Desolation Mountain By William Kent Krueger

 Desolation Mountain

By William Kent Krueger

When a senator's plane falls out of the sky near Desolation Mountain, Cork O'Connor and his family become entrenched in a mystery involving missing native people who helped in the initial crash search and recovery, as well as the missing black box that several organizations seem interested in finding. So interested, they are willing to assault and kill anyone they think might have it or is standing in the way of finding it.

Cork enlists the help of a past acquaintance, Bo Thorson, a former Secret Service man for the former first lady, who is now for hire by her and also working for a mysterious military-looking man named Gerard. Bo is playing both sides and all angles.

Cork's son Stephen has been having visions of this crash and the scenario that serves as the backbone of this mystery. As the three of them (along with their friends and family) investigate the clues, Stephen's vision unfolds and we learn what caused the crash and who is responsible.

This is clearly a part of a series of crime novels involving Cork O'Connor. Past scenarios are mentioned throughout the book, but the story easily stands on its own and those past occurrences are given context, so I wasn't lost at all. I have to be honest and say I enjoyed the writing of This Tender Land and Ordinary Grace much more than Desolation Mountain. I'm not generally a fan of detective/investigator main characters or narratives. The thing that I liked about this one was the family-oriented nature of it. This was not a detective/investigator who is hardened and scarred by his life and job. Cork O'Connor is clearheaded and has a high regard from his family, friends, and the community. Desolation Mountain, as many of Krueger's crime series novels, involves native communities, and you can tell he has great respect for them. They play central and pivotal roles in this novel. The landscape is very much a character, and the tight knit bond of the family and community shines through.

That said, the writing was more tell than show for me, with an abundance of dialogue. There were sections when it slowed down that I liked better, the parts that were more internal, particularly with Stephen as he tries to sort out the meaning of his visions. The plot was good, but more involved than I think is easy to follow. Characters are continually introduced up until the end parts. I much prefer sticking with a smaller cast, or if the cast is larger showing us all of the players more toward the front to middle of the novel. The payoff of who was behind it all was also a little bit of a letdown. I was hoping for something slightly more paranormal or supernatural involved in the story. Those things brought it down a little for me.

All in all, the story was good and it had a lot of tension and suspense. I'm giving Desolation Mountain 4 stars.