A Cold-Blooded Business

Book on CD narrated by Marguerite Gavin
3.5***

After one too many drug-related deaths at the site, former DA Investigator Kate Shugak is asked to go undercover to the Prudhoe Bay oil fields to find out who is dealing drugs.

I had read the first book in this series a couple of years ago and I was not impressed, but I’m glad I gave the series another chance. I like that Shugak is a strong woman, smart, resourceful, dedicated, committed and independent. I also like her strong sense of integrity – her willingness to do what is right even when it may hurt someone she knows and loves. I also liked the subplot regarding the Native archeological treasures.

That being said, I did find some of the characters thinly drawn stereotypes. A show more hard-hitting PR type, who is all sweet façade with an inner core of steel; an angry, overweight head of security who is totally at a loss to explain what is happening; a lonely man, besotted with a woman.

Marguerite Gavin does a fine job narrating the audio book. She has good pacing and sufficient skill as a voice artist to differentiate the many characters. show less

Kate Shugak is hired to go undecover to find out who is supplying illicit drugs to the workers at an oil company's base at Prudhoe Bay on the North Slope.

We find out who the bad guys are about 2/3 of the way through the book, up to which point the author is just immersing us in life up past the Arctic Circle, and she does a very good job of it, too. The obligatory scenes of danger and violence followed by the wrap-up and epilogue were competently done but didn't really provide as much of a thrill or emotional satisfaction as they could have.

This is the fourth book in a series featuring Aleut investigator Kate Shugak. In this one, Kate goes undercover on Alaska's North Slope oil pipeline to find out who's been running drugs. Kate finds out soon enough that this is not going to be an easy job.

She soon discovers that pipeline workers have some incredible luxuries. Employees are provided with gourmet meals, steak twice a week and prime rib on Sunday, a fabulous pool, sauna, and a state of the art gym. Traditionally a loner, she soon starts to form relationships with her coworkers and isn't sure she really wants to know if they are part of the drug problems.

I really enjoy this series. I lived in Alaska for three years during the construction of the pipeline and the author show more does a great job of making sure all the landmarks are correct. She always gives the reader some insight into traditional Alaskan Native culture. This wasn't my favorite of the series but I still enjoyed it quite a bit and plan to continue the rest of the series. show less

Particularly sad elements in this story, but much of the narrative is actually quite funny and flows very well. We get a little more character insight in this story, which is a lovely development.

Book 4 of the series. "Aleut private investigator Kate Shugak goes undercover to investigate a cocaine smuggling ring at a Prudhoe Bay oil field. Following several overdoses and a murder, Kate poses as a roustabout/driver to uncover the dealer, facing extreme Arctic conditions and personal danger." I remember the characterization being good, as well as the portrayal of the oil field, but it was also a kind of miserable setting and had less of the fun Alaskan survival material from other books in the series.

Kate Shugak is a private investigator for the Anchorage District Attorney's office. In A Cold-Blooded Business her assignment is to go undercover at RPetCo, short for Royal Petroleum Company based in Prudhoe Bay up in the Arctic Circle. John King, CEO of RPetCo wants to know who has been dealing cocaine to his employees on company time. His main concern is overdoses are on the rise. There has even been a death by drowning linked to drug use. "Get that dope off my slope" he urges poetically.
As an aside, what irked me from the beginning is that Kate is supposed to go undercover as a roustabout on the slope but within her first week on the job she meets a former medic/acquaintance from another job and a trooper who knows her name. She has show more to lie and say she's no longer an investigator. Later she rushes to the first overdose on the job. Bursting into the room she encounters the victim is her cousin and he's just as surprised to see her as she is him. Finally, Cindy Sovaluk, a woman she meets in the sauna turns out to know her grandmother. So much for undercover when four different people know your name or are related to you! show less

Kate is back for #4, this time on the North Slope. The thinly shrouded names don't mean that you can't tell the real names of the people, places and things. The referenced massive oil spill, for example, looks and smells like Exxon Valdez, but isn't called that. That said, it WAS a good mystery about drug use among pipe line workers. There's also a bit about native culture and theft of artifacts: that came though in the end and was well woven into the mystery. Where's book #5?