Wolf Kill

A Sam Rivers Mystery

By: Cary J. Griffith

Narrated by: Bill Larson

Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

In this outdoors thriller, the investigation of a bizarre wolf attack leads to evidence of murder, conspiracy, and shocking family secrets.

A decades-old promise haunts Sam Rivers, but the wildlife biologist refuses to return home - not with his abusive and estranged father still there. Rivers left the family farm some 20 years ago. He found solace in nature and built a respected career as a special agent for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. His experiences have given him a penchant for understanding predators - a skill he’ll need now more than ever.

After his father’s mysterious death, Rivers is lured back to his hometown of Defiance, in Northern Minnesota, to fulfill his mother’s dying wish. But all is not as it seems. Rivers breaks into his childhood home during a howling winter storm and discovers something sinister. His suspicions are heightened after a bizarre wolf attack on local livestock. The events lead the special agent to a series of clues that could change everything he knows - or thinks he knows - about the town, his family, and himself.

With the help of alluring reporter Diane Talbott, Rivers must unravel the wolf kill and learn what really happened to his father - a man Rivers has hated for most of his life. It is a case unlike any he’s worked before. His knowledge of frigid winters, wolves, and wilderness will be put to the test as he tries to solve the case - and stay alive.

In Wolf Kill, natural history writer Cary J. Griffith introduces listeners to Sam Rivers, the predator’s predator, and weaves a masterful tale of danger and suspense in the Far North.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Cary J. Griffith (P)2021 Adventure Publications

Critic reviews

“In northern Minnesota, winter is full of dangers that can kill: Hard cold, hard men, and hungry wolves. Cary Griffith brings the menace of all three into play in his riveting new thriller. Returning to the childhood home he fled twenty years earlier, Sam Rivers finds himself battling a group of scheming reprobates and struggling against an avalanche of painful memories. Griffith’s intimacy with the territory he writes about comes through in every line. I loved this novel and recommend it highly. But I suggest you enjoy it under a warm blanket. Honestly, I’ve never read a book that evokes the fierce winter landscape of the North Country better than Wolf Kill.” (William Kent Krueger, Edgar Award-winning author of This Tender Land)

“Griffith’s prose makes you feel the winter chill...and the twisty plot delivers a chill down your spine. This is a Minnesota mystery with razor-sharp teeth.” (Brian Freeman, New York Times best-selling author of The Deep, Deep Snow)

“Up here in the North Country, we have a bounty of fine mystery writers. Krueger, Housewright, Eskins, Freeman, Mejia, Sanford...add to that list Cary Griffith, whose Wolf Kill thrills for its plotting, superb writing, and unforgettable characters, not least the brutal Minnesota winter. Sam Rivers is not only a fine sleuth, but a complicated man with a complicated history and a fair family grudge. Taken together, he’s a force, both on the page and long after you finish reading his story. Good thing there’s more of him to go around, and I’ll be first in line for the next Sam Rivers novel.” (Peter Geye, author of Northernmost)

“The latest from accomplished Minnesota author Cary J. Griffith brings us a new North Woods hero to join the ranks of William Kent Krueger’s Cork O’Connell and Allen Eskens’ Max Rupert. He even gives Brian Freeman’s Minnesota-to-the-core Jonathan Stride a run for the money.” (Genny Greene, Star Tribune)

Great story

Great characters & overall good listen. I will look for more titles by this author & narrator. Creative plot!

A good, fun read

Interesting storyline with well developed characters. It’s always fun to read a book set in one’s home state, with references to known locations and traditions. I’m already looking forward to this protagonist’s next adventure!

EXCELLENT! Loved it! I want more!!!!

Wolf Kill is an absolutely fantastic read by a new to fiction author. After listening to this book I looked up Cary J. Griffith to see if he has written anything else. He has written other books but I’ve only been able to find nonfiction.
Anyway, about this book. The closest thing I could compare it to would be the Mike Bowditch series and only because they both had wicked fathers and work with wild life. That’s where the similarities end. The story is captivating. The information about wolves and hybrids is very interesting. I learned a few things with out trying. Like WHY do people want to own hybrids? And the business of hybrid breeding. But that’s really the secondary story. The main story is that of the protagonist and his father. The two of them being polar opposites.
There are a few unanswered questions but I am really hoping there will be a second book (and more).
Narration by Bill Larson is excellent.
This book has my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.
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Good storyline, performance and editing lacking

I enjoyed the plot line involving corruption, wolf breeding and even murder in the frozen Northern Minnesota tundra. The narrator's voice was nice but some intonations and word emphasis was lacking which I found irritating at times. Describing 20+ below zero temps completely missed 1) the description of crunching and squeaking of snow underfoot especially when sneaking around (it's noisy!) and 2) the description and likelihood of frostbite when trekking through the frozen tundra for one, two, or three hours! editing should have caught this. Finally, I didn't like the multiple references to a 60-something male as "the old man." But that may be just because I'm 61 and don't consider my age group "old".

Great Story

Loved the story but narrator was like a robot with no emotion. definitely worth a listen if you can get past that

good

neat story with use of area and names changed slightly. kept we wondering if it could be based on truth.

Disappointed in narration

For a story set on the Iron Range of Minnesota, the narrator had no clue about Range dialect and phrasing. It was difficult to discern the characters as the narrator made no effort to make their voices sound differently.
By the way, whitetail deer have antlers, not horns, as was told toward the end of the story. Most buck deer lose those antlers in midwinter so the timing was off.
If the same narrator is set for the second Sam Rivers tale, then I won't be listening.