Purgatory Ridge (Cork O'Connor Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

William Kent Krueger (Author)

Book Description

Series: Cork O'Connor Mysteries | Publication Date: April 2, 2002

Winner of the prestigious Loft-McKnight Fiction Award and the Anthony Award for Best First Novel, William Kent Krueger has established himself as a startlingly original voice in thriller fiction. With Purgatory Ridge he cements his standing as a suspense writer of the highest caliber.

Not far from the small town of Aurora (population 3,752) lies an ancient two-hundred-acre expanse of great white pines, sacred to the Anishinaabe and known to them as Minishoomisag (Our Grandfathers).

Wealthy industrialist Karl Lindstrom does not have a reputation as a sensitive environmentalist, and some members of the Anishinaabe tribe are concerned about the proximity of the trees to his lumber mill. So when an explosion at the mill results in the death of a night watchman, it's obvious whom suspicion will fall upon.

Cork O'Connor, in the throes of straightening out his life and repairing his marriage, is asked by his successor as sheriff to help with the investigation. His sense of community obliges him to accept, but Cork has distinctly mixed feelings about the case. For one thing, he is part Anishinaabe himself. For another, his lawyer wife, Jo, represents the tribe.

Meanwhile, in a secluded house that overlooks the lakeside home of the Lindstrom family, a reclusive shipwreck survivor and his sidekick also seem to be harboring some resentment of their own against the industrialist. And it soon becomes clear to Cork that harmony, both at home and in the town, will be on the back burner for some time.

William Kent Krueger's precise and atmospheric prose, combined with his keen eye for the telling details of small-town life and his vivid sense of the land and seascapes of northern Minnesota, will impress and delight both his old fans and those discovering him for the first time.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Penzler Pick, March 2001: William Kent Krueger writes the kind of novels mystery lovers love to read: well-written, both character- and plot-driven, with tense scenes and surprise endings. Purgatory Ridge is the third in his series starring Corcoran "Cork" O'Connor, half white, half Ojibwe, who is the sometime sheriff of Aurora, a small town in the North Woods of Minnesota. What is particularly refreshing about Cork O'Connor is that, unlike the portrayal of many private investigators and cops in literature, he is a troubled man with a troubled marriage. He and his wife, Jo, have been through hard times, and although there is plenty of love between them, those hard times often surface and impact investigations and decisions they make regarding their careers. As the story begins, Cork is no longer sheriff, but just has to help investigate when a bomb explodes at the lumber mill run by wealthy industrialist Karl Lindstrom. The bomb kills an Ojibwe Indian who, like many of that nation, objects to the tearing down of the trees in that area, especially those considered sacred by the Ojibwe.

In a parallel story, John LePere, half Indian, half white, festers. As the only survivor aboard the Alfred M. Teasdale when she went down in Lake Superior, he thinks about the death of his shipmates, especially his brother. When it is suggested to him that the sinking of the Teasdale may not have been an accident, LePere is pulled into a plot to avenge the deaths. Grace Fitzgerald, heir to the line that owned the Teasdale, happens to be married to Karl Lindstrom. Add the eco-warriors who have come in from other parts of the country to stop the logging, and you have a potent mix of high adventure and skullduggery. Purgatory Ridge is a fine introduction to Krueger and doesn't require that you first read the earlier two books. --Otto Penzler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Krueger's page-turner revisits Cork O'Connor, the part-Irish, part-Anishinaabe/Ojibwe ex-sheriff of Aurora, Minn., a tiny lumber town on the edge of the Superior National Forest, whose exploits were depicted in Boundary Waters. This narrative opens with a bang, as Karl Lindstrom's lumber mill explodes in the early morning hours, killing Ojibwe elder Charlie Warren. The local Native Americans are up in arms over Lindstrom's plan to cut down Our Grandfathers, a grove of old-growth white pines sacred to tribal lore. Outside conservationists have also descended on the town, eager to save the 300-year-old trees. When a person identifying himself as the Eco-Warrior, soldier of the Army of the Earth, claims responsibility for the bombing, the Native Americans are suspected of collusion as Cork's wife, Jo, attorney for the tribe, protests their innocence. Cork had lost his job as sheriff two years before, largely because of inflammatory editorials by Helm Hanover, publisher of the local newspaper, but he cannot stay uninvolved in this case. The quest to identify the Eco-Warrior bomber ultimately focuses on a young outsider, Brent Hamilton, and his zealous mother, who was crippled in a similar bombing. But the number of suspects widens to include Hanover, rumored to be the commander of the secret militant Minnesota Civilian Brigade, and John LePere, lone survivor of the Alfred M. Teasdale, a freighter that sank on Lake Superior six years earlier, drowning his brother, whose body has never been found. Two kidnappings occur. Karl Lindstrom's wife, Grace Fitzgerald, novelist and daughter of the man who owned the freighter, is abducted, and Cork's wife and six-year-old son are also taken as the Eco-Warrior demands $2 million for their safe return. The plot comes full circle as credibly flawed central characters find resolution. Despite some histrionic plot devices, Krueger prolongs suspense to the very end.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star (April 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067104754X
• ISBN-13: 978-0671047542
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 8.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 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: #163,636 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 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't wait for the next Krueger book., January 4, 2002

