incredible sense of place and was very atmospheric. It’s one of the things I love most about WKK’s writing – I could easily visualize the island where Cork and Jenny ended up during the storm. And the imagery of the storm itself – the Derecho – was painted so clearly…boy am I glad not to have ever been caught in one of those!
Audio thoughts:
David Chandler narrated this, the same narrator we’ve had all along, and I’m so glad. At this point, I can’t imagine anyone else voicing Cork or the other characters.
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