Thunder Bay: A Cork O'Connor Mystery (Cork O'Connor Series) [Abridged, Audiobook, CD] [Audio CD]

William Kent Krueger (Author), Buck Schirner (Reader)

Book Description

Series: Cork O'Connor Series | Publication Date: July 24, 2007

The promise, as I remember it, happened this way. Happy and content in his hometown of Aurora, Minnesota, Cork O’Connor has left his badge behind and is ready for a life of relative peace, setting up shop as a private investigator. But his newfound state of calm is soon interrupted when Henry Meloux, the Ojibwe medicine man and Cork’s spiritual adviser, makes a request: Will Cork find the son that Henry fathered long ago? With little to go on, Cork uses his investigative skills to locate Henry Wellington, a wealthy and reclusive industrialist living in Thunder Bay, Ontario. When a murder attempt is made on old Meloux’s life, all clues point north across the border. But why would Wellington want his father dead? This question takes Cork on a journey through time as he unravels the story of Meloux’s 1920s adventures in the ore-rich wilderness of Canada, where his love for a beautiful woman, far outside his culture, led him into a trap of treachery, greed, and murder. The past and present collide along the rocky shores of Thunder Bay, where a father’s unconditional love is tested by a son’s deeply felt resentment, and where jealousy and revenge remain the code among men. As Cork hastens to uncover the truth and save his friend, he soon discovers that his own life is in danger and is reminded that the promises we keep - even for the best of friends - can sometimes place us in the hands of our worst enemies.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The deftly plotted seventh Cork O'Connor novel represents a return to top form for Anthony-winner Krueger after 2006's disappointing Copper River. Henry Meloux asks Cork, who's now working as a part-time PI in his hometown of Aurora, Minn., to find a son the aged Ojibwe healer has never met from a relationship with a white woman, Maria Lima, seventy-three winters earlier. Armed with just two clues, a location in Canada and a gold watch with a picture of Maria, O'Connor soon finds the son, a retired mining entrepreneur, but arranging a meeting between son and father proves to be a challenging and surprisingly dangerous task. The book's middle third focuses on Meloux's past: how he became a guide for white men looking for gold in Canada, how he met and fell in love with one of their daughters, and the events that separated the young lovers. Despite the preponderance of back story, the action builds to a violent and satisfying denouement. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

In the latest Cork O'Connor mystery, Henry Meloux, Cork's friend and spiritual advisor, asks the Minnesota sheriff turned private investigator to find Henry's long-lost son. Cork tracks the man to the Canadian town of Thunder Bay, Ontario, where it turns out he's a prominent (if reclusive) industrialist. When someone tries to kill Henry, and the evidence points to his son, Cork digs deep into his old friend's personal history, where he uncovers truths that might be best left buried. As usual, it's Krueger's insightful portrayal of small-town life and his deepening exploration of Cork's character that propel the story. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD; Abridged edition (July 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423329848
• ISBN-13: 978-1423329848
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,328,460 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A thoroughly engrossing story, October 8, 2007

By 

L. J. Roberts (Oakland, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thunder Bay: A Cork O'Connor Mystery (Cork O'Connor Mysteries) (Hardcover)

First Sentence: The promise, as I remember it, happened this way.

Cork O'Conner has his PI license and is back in his home of Aurora, Minnesota when he learns that his good friend, Henry Meloux, is in the hospital. Henry, an Ojebwe healer, shows Cork an old watch containing the picture of a woman, reveals he had a son by this woman, over 70-years ago, and asks Cork to find him. The trail leads Cork to a Hughes-type recluse on a private island with a guard who later tries to kill Cork. The challenge is to get Henry to his son and keep them both alive so Cork can deal with his own family issues.

Krueger is back in form and Cork is back where he should be as well. The middle third of the book focuses on Henry's past, but that adds dimension to the story rather than detracts from it. Henry has always been an intriguing character and I enjoyed learning his story. Krueger still knows how to build suspense and write a thoroughly engrossing story.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!!!!, July 27, 2008

By 

D. Aten "daten18" (SW Idaho) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Thunder Bay: A Cork O'Connor Mystery (Cork O'Connor Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I always feel like I've just returned from a visit to Northern Minnesota when I finish a Cork O'Connor book.

Loved Thunder Bay! Sat down to read for awhile yesterday evening and read the entire book from cover to cover before heading for bed.

WKK's character descriptions are so good I feel that I know these people -I'm not just reading about them. His descriptions of the North Woods make me feel like I'm on that trail, in that canoe, climbing that rocky cliff, driving down that dusy road!

Really, really liked reading Henry's story. I've always loved Henry, now I feel like I know him.

I always look forward to the next book - they just keep getting better and better - and hope that WKK continues to write about Cork and his family for many years to come.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars BREAKS NEW GROUND, February 15, 2008

By 

carl brookins "Carl Brookins" (St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Thunder Bay: A Cork O'Connor Mystery (Cork O'Connor Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Full disclosure here; Krueger and I often travel together, we're friends and I'm a great admirer of his writing. I'm talking about the award winning Cork O'Connor series, of which this is the sixth. So, readers of this review should be forewarned.

This is a dynamite novel, although not as powerful, perhaps as the previous Mercy Falls. In this latest, the author has reconnected Cork to his family and his roots, that is, Aurora Minnesota, somewhere up in the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota. He's trying to leave law enforcement to others, organizing a small-town business as a restraunteer in the summer with a little private snooping on the side and in the slow months.

Of course, old friends present new challenges. Henry Meloux, long-time friend, resident Ojibwe medicine man of uncertain age is hospitalized with what appears to be serious heart trouble. Near death, Meloux prevails on Cork to try to find Meloux's son, whom no one in Aurora or on the Reservation had known existed.

So what we have here is a moving and sensitive tale of youthful love, lust and loss in which Krueger ably examines racial, class and generational conflicts. He does so within the fabric of a swiftly paced, rousing adventure that spans international boundaries and several decades. The novel is competently written and the themes of a man searching for another's offspring play out effectively against his own family relationships.