If his loyal spirit, derring-do, Iron Range ruggedness and protect-my-people nature don’t hook you, an irresistible story line will ... Krueger keeps up the tension and mystery in this, the 17th Cork O’Connor novel, partly through his comfort with real places—Iron Range towns, Iron Lake and other familiar treasures. He uses them to develop an uncanny sense of place and purpose; we can almost smell the pines and see the reflection of the moon on a cold lake. Krueger has an obvious affection for his richly developed, recurring characters ... Krueger’s taut storytelling and intricate plots almost always center on a topic in the news, a compelling hook he’s researched well and has wrapped his tale around.
William Kent Krueger’s 17th O’Connor novel packs the same punch of suspense that his readers have come to expect, but also takes a slight supernatural turn ... The plot features a few well-written twists and turns, and Krueger knows how to keep readers off-balance as the plot unfolds. Likewise, the story is visually stunning, capturing the setting in a way that allows readers to feel like they’re trekking across the Iron Lake Reservation. William Kent Krueger brings the vast Minnesota landscape to life the way C.J. Box does with Wyoming, allowing the setting itself to become a character in the story. Just when you think you know what’s going on, Krueger darts in another direction, pulling readers helplessly along the twisting ride through the haunting wild ... Desolation Mountain is as spooky as it is suspenseful, an addictive recipe that William Kent Krueger serves up as good as anyone in the business.
Desolation Mountain isn’t quite a transition volume in the Cork O’Connor series, but one can sense that perhaps the baton is being lifted, if not passed ... He hints with startling effect near the conclusion that at least one major change is in the offing in the near future, but in the meantime reintroduces a long-absent character in a tale that brings sudden death and intrigue from the outside world to Cork’s relatively quiet life ... It is easy to conclude that Krueger may be on the verge of slowly winding down the series, or at the very least instituting a major shift in perspective. The constant here is that his prose continues to mirror and echo the beauty of Minnesota’s wilderness and the soul of the people who reside there in a lifestyle that hardly can be considered easy. Followers of the series will want to put this one on their must-read list.
Krueger is adept at fusing shocks with setting (Cork’s investigations often turn into survival stories). He also gives fascinating details about Ojibwa culture. His prose style, however, is a bit one-toned, the unvarying rhythm of many of his sentences suggesting Longfellow’s 'Evangeline' ... Great atmosphere, both physical and cultural.
...a juggling act in which Cork is always involved to some degree, providing his own moral subplot. Even if other, more official people are running the show (or one of the sideshows), he emerges as a leader and, without being superheroic, manages to close the case for the benefit of the good guys, getting rid of the bad. One can’t discuss this series without mentioning its sense of place. The physical environment is as much a character as the humans who inhabit it ... The underpinning of place ties mixed races and cultures together into a believable whole that’s characteristic of Krueger’s work, and feels real to readers visiting this world. Here’s hoping the author can keep it going for many more volumes.
A fatal plane crash drives Edgar-winner Krueger’s haunting, supernaturally tinged 17th mystery to feature Aurora, Minn., former sheriff Cork O’Connor (after 2017’s Sulfur Springs) ... Krueger skillfully combines the otherworldly setting of the Minnesota wilds with Native American lore to create a winning mystery with more than a few surprises.
