Customer Reviews

Red Knife: A Cork O'Connor Mystery (Cork O'Connor Series)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a mystery junkie. And I think my list of favorite male mystery writers is topnotch: James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, and Lee Child. But included in that list is Minnesota's own William Kent Krueger. His Cork O'Connor novels _are Minnesota at her best and worst. Krueger's knowledge of the Ojibwe is deep and respectful and his beliefs about violence are thoughtful, if not naïve in some respects. But it is the story, the characters that reach out and grab you and compel you to keep turning the pages.

"It was not yet dawn and already he could smell death." The reader is thrust immediately into the story with Krueger's first sentence-and it's a wild ride to the conclusion.

Kristi Reinhardt died as a result of a meth overdose. Her father, Buck Reinhardt, wants revenge. He believes Lonnie Thunder is responsible for his daughter's death, and he's going after him and the Red Boyz, a gang of Ojibwe, whom he believes shares in the responsibility.

The head of the Red Boyz, Alexander Kingbird, requests that former sheriff, Cork O'Connor (who is part Ojibwe), arrange a meeting with Buck. He wants to give Buck justice. Before the meeting can be set up, Alexander and his wife, Rayette, are brutally murdered at their home. Their young daughter is left alive and found crying in her crib. But a message was left at the scene and the murder itself suggests the Kingbirds were executed.

When another murder occurs, tensions heat up further between the Native Americans and the white folks living in Tamarack County. It's up to Cork to mitigate the building tension and avoid the bloodshed that is bound to occur. The toll on Cork changes him forever.

Violence, secrets, alienation, fear, hopelessness, honor, redemption and justice are all a part of Red Knife. It's a thoughtful and compelling novel. You won't be able to close the covers of Red Knife without examining your own beliefs about violence.

Armchair Interviews says: A must read.

Cork O'Connor, in this latest chapter in the series, is torn between his Indian and White heritages amidst violence in the rural Minnesota landscape. What sets it off is the death of a drugged young girl, pitting various elements against each other with Cork in the middle.

At the heart of the problem are some young Indians known as the Red Boyz. When their leader and his wife are found murdered, Cork understands that a powder keg of racially inspired conflict is at hand. Cork, the ex-sheriff, is drawn into the investigation, placing him in jeopardy as well. The novel is said to be based on a real story, and portrays the racial conflicts and drug violence of the present day.

As usual, the author shows his deep knowledge of the North Country landscape and Indian history and culture. Written simply but forcefully, the novel continues to enthrall the reader as have the past entries in the series. Recommended.

Note: All my recent "reading" is done via audio book.

I spent a lot of summers up in the area of Minnesota where Krueger's books takes place. He's pegged the people characteristics of the area so well its amazing. I'd be laughing well listening....cause I knew that guy....no, that wasn't his name....but I was sure it was him just the same.

Pros: A good basic story line. It keeps you interested from beginning to end, and you can't easily see where its going.

Cons: The last part didn't have to happen. I thought the ending got too "Soap Opera"-ish. Had he stopped it short of the last "episode" I think it would have been 4 stars. I'm not sure what point Krueger was trying to make at the end. He also locked himself into some futures for his characters. Not a good idea I think.

Kent Kueger's work has always had a friendly, down home quality to it. Cork O'Connor is, in my mind, a young James Stewart-ish sort with the decent, do-the-right-thing-even-when-no one-is-watching values I find in my friends in northern Wisconsin. In Red Knife he's caught without his sheriff's badge attempting to not only solve a murder but head off a brewing civil war within the Ojibwe tribe.

As always, Krueger's descriptions of Cork's family life, his devotion to finding peacful answers to violent questions, his internal toughness are fascinating as they depict a man who is examining himself as he investigates others. Krueger also takes secondary characters and brings them to life, imbuing them with a vibrancy that makes them human, flawed and sympathetic.

The plot of Red Knife wanders a bit but never goes entirely off track . . . until the end. You may see it coming; you may not. It's as though what we expect from a Kent Krueger novel, and from this book in particular, wasn't good enough for Krueger's editor so a new and far more high drama and troublesome ending got tacked on. Sort of like running an eighteen-wheeler right through the center of town, red lights be damned. Sometimes that works. Sometimes it doesn't.

I didn't like it. Jarring and unnecessary, Red Knife's ending didn't fit the story and calls the rest of this great series into question.

I first discovered Cor O'Conner in RED KNIFE, so picked THUNDER BAY as the next one to read. I loved RED KNIFE and this book definitely is its equal. As a part time P.I., 'Conner takes on a case for medicine man Henry Meloux and of coure finds himself in a more dangerous adventure than he expected. The middle part of the book is strictly Henry Meloux's story and that in itself is a very engrossing story with all the elements such as love, treachery, and maturing of character one could hope for. The final portion has some nice twists, a little pain, and a thoroughly intense conclusion leaving me anxious to read more in the series.

I have read and enjoyed the entire series up to Red Knife and was about to buy this one until I saw the price: $19.34. This is very overpriced for a medium length Kindle novel published in 2008. I don't know what the publishers are thinking, but they have lost this sale. Very disappointing.

I have been reading William Kent Krueger's Cork O'Conner mysteries in chronological order, and this is the first one that has disappointed me. I would rate the previous ones overall at about 4.5 stars. Although I am finishing Red Knife, I find myself being annoyed time and time again by the obvious formulaic structure of the writing. Red Knife appears to be written with a primary purpose of being easily adaptable to the movie screen. It contains 47 chapters that are each so constructed as to be readily converted to a stand alone movie scene. This is not to say that a reasonably entertaining movie could not result---possibly more entertaining than the novel itself. This fault(in my opinion) may also have existed in some of the previous Cork O'Conner mysteries that I have read; although, if it does, it did not annoy me at the time. Think I will take a quick peak inside the next mystery in the series before I decide whether or not to purchase it.

Krueger writes another compelling chapter in the Cork O'Connor series. Krueger's understanding of the The People and his beautiful descriptions of northern Minnesota never fail to provide a perfect backdrop for the story. In this installment the "rez" and the town are at odds after the death of a beautiful town girl as a direct result of the drugs she obtained from one of the rez's Red Boyz. But the truth is never simple and Krueger keeps you turning pages with richly drawn characters and real feeling side bars. There is moral ambiguity and Cork is changed by the violent circumstances he finds himself in. The ending of this particular chapter in the ongoing series is particularly difficult and Krueger gives you a peak into the future of the O'Connor family. A great read.

WARNING - there is a teaser for "Northwest Angle" at the end of the Kindle edition of this book. One might assume that "Northwest Angle" is the next book in the series, but there are actually two novels between them. This teaser contains an horrific spoiler that the publisher should know better than to include. The spoiler is also on Krueger's website. DO NOT READ THE TEASER or it will severely diminish your enjoyment of the subsequent novels.

If anyone from Kindle reads this, please remove the teaser from this and any other books in the series.

Other than that, I enjoyed "Red Knife", but it's not the best in the series.

This was a great book which I enjoyed so much that I went looking for the other ones in the series. The books are just to much for me I have to go to the used book stores to find them. I'm sure that they are great.