![]() ![]() But for 12-year-old Cork, things are less clear. But did he actually hang himself in the forest? The evidence certainly suggests so, and initially, that’s how Liam sees the situation too. ![]() He was, after all, a former alcoholic who recently fell off the wagon, among a host of other issues the man was facing. Big John Manydeeds, a family friend to the O’Connors, was rumored to be struggling before his apparent suicide. Set in the summer of 1963, Cork O’Connor, son of legendary Tamarack County Sherif Liam O’Connor, comes across a dead body while hiking in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest. One can only hope that LIGHTNING STRIKE will be just the first of many forays into Cork O’Connor’s past.What events helped shape Cork O’Connor into the beloved character that has starred in seventeen previous New York Times bestselling novels? To answer that question, author William Kent Krueger takes readers back to the beginning with this powerful prequel to his mega-popular franchise. Instead of forming scars, the wounds of the past are often still raw and open, and Krueger shows rather than tells why with a subtle but unflinching touch. Of equal importance is how Krueger explores the complexity of the legal and cultural minefield existing in some Native areas as it pertains to law enforcement. A great deal of this insight is provided by revelations concerning Liam. While it is not necessary to have read any of the previous Cork O’Connor books, those who have will find this “child is father to the man” story indispensable in providing a new understanding to what has been told before and what will happen later in the series. LIGHTNING STRIKE has a multifaceted mystery at its core but is essentially a vibrant coming-of-age novel. Meanwhile, Cork and his friends pursue their own line of inquiry that ultimately intersects with Liam’s but puts them in terrible danger as the truth of the circumstances behind Big John’s death is dramatically revealed. ![]() That is especially true in this instance, where there is marked concern that a rush to judgment may deny justice to the deceased. Liam, a Caucasian married to a Native woman, must often walk a fine line when enforcing the law in the tribal community. The other is pressure from the Native community. With a bit of unofficial and occasionally unwelcome assistance from his son, Liam tugs a slender evidentiary thread and follows it into a side of Big John’s life that had been a well-kept secret. One is a cryptic note that Cork spots at Big John’s grave. However, two elements compel Liam to look further into the matter. It is all but a foregone conclusion that it was a suicide, and there is pressure on him for the case to be open and shut. Big John was the uncle of one of Cork’s best friends, and he admired and learned much from the man.Ĭork’s father, Liam O’Connor, is the sheriff of Tamarack County and initiates an investigation into Big John’s death. The discovery deeply affects Cork, and not simply because of the grisly tableau. They find the corpse at Lightning Strike, an abandoned logging camp that is considered to be cursed. However, he is forever changed when, on an outing with a friend, he stumbles upon the body of Big John Manydeeds, a well-known personality in the town of Aurora and the Ojibwe reservation. Twelve-year-old Cork is in the middle of a semi-idyllic summer, marred only by the obligations of delivering the local newspapers in the morning and afternoon. The majority of the book is set in July and August 1963. LIGHTNING STRIKE has a multifaceted mystery at its core but is essentially a vibrant coming-of-age novel." ".one of Krueger’s best and strongest works to date. The result is one of Krueger’s best and strongest works to date. With the newly published LIGHTNING STRIKE, Krueger neatly sidesteps the issues of Cork’s advanced age and potential creeping infirmities by revisiting a fateful summer from his childhood. He has been exploring the multifaceted personality of Cork - a former sheriff and the current private investigator of Tamarack, Minnesota - over the course of 17 books while progressively aging his protagonist and the strong supporting cast he has created over the years. One might be forgiven for assuming that William Kent Krueger had exhausted the possibilities for additional installments in his long-running and award-winning Cork O’Connor series. ![]()
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