Saturday, February 27, 2016

Boundary Waters - William Kent Krueger



I love this series.  It takes place in the deep woods and many lakes of the Minnesota - Canada border.  There are two other mystery / suspense series that take place in the wilderness that I also like:  Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series and Paul Doiron's Mike Bowditch Maine woods series.  I almost forgot Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series, which takes place in Alaska.  There's something so exciting and scary about people hiding out in the woods and people looking for the people who are hiding out in the woods.  Plus there are all the things that can befall people just out in the woods:  accidents, animals, weather.  I love it!  If you know of any similar series, I'd love to know about them.

I've treated myself to buying the whole series via used books stores and the Internet.  I'm still feeling sorry for myself after a few stressful months.  After reading a few of Krueger's books out of order, I now have them all and will read them in the order they were written, which, presumably, is the story order, too.

In Boundary Waters, Cork O'Connor, former sheriff of Aurora, MN, is asked to find a young singing star who has gone on a retreat alone in the woods.  Her father, also a famous country singer, thinks something has happened to her.  Cork is part Anishinaabe and is trusted by other Anishinaabe on the rez.  One of them took the young woman to a remote cabin and has been taking her food and supplies.  But now he's missing, too.

The FBI shows up looking for the girl.  They go off into the woods with Cork and a few others who know the woods.  Almost immediately, they encounter another group looking for the girl.  There are so many bad men in the woods you can't see the bad men for the bad men!  Is everyone a bad man?  Will the few good guys find the girl before the bad guys?

There's so much suspense, so many times I thought the story was over, but, no, there's another roller coaster ride ahead.  Boundary Waters did not disappoint.

8 comments:

  1. It looks like I'll have to resort to the internet if I want to start this series as his books don't seem to be in Fife's libraries.

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    1. These books are certainly exciting. If you're being distracted by life, these are good to get lost in. I'm trying to decide if I want to head back into the wilderness right away or try for a bit of civilization before I go back. They're so tempting.

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  2. When I saw the title in my feed reader I thought, surely that can't be MY Boundary Waters! But it is! Not that the Boundary Waters are mine and I've never even been there. I hear form those who have that the mosquitoes are huge and the ticks thirsty and I am not keen on spraying myself down with pesticide. But I like to hear the stories and see the photos of friends who are :) Glad it was a good book!

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    1. I was thinking of you while I was reading this. The whole series, as far as I know, takes place in that area. I've never been to your part of the country, but that part sounds beautify - if a little scary! I'm definitely an armchair traveller these days. I've travelled a fair amount and had my share of adventures and interesting places, so I prefer just reading about them now. I like avoiding the mosquitoes, too!

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    2. It's designated wilderness and no motor vehicles are allowed it's walking and canoeing and you have to carry in everything and carry it back out. And it is not risk-free. A number of years ago a coworker who liked to camp in the BW was there during a really bad storm and the tree she was camped under fell on her tent and killed her. So very sad

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    3. My gosh, that's terrible! I know the wilderness if rife with dangers. Even on my land in Maine, I worry about meeting a bear or a moose in rut. Last time we were up, there were rumors of a mountain lion. I love them all and would love to see any of them, but not close enough to worry about 'them or me'!

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  3. Would definitely not want to meet a bear or a moose in rut! Or a mountain lion for that matter. At a distance, really neat, but close up, not so much!

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    1. I agree completely! I saw a grizzly in Yellowstone - way, way across a field. That was close enough. Jack and I almost stepped on a moose that was taking a nap. We three reenacted the Three Stooges, with the moose being the most graceful!

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