Desolation Mountain by William Kent KruegerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I will always love every Cork O'Connor book. This is currently the latest in his series - number 17 - how can that be?
Mining continues to be an issue on Minnesota's Iron Range. Environmental devastation is pitted against economic devastation with both sides having avid proponents. A Minnesota senator is flying into the area to speak at a town hall meeting when her plane crashes. Cork O'Connor and son Stephen are some of the first responders to the scene. They are soon shooed away by an assortment of government agencies. Of course, Cork is reluctant to leave the search. Additionally, Stephen has been having a disturbing vision that could be related to the plane crash.
One of the characters Cork connects with is Bo Thorsen who first appeared in an early book by Kruegar. Thorsen had been a Secret Service agent, but is now in business for himself. I found Cork and Bo to be an interesting combination, both alike and yet different. Cork has his family to support and ground him, while Bo is almost entirely alone in the world. Both men worked in service to their communities and held themselves to a higher standard. Both men ended up leaving that service in order to be accountable to themselves. As I read the book, I wondered if in Bo we were seeing what Cork would have become without his family to give him structure and perspective. I would be happy to see these two men working together.
As usual, the author includes an interesting assortment of supporting characters - both good and bad. Native spiritualism abounds and Henry Meloux who is now 100 is still offering obtuse observations and bits of wisdom.
It's been a few years since we've had an additional Cork O'Connor book. I hear there is a prequel in the works. I am putting him on my watch list along with Harry Bosch, Jack Reacher, Virgil Flowers, and Lady Georgina Rannoch O'Mara.
Keep them coming Mr. Kruegar!
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