Krueger knows how to keep the reader's attention. Falsely accused of his former girlfriend's murder, Solemn Winter Moon retreats to the wilderness where he claims to meet "Jesus". A great story. Faith found and tested, shaken and almost lost only to be found again. Love this author and the characters he has created in the Cork O'Connor series.

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BLOOD HOLLOW, by William Kent Krueger, is the fourth in the series featuring ex-sheriff "Cork" O'Connor. I found this book...odd. Krueger's characters are good, the sense of place is excellent; I had less success pinning it down to a certain time frame...there are references to cell phones, but there are good chunks of the plot that involve land lines. There's a strong religious element; Krueger has given Cork a problem with religion that we've seen in prior books but here religion is central to more than one character. I did pick up the villain (maybe I should say the ultimate villain) right away but I think that's just from reading a lot of mysteries. The plot seems unnecessarily convoluted to me - too many twists. I can't say more than that without including spoilers but for a small town where everyone knows everyone's business there are a lot of oblivious people. And the Aurora PD is sure having some problems hiring good personnel. Which leads into my next nitpick: in the last two books, O'Connor was seriously considering going back as sheriff and his wife was pretty angry, like divorce angry. As this book begins we learn he turned down the job, he thinks many times how happy he is not to wear the badge, but once again his name comes up, he's thinking about it, and Jo says "Sure whatever you want, honey". Krueger didn't convince me that reaction was real, or that Cork would continue flirting with it.

If you were a new reader to this series, you'd be fine without reading the previous ones, and you wouldn't notice half of the nitpicks I just mentioned. I had a bunch of them, but they are mostly nitpicks, I still thought the overall story was interesting and the pacing is good. I'll see what the next one is like.

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OK I am really sold now, this is the second book in the Cork O'Connor series I have read. A few months back I found a couple of interesting looking books at a garage sale and got them for a good price. After researching found that they were later books in the O'Connor series. I did the smart thing and went to Barnes and Noble and filled the vacancies on the first few in the series and read the first one "Iron Lake" and this being the second. I can tell you this as I reviewed the first book on here, this is my new favorite author. The pages on this one turned just as fast as the first one did. Anyone seeking a new mystery author I would recommend Krueger and also recommend starting with the first in the series as it will make more sense chronologically for several reasons not only the events, but the ages of his children. The characters are strong in this book and the trails of clues laid out keep you guessaing as any good mystery will. After reading the first book and now the second I am beginning to feel at home with the small Minnesota town and its surroundings. He paints the whole state of Minnesota well and it attributes and people even better. William Kent Krueger is definately an artist as he paints the story with his characters and backgrounds. The books so far hold my interest immediately and gets to the point of any good book, I simply can't put it down!! I do hope if you read my review you take the plunge and I promise you won't be sorry as you embark on some great mysteries!! The two that I have read there is a little bit of bizarre added, giving it an added element. Really some great stuff-simply put.

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