Mink

Skinning Time in Wisconsin

De: Zakariah Johnson

Narrado por: Morgan Seaberg

It’s 1993—a year of optimism, change, and killer music—when Kees VanSpyker, a penniless Gulf War veteran and would-be guitar hero, takes a job with the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) to infiltrate a Wisconsin mink ranch and find out what happened to the last guy they sent there who subsequently vanished. Kees just wants to earn enough cash to take his guitar and follow the stampede to Seattle, but finding out what happened proves hairier than he bargained for. Sinister doings and suspects abound on the ranch, in Madison, and among the ALF members themselves. Kees can’t tell whom to trust as he risks his own skin delving into the grisly business of fur farming and double-crosses in this novel described as The Monkey Wrench Gang meets Psycho.

©2023 Zakariah Johnson (P)2023 Wordwooze Publishing

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Everything about Mink is unexpected. The deep dive into mink farming, the trip back to the '90s. The prose is so elegant and evocative, which lulls you into a comfortable sense of nostalgia, only to rip that all away with an ending that leaves you breathless and shocked. A superb book by Zakariah Johnson, and I can’t wait to read more.” (Amina Akhtar, author of Kismet)

“In the magical world of fiction, if T. C. Boyle and Robert Bloch had a love child, his name would be Zakariah Johnson. Johnson is a sharp-eyed writer with an ear attuned to the period in which he sets his story. In Mink, it is 1993 and all Kees, a young Iraq war veteran, wants is to collect enough cash to meet his buddy in Seattle and start a band. Circumstances do not make it easy for him: a Keystone Cop-esque ecoterrorist organization; nascent antigovernment ‘patriots’ on the AM dial and down on the farm; and that mink farm… What exactly goes on in the barn and in the farmhouse?” (Jeff Esterholm, author of The Effects of Urban Renewal on Mid-Century America and Other Stories)

Truly disturbing!

I honestly didn't know what to expect with this book. The book is set in 1993 and the MC is a Gulf War Vet, possibly suffering from PTSD. At first it seemed like it was going to be a close look into the mink farming industry, which it was. Be warned that the descriptions of what happens on these farms are graphic and horrifying.

Kees is determined to get to Seattle to meet up with his friend/army buddy and start a band. However, he first has to earn some money. He joins in a medical testing group and meets up with a member of the Animal Liberation front (ALF). Drew is a great character and his continuous conspiracy theories make for some interesting reads. When Drew and Kees are thrown out of the test, Kees is given the chance to work with the ALF to find one of their group who has disappeared.

The things that Kees witnesses at the mink farm are truly disturbing, but when you add in the owner (obsessed with right-wing radio), his wife (a truly creepy character) and her brother (a Vietnam Vet with issues of his own), you get a great mix of situations.

I had at least part of the ending figured out early on, but the true horrors that occurred were not expected. The author does a great job of portraying disturbed individuals, Veterans suffering from PTSD alongside the horrors of animal exploitation. The narrator does a great job with the different voices for the characters and his performance added a lot to the book. This is one that will stick with me for a long, long time.

Mink

I enjoyed this story. I was kept wondering all the way, which is a nice change for me. The narrator kept a good pace with engaging voices that I could easily tell apart.