14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Oh, the joys of living!...The cool silver shock of the plunge in a pool's living waters." Robert Browning, November 28, 2010
Boundary Waters is a canoe area on the Canadian/American border.
Cork O'Connor, the former sheriff of Aurora, Minn. is asked to find a young country and western singer who has disappeared. He is reluctant to help but when he thinks about his own children, he feels compassionate and he agrees.
Shiloh is the daughter of William, "Arkansas Willie," Raye. A gay country and western singer who now manages Shiloh's record company. Shiloh has been sending weekly letters to Willie but they've suddenly stopped. He tells Cork that Shiloh just needed time to be alone, but that she was also depressed but now a winter storm is coming and Willie's worried.
Others are also looking for the girl. Federal police believe that she may be a witness to her mother's murder by an Italian gangster, Vincent Benedetti, a casino owner in Las Vegas. Apparently Shiloh had amnesia and blocked out the memory of her mother's murder but now, Shiloh's memory was returning.
A studio musician, Elizabeth Dobson, claimed that she had letters from Shiloh with important information in them. Dobson called a reporter about this but then Dobson was murdered. Police think that it's because of the letters.
Agents of the FBI become involved and force their way into the hunt for Shiloh. In this, we see one of the author's themes at play with the members of the federal government taking advantage of the Native Americans by threats and intimidation.
The plot driven novel gives the reader the chance to see the resourcefulness of Cork O'Connor as he leads the search party.
Other members of the search group are: the Federal Agents, Arkansas Willie, an American Indian, who is a former convict and the man's ten-year-old son, Louis Two Knives. Louis is a well mannered boy who learned about the wilderness from his grandfather. Louis is actually the trail leader and relates stories about the Indian history and traditions to pass the time as the group searches for Shiloh.
There is a complication. Another person is searching for Shiloh and this person's goal is to prevent Shiloh from returning.
The author has presented a compelling novel, rich with the Indian history and a number of plot twists. It is as if the author was a bullfighter waving a cape before a bull. Just as the bull thinks it knows where the matedor is, the cape moves and the bull is fooled. So is this story. We follow the action and then something new is introduced that changes things completely.
I enjoyed the story and gave it a higher rating due to the character portrayal, description of the area and Indian history.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating Trip to the North Woods, December 4, 2001
This is my first outing with Mr. Krueger. Somehow I missed his acclaimed "Iron Lake," and I intend to correct that as soon as possible. This is a fine story with the added bonus of magnificent descriptions of the great forests and lakes between the borders of Minnesota and Canada. An added plus is the author's obvious expertise as a hunter, tracker and outdoorsman.
The heroes of this story are the Ojibwe Native Americans. They are known for their story telling abilities, and Mr. Krueger shares a few fascinating tales. The Ojibwe characters are not stereotypical (though maybe a mite noble) and are carefully drawn. The lead character, Cork O'Connor, is a troubled, but satisfyingly invincible man. I particularly liked the characterization of a professional hit man, a stone killer.
Shiloh, a celebrity country singer, is missing after a month's stay in a secret and remote part of the wilderness called the Boundary Waters. The search parties are not all benign and want to ensure that Shiloh stays missing permanently. The hunt is fast, furious and not for the faint hearted. The casualty rate is high and the painful injuries are many. Meanwhile, Shiloh is doing her own level best to get to civilization in one piece. The wait on the home front is agonizing as the body count rises.
Mr. Krueger delivers a hard-hitting, fast paced novel without sacrificing some lyrical prose. Recommended.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Wonderful Homage to Traditional Indian Storytelling, October 10, 2006
While his first book, Iron Lake, was a multi-layered mystery, this story falls more into the thriller category. Ex-sheriff Cork O'Connor becomes involved in an expedition to find a lost country singer in the Boundary Waters of the Canadian/American border. However, there are others, with more sinister intentions, who also looking for her. Krueger's second outing is an homage to the tradition of Indian storytelling. One of the Anishinaabe's best storytellers, Wendell Two Knives, has a tremendous impact on the people in this adventure, as his stories help them navigate the Boundary Waters and truly touch them in ways that affect the outcome. I especially like how, in the end, the adventure itself is added to the pantheon of Indian stories to be told to countless others. Krueger himself is a marvelous storyteller, and reading his deft writing is a complete joy. You can picture the surroundings of this watery wilderness perfectly. The characters are well drawn, and the action sequences are tense. Krueger definitely knows how to tell a good story.
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