Customer Reviews

Wolfpointe

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In his debut novel Rick Buda has given us an engaging suspense story with a twist. You quickly become involved with the story and its main character Officer "Mac" MacKurghdy. After a bumpy start the story quickly grabs you and refuses to let you put the book down. Unlike some novels with a supernatural bent, this is quite believable.

I plan to watch for Buda's next novel.

A very nicely done book! The characters are well drawn, the plot interesting and fast paced. The book does a wonderful job of drawing the reader in and keeps you guessing until the end. I highly recommend this book!

Rick Buda's first novel details the sinister secrets of a new development - toxic waste, murder, and a mysterious creature all come together with small town politics to create a great murder mystery. The murder investigator would have never imagined that his new case would somehow have ties to an ancient native american curse and local corporate corruption. A compelling story and an enjoyable quick read.

Ace Underground Specialists Earl Suggs prides himself with always being first at the job site, but this time when he tosses his match into the ditch a fire ball erupts and engulfs him. Timber Park Police Department Officer Malcolm "Mac" MacKurghdy arrives at the scene as the first responder to investigate. He realizes that the case is not quite a negligent accident as some things involving the "gas" fails to fit the circumstances. Still his superior Captain Dave Strickland informs him the case is resolved as a stupid tragic incident.

Veterinarian Dr. Elaine Johnson alarmingly wonders about a geometric increase in the number of animals tortured, mutilated and murdered. She and Mac make inquiries that lead to wealthy Clinton Delevan, who has under construction over one hundred homes that will sell for $500,000 each, but only town leaders and Delevan know that underneath the exclusive site is a toxic swamp. Ironically unbeknownst to these avarice souls the toxin in the swamp has dramatically magnified the Ojibwa Indians' Windigo deep hatred of humanity, as the spirit wolf speaks for the swamp desecrated by mankind.

The cast turns this intriguing supernatural police procedural into a must read for fans of both genres. The story line mixes everyday rural living with greedy investors and an otherworldly essence into an action-packed tale. Interestingly Mac is a terific character struggling with his who-done-it inquiries that is difficult enough since the evidence seems illogical, but also with his superior yanking him off his investigation for reasons that just fail to make sense to him. Rick Buda is on the environmental side of the development debate, yet any fan of a supernatural tale will appreciate his cautionary thriller.

Harriet Klausner

The first few pages set up the various elements and characters, leaving the reader a little puzzled as to the lack of continuity, then the pieces all start to come together into a very satisfactory, quick, page-turning read. The story is a combination of Indian legend, modern pollution problems and a good guy/bad guy thriller. A very good first novel and I look forward to this author's next book. A sequel to "Wolfpointe" would be welcome.

Who would want to spend a small fortune to live in a housing development called WolfPointe? Personally, that doesn't sound like the kind of place I would want to raise a family. Apparently, a good number of people don't share my concerns, as Delevan Enterprises is making money hand over fist from the sale of property that the Delevan family has owned for decades. Naturally, whatever wolves once roamed the area are now gone (despite an occasional sighting of a lone wolf deep in the surrounding forest), but that doesn't mean bad things don't happen there in the dark of night - or even the crack of dawn. Just ask construction worker Earl Sugg - oh, wait, he's dead. Extremely dead. "He done blowed up real good" dead. His death was ruled an accident, though - to everyone, that is, but Officer Mac MacKurghdy, whose unanswered questions about the tragedy are stymied early and often by his superiors.

When dead animals begin turning up in the same area, some horribly mutilated and some seemingly poisoned, Mac digs in even harder about the mysterious goings-on in this burgeoning real estate community. He even calls in a local veterinarian to get an expert opinion as to what might have killed the animals. The toxicology reports give Mac his first inkling as to the real danger Wolfpointe represents. Silent toxicity in the swamp can't explain all of the deaths, however. A large German Shepherd, for example, is found to have been attacked on one side of a tall fence and then thrown over said fence after the fact. Only something or somebody large and cruel could have done that - something like a creature rumored to haunt the local swamps since the days that Native Americans called that land home. Its name: the Wendigo.

Mac's a good cop; in fact, his dedication to his job helped break up his first marriage. It bothers him a great deal when his superiors order him to sign off on the Earl Sugg case before all of the evidence has been analyzed. Things get much worse, though, when those same superiors grow tired of his delays and openly question his competence. The righteous anger this fuels within his soul only makes him more and more determined to get to the bottom of the big mystery - badge or no badge. It's obvious that there is a conspiracy afoot extending from the rich and powerful Delevan family to at least city hall and the police department, with those at the top willing to kill to protect their dirty little secret. Throw the possibility of a recidivistic creature stalking the woods into the mix, and you have quite a tale of mystery, greed, corruption, and murder going on here - and author Rick Buda ties everything together quite satisfactorily in the end, making Wolfpointe a pretty solid, suspenseful, action-packed novel.

I picked this up due to its high "word of mouth" recommendation from a website I frequent. I eagerly started reading it and put it down after page 4. The repetitive, wordy prose circles around a detail creating a 7 sentence description where a 5 word one would do. The author knows police procedure from "reading all about it" instead of experience and it shows. I'm not sure about the plot, I'm too angry that I paid money for this to read it closely enough to know what it's actually about. The author found a small publisher, possibly a vanity publisher, to get this drivel on the market. Another bit of info, the author is touting the "award" for which he's been nominated. It's from a website where one pays $50 bucks per entry to have the work "promoted" as an award nominee/winner. I'm still nauseous. I'll be certain to avoid future works by this author.