VERMILLION DRIFT is a look at a timely problem. Storage of atomic waste. This time when the government wants to store waste in the mine in Minnesota. Because of the ensuing demonstration, the mine owners call in Cork O'Connor as a security consultant. Unfortunately on his first day at the mind he discovers several bodies in an abandoned tunnel. Five of the bodies aer about fifty years old and one is new. And they have all been murdered. This causes O'Connor to look in to the history of the town, when his father was sheriff and when "The Vanishings" occurred. Oddly enough the same gun was used on the latest victim that was used for a murder earlier. The investigation opens up old wounds, old secrets, and makes O'Connor rethink his own past. Kreuger is a star at creating a sense of place in his books.
Jance has several series going for her. QUEEN OF THE NIGHT takes its name from the plant, the night blooming cereus. The book brings back the Walker family and focuses on a mu8rder in the desert that is witnessed by a young child. The folklore of the Tohono Nation is juxtaposed with a few ghosts as well as the customs of the Native Americans. Dr. Lani Walker, herself Native American, and adopted by the Walkers is central to this story as is the Iraqi war veteran Dan Pardee. This is another powerful story with a haunting sense of place.
THE JANUS STONE is another in the series featuring the forensic archaeologist,Ruth Galloway. She is called in to investigate when a headless skeleton of a child is found on the site of an old mansion that was once an orphanage. The odd think is that some one is trying very hard to frighten her away. There is also the added fillip of having Galloway having some very personal problems to face. A dark story.
No comments:
Post a Comment