Desolation Mountain

This is the seventeenth book in the series involving Cork O’Connor, the part-Irish, part-Anishinaabe Indian ex-sheriff of the small town of Aurora, Minnesota. While no longer formally serving in law enforcement, Cork is now a private investigator.

Cork is thought of as ogichidaa - the Ojibwe word for someone who stands between evil and the people he loves. His 20-year-old son Stephen wishes he were ogichidaa too, but his talent (or curse, as he considers it) is that he sees visions. He can’t always explain them, not even to himself, but generally they portend something evil that is coming.

As this book begins, Stephen has had another vision, and it upsets him. The local Anishinaabe Mide - a spiritual guide and Stephen’s mentor, show more Henry Meloux - is unable to help him, but Henry agrees he can feel there is evil coming. The family not only respects Henry, but has a number of ties to him. Cork recently married Henry’s niece, Rainy Bisonette, and Cork’s daughter Jenny married Rainy’s nephew Daniel, an officer with the Iron Lake Ojibwe Department of Conservation Enforcement. Jenny and Daniel have a five-year-old boy they call Waaboozoons, shortened to Waaboo, Ojibwe for “little rabbit.” They are beginning to suspect that Waaboo has a second sight similar to Stephen’s.

But their sometimes idyllic life is threatened by proposed sulfide mining. The Minnesota Senator, Olympia McCarthy, opposed the mine, and was flying out to address a town meeting on the issue. Tragedy struck, however, when the small plane she was in crashed over the Iron Lake Reservation, killing all on board. Soon the town was filled with all kinds of government agents trying to find out what happened, including NTSB, FBI, and Homeland Security, as well as some scary players no one is able to identify.

Exactly how or why the plane went down is a mystery. Was it downed intentionally, and if so, why? What were the perpetrators trying to prevent? - something in the Senator’s agenda, such as her opposition to the mine? Could it have been the anti-assault rifle legislation the Senator was about to introduce? What about her opposition to the proposed Manila Accord, favored by the alt-right, the rejection of which would affect the profits of arms merchants? Or was this an action by the Lexington Brigade, a radical anti-government militia group?

Nothing is clear, and when members of the reservation who were around to see the plane crash go missing one by one, the stakes become huge. Cork gets involved because it is in his nature that he can’t stop trying to help and protect people; Stephen because his vision drives him, and because he is still fighting to be ogichidaa instead of Mide; and Daniel because he is in law enforcement and wants to make sure he protects his family. There is another person who joins their side, or seems to, at any rate: Bo Thorson, a former secret service agent who worked with Cork years ago, and who has been hired by a private client to get the facts about the plane crash.

Before long, all of them are fighting for their lives.

Evaluation: Although this is part of a series, it is quite possible to read this one without feeling lost. On the contrary, Krueger manages to pull you into the O’Connor family immediately. Krueger is a good writer, and I love how he integrates Native American culture and an appreciation for the landscape into his stories. He is especially good at finding ways to advocate for the Native American respect for the land, as in this passage from a woman attending the town hall:

“The earth isn’t just rock and dirt and trees and water. It’s one thing, one heart, one spirit. It offers us life and beauty and, if we listen, wisdom. And it asks nothing in return, not even gratitude, because giving is the whole reason for its creation.”

This particular entry in the Cork O’Connor books is probably best described as a political thriller. Although the story is tied up at the end, there are nevertheless hints of changes to the O'Connor family that ensure fans will want to continue the series. show less

Cork O’Connor and his son Stephen work together to uncover the truth behind the death of a senator on Desolation Mountain and the mysterious disappearances of several first responders.

Stephen is having a vision of an eagle with red, white, and blue tail feathers that drops an egg from its flight and then, the eagle also falls. Not long afterwards a small plane, with a senator and her family, comes down. The nearby woods are filled with searchers looking for the plane's flight recorder. Some of the first responders to the crash also disappear. Some believe that were taken by a group of militia men...some shadowy government kinds. Some say it was the otter poachers who have recently been seen in the area. The situation is complicated by show more the fact that there is an effort to renew the ore mining in the area, that the senator had strongly opposed. If the mining is allowed, it would poison the streams and leave other environmental damage. The senator and the Governor are on opposite ends of the spectrum concerning this.

Bo Thorson, who has worked with Cork in the past, now comes into the story. Bo is a former Secret Service Agent but now works in private security. The big question is "for whom is he really working and why does a guy like Bo have any links to these government people that are both ruthless and amoral?"

The story is filled with Ojibwe lore and legends, and everyone has an opinion on borders and boundaries, not just those of the landscape of the Boundary Waters, but the invisible boundaries between the "white man" and natives as well as the psychological conditions obtained within... those folks whose bloodlines and personal experiences place them in both worlds. This appears to be the fundamental concept which composes Cork's character and all of these books.

I always enjoy the Cork O'Conner books. The only thing that I could see that could have lessened the rating was that the ending came a little too quickly and spoke to an almost uncomfortable degree, to the political and cultural stereotypes. Otherwise, it was another wonderful addition to a well-written series. show less

Summary: When a U.S. senator’s plane crashes, Cork seeks the truth behind the crash and Stephen, a recurring dream.

