Customer Reviews

So Sure Of Death

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

 

 

In this, the second installment in the Liam Campbell series, Alaska State Trooper Campbell is investigating the deaths of a family on their fishing boat and the death of an assistant to an archeologist. It's been quite some time since I read the first Liam Campbell novel, but I had no trouble picking up the story. The first one third of this book was very good, but then the pace became a little uneven. Although the relationship between Liam and his girlfriend, Wy was enjoyable early on, towards the end it became tedious...interrupting the hoped for conclusion to the mysteries. The humor with which Liam faces life and the good plot twists toward the end saved this one from being a total wash. Maybe I have come to expect too much from Stabenow because her previous books have been so good.

Several years ago, his superiors busted Liam Campbell from sergeant to trooper when two of his men fell asleep and failed to heed a call for help, leading to five deaths.

Anyone familiar with the works of Dana Stabenow knows that no one paints a more vivid picture of the Alaskan outback than this awesome author. Her second Campbell mystery (see FIRE AND ICE for Liam's debut) highlights how the native people feel about whites, federal and state laws, and government officials. The mystery is classic Houdini as Ms. Stabenow cleverly misdirects her audience. The touch of romance and other personal problems add a humanizing effect to an already rich police procedural.

Harriet Klausner

The second addition to Dana Stabenow's Liam Campbell series is SO SURE OF DEATH.
Liam is living on a sinking boat and is almost underwater with troubles. Wy Chouinard is not falling into his arms now that his injured wife has died and he is free.
His father, Colonel Charles Campbell, USAF arrives in Alaska saying he is still stationed in Florida, while the base there says otherwise.
Diana Prince is the new trooper on his beat and she is a pilot.
A scuttled fishing boat is pulled into the harbor with seven burned bodies, which have been shot before the boat was set on fire.
Wy discovers the body of a young researcher on an archaeological dig.
Liam has trouble keeping his uniform clean and his mind on business. A great Stabenow read and I haven't told the entire story.
Nash Black, author of Indie finalists WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and HAINTS.

This is apparently the second novel in a series. The novels should be read in order as substantial references are made to prior interactions between characters.

I had expected this to be a mystery. It is more a romance novel as an Alaska trooper woofs after his ex-mistress, both on-duty and off-duty. The story is compounded by various people, both single and married, who are sleeping around. There is also the appearance on the scene of Trooper Liam Campbell's father, an Air Force colonel whom Liam thought was in Florida. Mixed into the story are the Yupik shaman Moses Alakuyak; the ex-mistress, Wy, who runs an air service into the Alaska Bush; an obsessed scientist investigating an old native site; and native Alaskans who dislike the white invaders. There is also a mysterious raven that seems to follow Liam.

There are numerous sub-plots. A family is murdered aboard their fishing boat. The graduate assistant helping to excavate the native site is murdered. There are questions about what the graduate assistant found, about why Liam's father is in Alaska, and about who has been sleeping with whom. Wy's newspaper reporter friend shows up to investigate a tip she won't reveal.

Liam gets some assistance from a computer guru friend who has information on everyone in the state as the investigation continues. There are some twists and turns with revelations that are sometimes surprising and sometimes not. The trooper, of course, gets his man and also, in this case, his woman. He seems to have a somewhat casual attitude about turning over two men to a killer who murdered them (someone that would get a police officer suspended or fired in any other state). There are a few interesting sidelights as when one character goes into a long tirage against cell phones before throwing another man's cell phone out the front door of a bar, avoiding the probable urge to stuff it where the sun doesn't shine.

Overall, the novel is too fragmented into sub-plots, many unrelated. The novel has strong sexual content, language, and some violence. Parental discretion is advised.

Those who read Stabenow's FIRE AND ICE first may be disappointed with this, the second Liam Campbell mystery. But it doesn't do badly as a standalone. We don't get the humor of Liam's arrival in Newenham, and his breakneck encounters with murder, eccentric characters and Wy, the great passionate love of his life. Things still move quickly--a new trooper, Diana Prince, arrives just as a big murder is reported. She and Liam head out to it, just missing Wy, who discovers a murder of her own. Eccentrics, both old and new, are also present but they're now settling into predictable characterizations, as is the town of Newenheim and the surrounding area. Instead of a farce we get an intermittently funny story. But I may be hard to please right now as I have a toothache.

This author does presents interesting characters in her books, and writes convincingly of Alaska. I find her works entertaining. Barbara in Oregon

I've read the Shugak mysteries, and think I like them a little better than this group. Stabenow is a good writer, not a great one. The plot is interesting but confusing, especially with two separate murders to solve. What Stabenow is good at is characterization. She does a wonderful job of making the people in the book tangible and real.

Since I have Deaf friends in Alaska and family, I am well aware of the hardships of the fishing life up there. The regular trips they make out in storms and big seas make "The Perfect Storm" look minor. This is part of their everyday life, and I admire anyone who has the stamina for it.

The people...well, they are odd. Not all of them, but enough to convince me that Alaska may be a nice place to visit, but you don't want to live there. Besides the winter darkness would drive me bonkers! Stabenow is also good at explaining the history of the state and its native people, and I thoroughly enjoy that in a mystery. Liam and Wy could use a little more rounding out...maybe I need to go back and read the first one. Some authors have a more difficult time then others writing from the viewpoint of the opposite sex. This may be the problem here since she is not merely writing from the woman's viewpoint as with the Shugalak mysteries.

The cracks about the looney and moody scientist (archeologist) and his protecting his discoveries to support his theory are right on target. I've read and met enough of these guys to realize too many of them will go to any lengths to protect their theories, even if they are wrong (which is distinctly unscientific!) Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

Wonderful story and characters. I like Liam and Wynette even better than the Kate Shugak series which is also very good!

Consuming mysteries by the hundred weight, I have off and on read or listened to the Kate Shugak series written by Ms. Stabenow. Fire and Ice -the first of the Liam Campbell series - began with an Alaskan State Trooper(Liam Campbel) who easily could be labeled Moe or Curly. Of course, the rest of the population of his new outpost could qualify for the State Home for the Bewildered. Except Wy- a class A heroine pilot. Then by legerdemain Ms Stabenow puts the mystery and the love interest together. Shazamm! In this 2nd book, Liam and Wy get tighter together in the midst of 7 to 9 murders. Love, sex, mayhem,mystery, Alaska, and a Raven - what more could one want? October when the 3rd Campbell book gets published.

Another book to keep you entranced in trying to figure out the ending.