Purgatory Ridge

A Cork O'Connor Mystery, Book 3

By: William Kent Krueger

Narrated by: David Chandler

Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

William Kent Krueger is the award-winning author of the popular Cork O’Connor mysteries. In Purgatory Ridge, Krueger crafts a riveting tale that has ex-sheriff O’Connor on the case after a heated town debate turns deadly.

The local Anishinaabe Indian tribe is furious to discover that Karl Lindstrom’s lumber mill is after a grove of trees sacred to tribal lore. So when the mill gets bombed, killing a man, the tribe is blamed. But O’Connor has a different theory.

Solve another case with Cork O'Connor.

©2001 William Kent Krueger (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

Excellent!!

This is the third Krueger book I have listened to. The first was quite good, the second better, and this one is great. Talk about suspense! Then, just as I think I have most of the plot figured out, he throws in a twist which changes the flavor of the story. David Chandler is a fantastic narrator. I can listen to him for hours and have.
I very much enjoy the mysticism and religion of the indigenous people. If there is one thing humans should worship, it is our ONLY home, grandmother earth. Probably should learn to live harmoniously here, there is no place else to go.
The characters in these books are pretty much as real as fictional characters can be. Krueger is a master of showing the amazingly good and the sickeningly bad things people are capable of. Acts of heroism, acts of depravity.
Overall, one of my favorite series, I will read them all.

Enjoying These Stories

Another good mystery that is more enjoyable with its setting in northern Minnesota and its interactions with the Anishinabe culture.

Listened to this book non-stop

Have just finished listening to Iron Lake, Boundary Waters and Purgatory Ridge and avoided all other activity to hear these incredibly fast-moving, never-know-what-to-expect stories! William Kent Krueger’s books are fascinating. I have also read This Tender Land and Ordinary Grace and found them equally interesting. Thank you, Mr. Krueger!

Too much trauma, but we'll done

too much trauma and drama in the storyline. The characters were well done as usual however.

Gripping story, with a couple weaknesses

This was my first Willam Kent Krueger novel. The story kept my rapt attention as I listened, mostly while driving. Being somewhat familiar with Lake Superior and northern Minnesota, I appreciated the local touches.

My two critiques:
1. I felt in places that the author didn’t write the women’s dialogue believably. It sounded more like softened men than actual women.

2. The narration needed a bit more dramatic skill in certain places to convey the emotion of the scene. It doesn’t vary much between dialogue, setting descriptions, and actions like explosions and gunfire.

Still, in all, recommended listening.

Good read!

This is another well constructed story in the series by the author. The best part is that anyone interested in the series doesn't have to start with the beginning.

Great story

It was interesting from the beginning to the end. I like his characters & their personalities!

Excellent audio

William Kent Krueger audio books always keep you entertained! Only thing is, you sit to long to listen to them! Great stories!

Absorbing mystery, lyrically told

In Cork O’Connor’s third adventure, author Kent Krueger brings us back to Iron Lake, the Boundary Waters, and the town of Aurora, Minnesota next to the Indian reservation. Once sheriff of Tamarack County, Cork finds himself involved in a local dispute to save a treasured stand of trees the Anishinaabe call Our Grandfathers. Eco-warriors from around the country have joined local native men to fight the timber and logging industries from cutting down this magnificent stand of pines. An explosion at the Lindstrom mill kills a man, pointing suspicion toward local tribal members, but the clues simply do not piece together easily.

Across Grace Cove from Karl Lindstrom’s home lives John LePere, alone after losing his family to the waters of Lake Superior. As a young man, he was the sole survivor of the sinking of the Alfred M. Teasdale, which went down on its final voyage along with John’s younger brother Billy. The scar of that journey has left John deeply wounded. A stranger who read LePere’s story in a magazine comes to town with tales of possible sabotage and bankrolls LePere’s dives to the wreckage of the ship.

Suddenly Cork is thrown into a much more immediate disaster: the kidnapping of his wife and son along with Lindstrom’s wife and son. Local law enforcement and the FBI search for connections between the threats of the Eco-Warrior and the claims of the kidnapper with little success. Cork isn’t sheriff any more, but his instincts and knowledge of the land and the people guide him.

Through this journey, Kent Krueger treats us to descriptions of the land and the reservation that are lyrical. He introduces us to characters such as Henry Meloux, the Midewiwin to whom Cork turns in times of trouble; to Hell Hanover, blackmailing newspaperman; to Wally Shanno, who inherited Cork’s job as sheriff after an incident years before forced a recall election; to the Anishinaabe people, of whom Cork is part. Alongside the beauty, Krueger describes the anger, the bitterness, and the dark forces that drive men to perform acts of rage, which seem so much more despicable next to the magnificence of nature.

As questions swirled like the smoke plaguing Aurora during the dry summer, the tension ramped up. When flames engulfed the kidnapped victims, I sat on the edge of my seat and stayed there. I audibly gasped at that moment when the certain realization hit that brought the entire book together. It was a surprise, and I did not put the book down until the very end when beauty once again poked its nose from the charred earth.

This is my second reading of the book, this time on audio. Narrator David Chandler does not hurry his way through either the quiet passages or the tense descriptions of nature’s fury nor the anger of men. He is a strong, steady voice recanting Cork O’Connor’s story and the wider tale of the Anishinaabe people. Definitely recommended.

Lovely story and performance.

Lovely story and performance. I would recommend it to anyone, especially Minnesotans. Very good reading.