Copper River

June 12, 2006
On the run from anonymous contract killers, ex-sheriff Cork O'Connor goes to ground in a remote corner of Michigan's Upper Peninsula in Krueger's subdued sixth thriller. In the 10 days since the end of Mercy Falls
(2005), Cork has picked up a gunshot wound to the leg. His widowed veterinarian cousin, Jewell DuBois, is able to install a Penrose drain, leaving Cork largely immobilized. Cork's friend, security specialist Dina Willner, appears to watch his back, yet most of the plot shifts away from potential shootouts with hit men to Jewell's 13-year-old son, Ren; Ren's tomboy pal, Charlie; and the corpse of a teenage girl found floating in the Copper River. As usual, Krueger conveys a solid sense of place, the woodlands near the shore of Lake Superior, northwest out of Marquette, "where scenes from Anatomy of a Murder
had been filmed." But the segue to the familiar children-in-peril theme feels like a cop-out, especially since the previous, superior novel had primed readers for something more intense and harrowing.

Starred review from August 15, 2006
On the run from contract killers, ex-sheriff Cork O'Connor ("Mercy Falls") hides out at his cousin Jewell's place in Bodine, MI, where she treats his gunshot wound. He cannot stay hidden for long. Someone is murdering area teenagers, and then the father of his nephew's best friend is killed, and Jewell is the prime suspect. Joined by Chicago security consultant Dina Willnert, Cork races to solve these crimes before he is found by the hired killers. Anthony Award winner Krueger never writes simple plots, instead mixing action and suspense with a thoughtfulness that highlights the underlying motivation. His style and sense of place will appeal to fans of Steve Hamilton and John Sanford. He lives in St. Paul, MN.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2006
The sixth Cork O'Connor mystery finds the Minnesota sheriff on the run from hired killers. With a bullet wound in his leg, he makes it to the small town of Bodine, where he hides out with his cousin. But Cork's convalescence is cut short by a murderous child-runaway conspiracy, not to mention his cousin's teenage son, who's so desperate for a father figure that he thinks Cork would be a likely candidate. This series gets darker and more elegantly written with every book. Minnesota has a become a hotbed of hard-boiled crime fiction, and the Cork O'Connor novels are among the best.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)