Book Review
★★★★★
Author: William Kent Kruger
Genre: Mystery
Book 18 of 21 in the Cork O’Connor series
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication date: July 5, 2022
Set in 1963 near the majestic Quetico, Boundary Waters’ beauty, the town of Aurora, Minnesota is home for the O’Connor family.
Twelve-year old Cork O’Connor merges his ethnicities of Ojibwe and Irish, with respect and love as he honors heritages from each of his parents.
Cork is mindful of these cultural reflections when he invites a friend to explore a burned-out logging camp in an area known for spiritual significance, Lightning Strike.
Their innocent intent led to a discovery that no twelve-year old should ever see.
Big John’s death shocked their tightly woven community.
Some, like Cork’s grandmother, believed that the unexplainable happened at Lightning Strike, and that’s why Big John fell off the wagon after having won sobriety years ago.
Sheriff Liam O’Connor, Cork’s dad, gathered evidence such as the victim’s blood alcohol level which was through the roof.
Empty booze bottles found near the body fit with Big John’s well-known battle against alcoholism, except his closest friends adamantly insisted he hadn’t tasted alcohol for years.
They said when he got back from his active-duty tour in WW2, an Ojibwe healer helped him stop drinking altogether.
The coroner claimed the cause of death was obvious.
Tamarack County Sheriff Department blamed it on alcoholism, and the case was closed.
When Big John’s nephew, another friend of Cork’s, came back to Minnesota, he asked his two friends to take him to the place where his uncle died.
Once there, Billy said he felt his uncle’s spirit was still present.
Cork and his friends go back to Lightning Strike and find clues that, if proven true, would force Sheriff Liam O’Connor to reopen Big John’s case.
Added to the intrigue are mourners at Big John’s ceremonial burial.
Spirit houses and the smoke from tobacco should help grieving friends and family, according to tradition, but it doesn’t.
Billy is convinced his uncle is alive, but he’s not the only one feeling unsettled.
Five viable suspects emerge in this layered mystery.
The pacing of this story will make you binge read for twists you never saw coming.
You won’t regret losing sleep to stay up and read this William Kent Kruger soon to be classic.
You can learn more about the Ojibwe language by clicking HERE.
