Off the Grid

A Monkeewrench Novel, Book 6

By: P. J. Tracy

Narrated by: Buck Schirner

Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

On a sailboat 10 miles off the Florida Keys, Grace MacBride, partner in Monkeewrench Software, thwarts an assassination attempt on retired FBI agent John Smith. A few hours later, in Minneapolis, a 15-year-old girl is found in a vacant lot, her throat slashed. Later that morning, two young men are found in their home a few blocks away, killed execution style. The next morning, three more men are found savagely murdered in the same neighborhood.

As Minneapolis homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth struggle to link the crime scenes, they discover that there have been similar murders in other cities across the United States. Piece by piece, evidence accumulates, pointing to a suspect whose identity shocks them to the core, uncovering a motive that puts the entire Midwest on high alert and Monkeewrench in the direct line of fire. Before it’s all over, Grace and her partners, Annie, Roadrunner, and Harley Davidson, find themselves in the middle of a shocking collision of violence on a remote northern Minnesota Indian reservation, fighting for their lives.

©2012 Off the Grid (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

A departure

I've been really enjoying this series, but this book not quite so much. It seems as though there are themes here, particularly involving native americans and veterans, that seem highly romanticized or stereotyped. It does a disservice to an otherwise good story, and this was so unlike the other books that it made me wonder who actually wrote this one.

The Monkeewrench Team is On Top Again

What made the experience of listening to Off the Grid the most enjoyable?

The story line is very interesting and the narration is great.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Off the Grid?

When Grace comes alive & shoots the killer on the boat

What about Buck Schirner’s performance did you like?

His voice interpretation of each character's voice. It changes to suit the nuances of each character.

another monkeywrench novel

I have read and enjoyed all the monkeywrench novels, they have all been very good. this one does not disappoint.

the story is a little farfectched but they all seem to be. all the regulars are in the story with a few glimpses in to their pasts , I enjoyed this book

THE MONKEEWRENCH GANG ARE OFF THE RESERVATION

If you could sum up Off the Grid in three words, what would they be?

VIOLENCE, RESERVATION, COMPUTERS

Who was your favorite character and why?

Annie - so well-dressed and fashionable, but so damaged

Have you listened to any of Buck Schirner’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I've heard him do other Monkeewrench stories - he was great

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes - I did.

Odd numbers great, even numbers not so great; is 6

The first Monkeewrench (that's the title) book was GREAT; so was No. 3, Dead Run. Live Bait (2), not so great; ditto Snow Blind (4). I may have missed 5 -- Shoot to Thrill, so discouraged by 4. I mistakenly thought this was 5; it was 6. It was very uneven. Three starting events hooked me, the first painfully -- one abducted child of a cluster of them breaks free and is chased, a dying Indian Vet approaches a suspicious house and shoots it out with obvious bad guys, somebody sneaks aboard his boat to try to kill the retired FBI agent with whom Grace (divested of body armor and weapons) is sailing. But as the story progresses, I'm unhappy. My heart went out to the man at the harbor -- I urged, "Give him protection!" SMH. The book meanders and plots along. We end up with Indians in a cabin and whole tribe protecting Magozzi and Gino and the Monkeewrench gang... Over the top... Odd numbers great; even numbers not so much. This is 6.

The fith and newest P. J. Tracy Monkeywrench Gang

Five American Indian teenage girls are being held in a Minneapolis house to be sold into the slave trade. The oldest one, Amy, gets away but is soon caught. She is murdered and her body is left in front of a house. The police knock on the doors of all neighbors and come up with the other four girls being held for ransom and they are released. But very soon, the police find themselves back to the neighborhood where two Samalian males are killed at the house where the girls were held, and another three are killed outside a house where a veteran from Iraq is found dead as well. In the meantime, Grace, who has been sailing in the Keys with FBI agent John Smith, wakes to find someone on their boat holding a knife to John’s throat. She rescues them both and then returns to Minneapolis. She believes that since John appears to be a target, that the whole Monkeywrench gang is targeted. They and the two police officers from Minneapolis all end up on an Indian reservation in northern Minnesota to escape from terrorists who have a plan in store for the whole country, and they’re all stuck there because of a major snowstorm. This book is back on track for the Tracys. It’s a pretty good thriller with the Monkeywrench gang front and center.

Up north feeling

I like the P.J. Tracy books because they are set (primarily) in Minnesota and Wisconsin. "Off the Grid" fit the bill and even had Native American elements that I usually attribute to William Kent Krueger. A fast, enjoyable, young adult feeling read.

Expanding other characters

Would you try another book from P. J. Tracy and/or Buck Schirner?

yes, but not sure I'd buy another MonkeeWrench book because it appears from this book that the characters are played out. The narration is good, the story is just not very strong.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I didn't find a lot really spell binding about this book. To me it really wasn't much of a 'Monkeewrench' book, just had the characters mentioned - they really played no significant role, not even Grace. The plot was only so-so even tho the ending did have a slight twist. The relationship between Grace & John and Grace & Leo is hinted at a lot during the book but pitifully done in my opinion.

Which character – as performed by Buck Schirner – was your favorite?

Leo Magozzi & Gino Rolseth who were really the main characters in this book.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

no, but I don't go see many movies nor do I watch much TV. This would be more of a made for TV movie than a theater movie.

A bit of a dissappointment

It began to seem like scaremongering, every other house hiding terrorists. Almost no monkeewrench business at all. and when did Gino become such a whiner. On the whole not as good as the first few that I read. Not terrible, we got through it but I wouldn't have if I had been reading it.

Real disappointment

I have really like the Monkeewrench series, but this book is a mess. Poor writing, ridiculous stereotypes, and huge gaps in the plot. The book starts in a compelling way with the kidnapping of 4 Native American girls destined, we are told, to be sold into the sex trade. One dies trying to escape, and when the others are rescued a bit later -- that entire plot line disappears. We are told that one of the men who grabbed them was also Native -- never mentioned again. The entire plot then shifts to the possibility of coordinated terrorist attacks by small cells across the US -- and suddenly that whole thing fizzles too. The Native American special ops veteran who is now chief of police on the reservation is stereotyped to such an extreme degree that it seems like a parody. He speaks with a heavy-handed version of Native intonation, uses phrases that supposedly show his Native culture (contemporary Native Americans call dogs dogs, not "wolf's cousin,"), and was able through mystical connections to anticipate a Viet Cong attack and save his buddy years ago in Vietnam. The other veterans on the reservation can walk through the snowy woods without leaving a trail. They kill the terrorists with bows, arrows, and knives even though they have other weapons and the terrorists have semi-automatic weapons. On top of that, the narration was bombastic, the accents excruciating (Annie's southern accent right out of Gone with the Wind), and Grace, the ultimate survivor, speaks in a sad fading tone through the book. As I said, I have really loved the Monkeewrench series, but this one was wretched.