FOX CREEK - William Kent Krueger


 With Fox Creek, author William Kent Krueger returns to a more traditional mystery/thriller format with a little something extra, wherein a skilled tracker and probable killer is tracking Henry Meloux and two women who are trying to get away from the tracker. Cork is tracking the men following Henry, and Cork himself may be being followed.

At the heart of this is a woman, Dolores, who's come to visit Henry and seek some inner peace. Dolores' husband shows up in town, looking for her, and Cork heads into the woods to find Henry and lets Dolores know about her husband needing to connect.  Except it's not her husband and Cork has unwittingly led the man to her (and Henry) and doesn't know what the man's intentions are.

Cork knows that Henry knows the wilderness and should be able to outsmart the mysterious man and his associates.  But among the small group now looking for Dolores, is an expert tracker. Both Henry (ahead of the hunters) and Cork (behind them) will have to stay alert.

The hunt for Dolores turns out not to be about Dolores specifically, but what she might know about her husband's disappearance and the cryptic message to KillCatie.

This book drops us into the plot and action quite quickly, but the development of the visiting characters grows with each chapter, making this a really enjoyable mystery thriller.

There are a couple of plot points that feel a bit 'easy'. The meeting between Henry and the tracker following them is not what one expects up to that point and really does change the narrative completely. The result of this is a character turn-around, which is needed to survive.

The other bit that doesn't quite ring true is the complete and total ignorance over the phrase KillCatie (which is heard and not read). Everyone has the same reaction to it and only considers one possibility.  At one moment other possibilities are discussed but they are quickly dismissed.  As a reader, while I didn't figure out the direction of the mysterious quote precisely (we didn't really have all the information until later in the book), I did get the general idea.

Overall, I really liked this Cork O'Connor book.

Looking for a good book? Fox Creek by William Kent Krueger is a Cork O'Connor book which was a bit more action oriented, while still giving us some really great information on some shady political practices.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

Fox Creek

author: William Kent Krueger

series: Cork O'Connor #18

publisher: Atria Books

ISBN: 1982128739

hardcover, 400 pages

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