Stephen kept having the same dream. He’s watching a boy who is and is not him. An eagle appears out of the clouds. The boy draws a bow, looses an arrow and brings down the bird. As the bird falls, an egg drops from it. Then the boy is looking at him. Or rather behind him at what he senses is an enormous, terrifying beast. He awakens as they scream together.

Stephen talks to Henry, the old mide to make sense of the dream. So far, they cannot. But Stephen somehow realizes he fears for Henry.

Then the plane crash occurs near Desolation Mountain. A U.S. Senator and her family, coming to discuss a mining project with the show more townspeople, die in the crash. Cork, part of a volunteer Search and Rescue team are first on the scene. Stephen joins him. Was the plane the eagle? Stephen is deeply troubled. If he’d understood, could it have been prevented?

All sorts of Federal investigators, including the FBI, show up. The site is cordoned off, and Stephen, studying the scene from the mountain is briefly held by some kind of authority figure. However, he momentarily sees another young man. Locals, including Sheriff Marsha Dross, are pulled off the case. Officially, the cause is given out as “pilot error.” They say there was no flight recorder.

But in that case, what are people looking for at the crash site? Is it the “egg” in Stephen’s dream? Then some tribal members, who were first on the crash site disappear. So Cork starts investigating. He discovers a man he’d worked with before is also in town. Bo Thorson is a former Secret Service Agent. At one point he took a bullet to save the life of the wife of the Vice president. Based on his past experience, Cork is willing to trust him and share info. Stephen and Henry intuit something different. And Thorson does save Cork at one point when Cork is set up for a “hit.” He gave Cork a bullet proof vest that saved his life. But Stephen and Henry are right. Bo is dividing his loyalties, and Cork and his family are “expendables.”

Cork recognizes his family is in danger. He and Stephen and his son-in-law Daniel were also early on the scene. So they shelter with Henry. But they make a mistake. Bo also knows where they are.

The young man in the dream is important. He is a photographer and captured a damning piece of evidence on film, that points to the people and motivations behind the crash. But will Cork close in on the truth before those who endanger him and his family close in on them?

Finally, Stephen does finally summons the courage to look at the beast at his back. But I’ll leave that for the reader to discover.

Bo Thorson is a complicated figure. I think he really wants to return Cork’s trust and sees something in the life of Cork’s family he has missed. Also, Waboo, Jenny’s adopted son also seems to have some special gift. He also sees monsters in the woods. Meanwhile, Stephen, having to fight impulses, is slowly growing into his own calling. What I do wonder is how Krueger will develop Cork further. As time goes on, he is identifying more deeply with his tribal ancestry. What is clear is that Krueger is a master at developing the sense of dark foreboding we encounter in Stephen’s dream and both Henry and Waboo’s sense of evil in the woods. It keeps one turning the pages! show less

This is the 17th in this excellent series about Cork O’Conner. I have read and enjoyed them all from the beginning: Great writing, a wonderful sense of place, Native American Ojibwe culture, a bit of mysticism, evolving family dynamics, and good plots.
When a plane carrying a senator crashes on Desolation Mountain, several groups come to search for the flight recorder. Some are from the government, some are not and it is not clear who some of them are. One is Cork’s old acquaintance, Bo Thorsen. When Cork’s Ojibwe neighbors begin to disappear, Cork decides to investigate and forms an uneasy alliance with Bo. Cork’s son Stephen, who wants to become a mide, has a vision that seemed to presage the crash. With the help of Henry, a show more centenarian Ojibwe healer, he struggles to understand the vision in the hope that it will yield some clues about the crash.
I found the ending a little unsatisfying (although it does have an emotional kicker that is a harbinger of a good story to come) but this remains one of my favorite series. show less

The homey world of Cork (despite its distressing number of murders) meshes poorly with the dime-a-dozen thriller milieu of former secret service agent Bo Thorsen. Krueger mentions in a foreword that he greatly desired to bring these characters together, but the result lessens Cork and doesn't in any way improve Bo. The maturation of Stephen would have been a fine focus for the novel and didn't require shadowy, powerful forces to darken the door of Gooseberry Lane.

So many events in the Cork O’Connor series remind me of current events: the fight of industry and conservation, the plight of ethnic groups, and the power of the government. In this story, a senator’s plane crashes in a mountainous region of Minnesota. But government officials and secret groups grab control of the recovery of the wreckage site. Visions of Stephen play into the narrative of the crash and the future of Henry. So many fine individuals die due to knowing too many secrets or disagreeing with the government’s agenda. A new character, Winston, enters the series. Could he possibly fall under the guidance of Stephen? As usual, William Kent Krueger presents an interesting map of the county and the people of Aurora. I show more greatly enjoy reading this series and will be lost when I finally read the last book. show less

This series continues to be excellent and each new installment is worth waiting for. The death of a US Senator in a plane crash on the Ojibway Reservation starts a cascade of violence with neonasties and other covert military types into causes and coverups. Lots of Cork's family involved with the excellent and very useful infusions of Ojibway spiritualism.