Copper River

By: William Kent Krueger

Narrated by: David Chandler

Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Part Irish, part Native-American, Sheriff Cork O'Connor serves the remote territory of Tamarack County, Minnesota. But big trouble is brewing: a powerful man believes O'Connor killed his son. Now there's a price on the sheriff's head and a bullet in his leg. He finds refuge with his cousin, Jewell, and her teenage son, Ren, in their tiny Michigan town. But when Ren and his friends are threatened, O'Connor must risk his cover to find out why.

Copper River opens with a terrifying scene that sets the tone for the suspense that grows stronger with each succeeding chapter. The narrator's taut performance underscores O'Connor's vulnerability and his vigilance.

Author William Kent Krueger has won two Anthony Awards for his gripping Cork O'Connor mysteries. Set in remote areas of the northwest, each book in the series launches the Minnesota lawman into challenges that push his endurance to new limits.

©2006 William Kent Krueger (P)2006 Recorded Books LLC

Critic reviews

"Krueger has moved to the head of the crime fiction class." (Chicago Sun-Times)
"Minnesota has a become a hotbed of hard-boiled crime fiction, and the Cork O'Connor novels are among the best." (Booklist)

Great

This is one of the best I have Read

OUTSTANDING! All Around!

This wonderfully suspenseful, flirty, teasing story between Cork and his delightful assistant was refreshing. Cork remains a faithful family man while away from his wife and children without losing the ability to accept and respect a lovely "Jason Bourne"-type-abilities partner. This story was different. The loving and altruistic focus on a much neglected segment of our society was delightful. WKK portrayed youth truthfully while emphasizing their intelligence, resourcefulness and loyalty with great respect. I love all the mysteries so far, but I'd have to say this is one of my favorites.

Copper River

I’m having a great time getting to know the world of Cork O’Conner. Really good follow-up to Mercy Falls, great story.

Best one yet!

Running from the hitmen sent after him by an angry and confused father, Cork takes a bullet in the leg. Unable to go to a hospital, he falls back on family in the form of a cousin, Jewell Dubois, who just happens to be a veterinarian. Holed up at her wilderness resort, he hopes to lay low while the police prove that he wasn't the one who killed Lou Jakobi's son.

But this is Cork O'Connor we're talking about. Ren, Jewell's son, is with a couple of friends when one of them sees a body floating down Copper River. No one else sees it and Ren is more inclined to think it was a log, but then his friend Charlie's father is found bludgeoned to death, and Charlie is missing. Two days later, his other friend, Stash, is hit by a car. Is someone coming for him next?

This takes up where the last book seemed to leave us hanging over the abyss of unfinished story land. I started this while driving out of town and as luck would have it, hadn't downloaded the second half of the book! I almost cried. Copper River is one of the best books in the series so far - I love the intensity of family and friendship this work includes. The action isn't bad either. Hopefully Jewell and Ren will return in another book.

The narrator for this series is a good fit. You really feel like it's Cork O'Connor you're listening tell the tale.

Another winner

I love this series! Never disappointed & this one especially had me holding my breath to see what cliff lay ahead… on to the next adventure

The beautiful writing and believable Characters are what earns five stars!

Every book this writer writes is well crafted! His use of metaphor and foreshadowing make it nearly impossible to put his books down!

Great Series...

I am flying through this series. There is always a mystery within a mystery, complex and interesting. I pride myself on figuring out the "who done it" in movies, as well as books. These books keep me guessing and that is a good thing. Plus, the characters are becoming very important to me as they develop. Can't say enough good things!

Riveting entry in superb series

This book opens with a disturbing scene of a young teenage girl fleeing a man and his dog. She has been abused and is literally running for her life. I found this chapter difficult to read for the emotional response I had, yet it sets up the story to follow.

From there, the action picks up where we left off in MERCY FALLS, the fifth in this excellent series featuring Cork O’Connor who is again the sheriff of Tamarack County, Minnesota. He has a bullet in his leg from a professional hit man after him following his role in the death of Ben Jacoby, rich Chicago mobster.

Cork has made his way to the small town of Bodine, Wisconsin where his cousin Jewell DuBois has a small resort near the Copper River. With her young teenage son Ren, they eek out a living, both missing Ren’s dad killed a year ago. Ren is into comic books, and she into her job as a veterinarian. Ren’s closest friend is a tomboy known as Charlie who lives with her often-drunk father. They sometimes hang out with Stash who swears he saw a body in the river. They investigate one evening while Charlie waits for her father to pass out so she can sleep. Concerned, Ren checks on her the next morning and finds Charlie’s father with his head bashed in and Charlie gone. The authorities find a young girl’s body on the banks of the river.

Cork’s wounded leg makes it difficult to do much so he is glad when Dina Willner, the security expert hired by Lou Jacoby to watch over him in MERCY FALLS tracks him down in Bodine, despite the bounty on his head. Jewell is helping Ren find his friend Charlie who they trace to a homeless shelter where she sometimes stays when they learn that Stash has been hit by a car. Dina joins them as they try to determine who the dead young woman was, but the shelter has strict privacy rules. Cork and Ren check the woods to the river and run into the patrol of the Copper River Club, an exclusive club for the wealthy escaping to nature. They determine that the young woman must have entered the river there. Cork is then confronted by an over-eager newspaper reporter who has put pieces together and reveals his identity. It is time then to involve the local police. What follows untangles a web of deceit and treachery that goes back decades.

Throughout the book, young Ren has been following a wounded cougar leaving tracks at his home, in the woods, by the river. His hopes for its life follow the same lines as the investigation. Cork’s original problem of the bounty hunters searching for him returns. With a full rifle pointed at him, a wounded cougar ready to spring, and Ren in danger, Cork must make the tough decisions.

Ren has had some hard lessons to learn, and Cork has been there to help him through. Cork thinks of his own son at home and smiles. Cork brings a heartwarming end to an horrific mystery brought alive by the words and beliefs of author William Kent Krueger and the narration by David Chandler. A memorable entry in an excellent series.

Krueger & Chandler some it again

Once again this dynamic duo delivered a good mystery with the usual twists and tangles on the backdrop of another beautiful America scenery

Characters were engaging and downright lovable.
Krueger”s detailed writing and Chandler’ versatile voice makes for an enjoyable “read”

Another Great One!

Another wonderful mystery by this terrific author. You should listen to these novels in order to understand the depth of these characters. That said, this is more than a mystery. It is a moving story that brought me to tears. Krueger interjects Native American philosophy and descriptions of the natural landscape into his novels that are beautiful. I continue to be a fan.