By 

Paul Pietruszewski (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Purgatory Ridge (Hardcover)

I was introduced to Iron Lake, Krueger's first book through a St. Paul/Minneapolis Radio show (Garage Logic with Joe Soucheray). It was a great read. I read Boundary Waters, the next in the line of the Cork O'Connor books and just finished Purgatory Ridge.

Purgatory Ridge has everything you want in a good suspense mystery, great character development, excellent story line (this one actually had two), a couple of twists, and edge of your seat, page turning suspense.

It is obvious Krueger has done his home work. This may be a fiction novel, but the places he describes (Boundary Waters Canoe Area, North Shore of Lake Superior, Sawtooth Mountains) are all accurate. I spend a lot of time in Northern Minnesota. I associate with many of the landmarks in his books, and that makes me feel like I am part of the action.

Upon finishing the book, it is apparent that Krueger is going to follow up with another Cork O'Connor novel. I CAN'T WAIT!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another terrific Cork O'Connor novel, March 3, 2001

By 

Carl Brookins (St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Purgatory Ridge (Hardcover)

This is the third in what discerning readers all over the world must hope will be a long-running series featuring Cork O'Conner, his wife Jo, and his three children, Jenny, Annie and Stevie. While this is a fine mystery, and a terrific adventure, all these elements of the novel are shaped and informed by the changing relationships among this family.

These relationships are at the core of author Krueger's interest, and while I feel he still struggles at times with female sensibilities, his "take" on father-daughter contretemps and emotional spread is dead on.

Lake Superior is a vast, emotionless, natural wonder. Yet we frequently describe it's many moods in human terms, its raging storms, its implacable irresistible strength, its icy coldness. In the dark foundation of this story, Lake Superior plays a real and important role. Krueger has taken the true story of one man's improbable survival of the sinking of a lake freighter in a November storm, and made it the prime motivator for everything that follows.

Some things in life, and in death, appear to be foregone. From the very beginning, when John LaPere loses his beloved younger brother to the great lake, it seems inevitable that LaPere's ancestral sensibilities will one day lead his feet into a path that intersects with those of the O'Connor family, and with others, whites and Indians, who live, work, plot, scheme and murder, in and around the small northwoods community of Aurora.

The story begins in high tension, death and destruction and rarely slackens it grip until the final chapter. In Purgatory Ridge you will find all the elements readers have come to expect from this fine writer: a complex plot, a great range of real characters who jump off the pages, descriptive passages that bring scenes so alive one can almost smell the pine woods of Northern Minnesota and hear the waves of the great lake, good dialog, suspense, well-contrived and placed sub-plots, a fired up pace and a careful, surprising ending that perfectly fits what has gone before. Purgatory Ridge is a novel to be savored.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This one's got it all!, October 19, 2001

By 

Steve Greene (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Purgatory Ridge (Hardcover)

This is the 1st Krueger novel I've read (I just found out its the 3rd in a "series") and I was totally captivated by it! The characters are incredibly lifelike, the storyline is well rounded, the plot is riveting, and the emotion is powerful.

When I first read the dust cover for a synopsis of the book, I admit I was unimpressed. But after reading only a few pages of the book, I was 100% interested in what was happening within the story (actually turned out to be multiple story lines - all receiving equal and adequate attention).

I'm on my way to get the remaining Krueger novels (excellent job, Mr. Krueger!) and I highly recommend this book as a very entertaining read.