Customer Reviews

Killing Grounds

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Having lived in Alaska for over thirty years now, I usually find books set in Alaska a disappointment. Stabenow's Alaska is the real thing, in all it's complex and contradictory detail. Her characters are people I know, and her settings are right-on. This book is no exception to her tradition of excellence. The plot is intriguing and keeps the reader guessing, and Stabenow's humor will make you laugh out loud.

I just can't get enough of Dana Stabenow's humorous and clever style of writing. I loved Break Up and this one is even better. It's the kind of story you want to read out loud to someone else so they can laugh too.

In the eighth in the Alaskan Kate Shugak series, author Dana Stabenow lets us enjoy the Alaskan fishing scene during the wild and woooly salmon spawning season. And here I thought I knew all about it--salmon swim upstream, right?

Yes, but in the hundreds and thousands, and Kate is serving on an ancient fishing boat right in the thick of things. As we find out from this fascinating look at the salmon season, the work is backbreaking, intense, smelly and unending--and that's just the fights among the fishermen jockeying for a place to put their nets.

In the middle of this frantic fishing, which is governed by environmental and other laws, comes a nasty rogue aptly named Calvin Meany. He disregards the unwritten law of the waters, impinging on others' nets, catching their salmon, resorting to thuggery when he has to (and even when he doesn't), and beating on his crew--his own teenaged son.

Kate hates him on sight, as does everybody else, so when Meany turns up brutally murdered, it's hard to feel sorry. Still, Kate has to do her job. And her investigation into the nasty circumstances of the murder place her own life in jeopardy.

Another fast-paced, fascinating read from Stabenow!

In this story you learn more about the ways of Kate's people and the lives of salmon fishermen. I thought it was a great story. Dana Stabenow is a truly interesting author. I look forward to reading more books by this author. I have read all of her books.

Once Alaskan native Kate Shugak was a sex crime investigator, working out of the Office of the Anchorage District Attorney. However, five years of coping with abused women and children have taken their toll on Kate. She retreats from the craziness of the city to make a life for herself on her family's homestead. Though the area is quite a bit more isolated and less populated than Anchorage, crime still exists, and Kate is ready to take on those individuals who threaten her native soil.

To supplement her income, Kate hires on as the deck boss on the salmon fishing vessel, the Freya. When the food processing firms lower the price per pound for salmon by fifty cents, the fleet goes on strike. The only scab is notorious spouse and child abuser Cal Meany, whom is a person despised by everyone who knows him. When his mutilated body is found floating along side the Freya, Kate begins to investigate a case in which everyone has a motive for murder.

KILLING GROUNDS is a mind boggling mystery that is filled with many characters with ample reason for killing the culprit. This makes it almost impossible to determine who the murderer is. As usual, Dana Stabenow affords readers a special glimpse into Alaska as seen through the eyes of the state's Native Americans. A Kate Shugak tale always seems to be an emotional experience that takes readers in an environmental and civic roller coaster ride that is both thrilling and illuminating.

Harriet Klausner

Once again Dana Stabenow provides a well-researched and fast moving adventure with her protagonist Kate Shugak. In each of the series, a different aspect of the 'real' Alaska is highlighted with excellent detail, as the backdrop for the story. [I have just concluded the fourth volume in an adventure series of my own, entitled The Cryon Conspiracy, which is set in Alaska, and Stabenow's books have provided a deeper insight into the land that I could have obtained any other way.]
In this story, Kate Shugak tracks down a murderer where there's a huge number of suspects...in the process of which she reveals and has to deal with many of her own deep flaws...which make Kate such a fascinating character to read. She always ends up confronting the killer, but I fear that over the course of the books she's been knocked out at one or two points in each story by a blow to the head that she must be in danger of brain damage...or perhaps showing how hard a head she has. This takes nothing from the excellent storytelling. I am reading all of the books in the order they were written and look forward to the next installment/book which the author's creative mind has produced.

Following hard on the heels of her Edgar award winning BREAKUP, Dana Stabenow gives her fans a deep look into the world of salmon fishing with KILLING GROUNDS.
This story is tightly woven around many of the minor characters of the series as they ply their ancestral fishing grounds for both substance and livelihood. Kate with Jack Morgan's son Johnny join Old Sam on the Freya to weigh and haul the catch to market. But part of the catch is the body of the most despised fisherman on the waters and no one is grieving at his loss.
This one moves at a rapid pace from the culture, to Kath & Jack's romance, then to the murder and its solution. Stabenow is a writer for "keepers" of fish or books.
Nash Black, author whose books are also available in Kindle editions.
HaintsWriting as a Small BusinessSins of the Fathers

Top-notch author and another winning story. Alaska is featured and described with accuracy and affection. Just one of the many stories in this land of mystery and challenges.

I have now tried to read 2 of Dana's books. I will give any book 100 pages and, believe me, it was torture. Will not bother with any others. What a shame and waste of time.

I thought Kate lost a lot of her sparkle in this latest story. Perhaps I'm spoiled, but Kate's character did not seem to progress in this novel. There were many unanswered questions from the previous Shugak mystery. For example, Kate has come into $50,000. What is she doing with it? Also, I did not like the combination of a Sci-Fi character with Kate. I think Stabenow is one of the most talented authors I've ever read, and Kate is a great character. Perhaps Stabenow was just pressured to create a new novel more quickly than was advisable. Whatever the reason, while a good read, I cannot give this novel 5 stars like I do the others. Though unhappy with this one book, I'm anxiously awaiting the newest Stabenow series, and will try Kate again.