Blood Hollow (Cork O'Connor) [Mass Market Paperback]

William Kent Krueger (Author)

Book Description

Series: Cork O'Connor | Publication Date: June 28, 2005

A brilliant new installment in the prize-winning Cork O'Connor series -- from the acclaimed author of Boundary Waters and Purgatory Ridge.

When the corpse of a beautiful high school student is discovered on a hillside four months after her disappearance on New Year's Eve, all evidence points to her boyfriend, local bad boy Solemn Winter Moon. Despite Solemn's self-incriminating decision to go into hiding, Cork O'Connor, Aurora, Minnesota's former sheriff, isn't about to hang the crime on a kid he's convinced is innocent. In an uphill battle to clear Solemn's name, Cork encounters no shortage of adversity. Some -- like bigotry and bureaucracy -- he knows all too well. What Cork isn't prepared for is the emergence of a long-held resentment from his own childhood. And when Solemn reappears, claiming to have seen a vision of Jesus Christ in Blood Hollow, the mystery becomes thornier than Cork could ever have anticipated. And that's when the miracles start happening....

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his fourth Cork O'Connor mystery (after 2001's Purgatory Ridge), Krueger tells a chilling story with a warm heart. O'Connor, the prickly ex-sheriff of the small town of Aurora, Minn., finds himself in conflict with the new, politically motivated sheriff, Arne Soderberg, when Charlotte Kane, a beautiful but reckless teen, disappears on a drunken snowmobile ride during a New Year's Eve party. A Minnesota blizzard thwarts the search, and decidedly unspiritual O'Connor returns to civilization troubled by supernatural visions in the blinding snowfall. Kane's body doesn't surface until the spring thaw, and then questions about her death arise: the autopsy and evidence at the scene point to murder, and the most likely suspect is Solemn Winter Moon, her brooding, rebellious ex-boyfriend, a lothario from the Ojibwe reservation who has a bad reputation with the citizens of Aurora. Anti-Native prejudice gives way to spiritual controversy when Winter Moon turns himself in after claiming to have seen Christ while seeking a vision from Kitchimanidoo, the Great Spirit. Skeptical of Winter Moon's religious claims but determined to prove his innocence, O'Connor uncovers twisted family drama, frightening religious fervor and suspicious infidelities. Krueger skillfully crafts enough plot twists to keep everybody guessing through the bloody climax to the thrilling end.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The Corcoran O'Connor series deserves a larger audience. Cork O'Connor, former sheriff of Aurora, Minnesota (he now owns a burger joint called Sam's Place), is one of crime fiction's more interesting series leads, and Krueger's dead-on depiction of a rural American town is as vivid and realistic as any in the genre. This time out, Cork gets involved in the investigation of a young woman's murder and, as usual, must rely on his own investigative experience to do what the authorities can't: solve the case. But the mystery is only part of the draw here. What sets the novel (and the series) apart from the rank-and-file is the way Krueger tells the story, layering on the details, slowly revealing the relationships between characters, parceling out information a piece at a time. In this first-rate entry in an underappreciated series, Krueger does for rural Minnesota what Steven Havill does, in his Posadas County novels, for small-town New Mexico. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star (June 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743445872
• ISBN-13: 978-0743445870
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #533,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

For more than two decades, William Kent Krueger has made his home in St. Paul, Minnesota, with his wife and two children. His Cork O'Connor novels, Iron Lake (winner of the 1998 Anthony Award for Best First Novel and the Barry Award), Boundary Waters, Purgatory Ridge, Blood Hollow (winner of the 2004 Anthony Award for Best Novel), Mercy Falls (winner of the 2005 Anthony Award for Best Novel), Copper River (winner of a 2006 Minnesota Book Award) and Thunder Bay (winner of the 2007 Minnesota Book Award for Best Genre Fiction), as well as the political thriller The Devil's Bed, are available from Atria Books. Visit his website at www.williamkentkrueger.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well paced, compelling and highly satisfying read, February 26, 2004

By 

Larry Gandle (Tampa, Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood Hollow (Cork O'Connor Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Cork Corcoran, ex-sheriff of Aurora, Minnesota is searching for answers as to the death of Charlotte Kane, a young woman who disappeared several months before and whose body has turned up after the snow has melted. Cork wants to find the killer in order to exonerate his friend, Solemn Winter Moon. Complex interrelationships among the locals complicate the investigation. However, nobody is prepared for Solemn's claim that he has seen Christ in a vision or the miracles that soon follow.
William Kent Krueger is one of perhaps a dozen American midlist authors who through his style of writing and creation of characters sets the standard for the rest of the genre. Kent is not capable of writing a bad book. Some may be better than others but the work will always have a high standard. This is of no exception. Well paced, compelling and a satisfying solution make this an all around highly recommended read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars (3.5) A "spiritual" mystery..., August 28, 2005

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blood Hollow (Cork O'Connor) (Mass Market Paperback)

In his novel, Krueger pays particular attention to the special bond between fathers and daughters, the anguished language of loss, the intricacies of human behavior and the personal flaws that hinder our spiritual growth. All of these issues come into play with the unexpected disappearance of Charlotte Kane, daughter of the wealthy Fletcher Kane in the small town of Aurora, Minnesota. Searching through a winter blizzard, it isn't until the spring thaw that Charlotte's body is recovered. With that discovery comes a slew of accusations, most directed at Solemn Winter Moon, a young Ojibwe Indian known for his eye for the ladies and, of late, for trouble. Retired ex-sheriff Cork O'Connor helps with the search, but later, when a new sheriff takes over, Cork is given the cold shoulder when making inquiries as to the disposition of the case.

For some reason, Sheriff Soderberg is purposefully rude to Cork, hostile even, a fact that dismays and frustrates a man who is only trying to help out interested parties, especially Solemn's mother, who is concerned about her son taking the brunt of Charlotte Kane's family vendetta, if and when an autopsy determines the cause of death. Solemn makes an easy target, an efficient way to put Charlotte's murder or suicide behind the town. Cork's wife, Jo, an attorney, takes on Solemn's case and discovers a few well-hidden secrets that point to the motives of other law-abiding citizens. Due to new evidence, Solemn is released and a number of clandestine relationships are revealed, casting the formerly staid community into supposition overdrive, especially when Solemn Winter Moon experiences a spiritual awakening and is credited with inexplicable miracles.

As a very convoluted plot unwinds, there is much consideration of faith, the perception of good vs. evil. One questioning soul after another confronts his belief in miracles, one man in particular acting out disturbing compulsions against nature's stark background, where everything seems clearer, removed from the conventional ambiguities of city life. The assumptions Cork makes lead him from one person to another, slowly picking through the strange motives of a tortured mind. What began as a young woman's disappearance becomes a trail of serial murders inspired by religious fanaticism, crimes committed in the name of God, the denouement of the guilty party illuminated by spiritual, if misdirected, intentions. Joining the mystery genre with Cork's quest for renewed spirituality overrides the logical plot of the novel, faith tested as well as reason, the physical mystery piggybacked with a more personal endeavor, the protagonist's return to a faith he had abandoned. Luan Gaines/2005.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deeper, More Complex Krueger Book, February 13, 2008

By 

zorba (Bala Cynwyd, Pa USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Blood Hollow (Cork O'Connor) (Mass Market Paperback)

More than the other books I've read by this fine author, "Blood Hollow" is deep, nuanced and bold. The author takes the death of a girl in the Boundary Waters country of Minnesota and weaves a compelling story of intrigue and suspense. The characters are well-drawn and the plot moves steadily forward without resorting to plot devices that strain credulity. Krueger treats the intermingling cultures of the Ojibwe and the western inhabitants of the area with skill and respect, and in this book, he handily employs the religions of the two groups. Religion plays an important role in this book. With this book I believe that Krueger places himself among the best mystery writers of the day, and I eagerly look forward to reading more of his Cork O'Connor books.