Customer Reviews

K.O.'d in the Volcano: A K.O.'d in Hawai'I Mystery (K.O.'d in Hawai'i Mystery series)

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Katrina "KO" Ogden is happy to be assigned as a training officer for park rangers at the Big Island's Volcanoes National Park while she recovers from injuries caused by a previous case. A Honolulu Police Department officer who is transferring from Records to Evidence, this new assignment is a welcome break that will also provide her time to explore her growing relationship with a old friend. What she doesn't expect to find are hostilities from the park rangers who don't want an outsider amongst them, an increase of violence resulting from drugs on the park, and murder.

KO's peace is further disturbed by having to bunk down with a gaggle of kids on a Diabetes camp, one of whom seems to have almost prophetic powers into KO's life. While KO attempts to deal with the tensions among the rangers and a possible volcano eruption another set of events concerning an elaborate marijuana ring will intrude and have lasting impact on her life.

This is a wonderful mystery that successfully illustrates the beauty, power, and danger living in Hawaii's volcanoes. KO is a delightful character, confident with her professional skills yet still insecure in her personal life. The plot moves along quickly with events all tying together in a satisfying and explosive conclusion. Heckman's second mystery in the KO series is even better than the first, and I can't wait for the third, KO'D IN HAWAIIAN SOVEREIGNTY.

Victoria Heckman attended a Reserve Police Academy and served as a patrol office for two years in southern California. She briefly considered joining the Honolulu Police Department, but opted out, although she maintains close ties. She has written the K.O.'d in Hawai'i series, featuring the lovely backdrop of the Hawaiian islands.

Katrina Ogden is known as "K.O.," and in this story she is arriving from the Honolulu Police Department for a combination rest and training activity for the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. She is there because, with recent drug activity, the park employees need additional training to deal with problems in the park. Unbeknownst to K.O., there's been a murder, and it won't be long before she is up to her eyeballs in murder and volcanic activity:

"K.O. trembled, and forced herself upright. He's a copy, she told herself. I have to. Do I really? What is my obligation here? Aid a fellow officer in trouble. Capture a criminal. At the very least, it's attempted murder now, since that woman shot at him. Would I even hesitate if this were a dark alley in Waikiki? Or an abandoned warehouse in Iwilei? Not for a second. She blinked, and found she was halfway down the shield, picking her way between two large rivers. She stepped cautiously, afraid of crashing through a think crust and into boiling lava a hundred feet deep."

There is something about a river of lava that is compelling in and of itself. Heckman does a nice job of combining the most sinister of elements: a drug cartel; an apparently dirty cop; a huge volcanic eruption; and a good cop who badly needs a rest to form an interesting and exciting tale of right and evil. To add even more flavor to the mix, K.O. is constantly haunted by images of sacrifice on the edges of the lava pits, plus ominous warnings from a teenage diabetic who happens to be on hand for all the fun.

All in all, K.O. is an interesting, well rounded character the reader will groan for, cheer for, and finally...get a little exasperated with as she almost blows it with her perfect Hawaiian gentleman. K.O.'D IN THE VOLCANO is part of a compelling series with a romantic backdrop.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer