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Searching... Silver Falls Library | MYS JONES | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Newberg Public Library | MYSTERY JONES | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
In the small Alaskan village of Chukchi, what are the odds of two suicides occurring in a matter of a few days? State trooper Nathan Active discovers that his suspicions concerning the deaths are well-founded; the two men were murdered. But what was the motive and who killed them?
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The hero of Jones's promising first novel is Nathan Active, an Alaska state trooper. He is an Inupiat, but was given away by his mother when he was a baby, and raised by a white couple in Anchorage. Now he knows little of his background, and feels torn between two worlds. Nathan's bafflement hasn't been helped by his work assignment in Chukchi, the town in the rural northwestern corner of Alaska where he was born and where his birth mother still lives. The Inupiat townsfolk there have welcomed the opening of the Gray Wolf copper mine, as it provides jobs for young people. The number of wife-beatings and liquor-related offenses has declined dramatically. But now two local men have died in the same week, each of a gunshot wound in the throat. Locals assume that the deaths were suicides, especially as one of the young men belonged to a family whose members are subject to a curse. Nathan is not convincedÄeven in suicide-prone Chukchi, men don't usually shoot themselves in the Adam's apple. While this tough, gritty mystery generates only modest suspense, its exotic setting will hold readers throughout. Jones has a real knack for depicting the daily life of a small Inupiat community, and the toll that alcoholism has taken on it. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
North of everything, where even Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak and Sue Henry's Alex Jensen fear to tread, Alaska State Trooper Nathan Active plies a slow but steady trade in law enforcement in his hated native village of Chukchi. Lately, a pair of suicides has made life more interesting for Nathan. Not many people shoot themselves in the throat with rifles, but both Gray Wolf miner George Clinton and mechanic Aaron Stone did'George in continuing fulfillment of a family curse that's already carried off his two older brothers as suicides'unless Nathan wants to believe a mean old drunk who informs him cryptically that George was really killed by ``that qauqlik'' (``the chief''), and the growing evidence that Gray Wolf, which has poured money into Chukchi and sharply cut domestic violence complaints in the village, may not be the smiling Big Brother it appears. Working his way through a bleak, lovingly rendered northern landscape, his own divided feelings about police dispatcher Lucy Generous, and a cast polarized by race, class, and their positions on hunting and liquor and the law, Nathan finally puts the pieces together, though not in time to prevent a third suicide. There's never much mystery about what's behind Chukchi's troubles, but first-timer Jones takes aim at his familiar targets with zest and brings them down in a rousing finale, though one that seems as long as an Alaskan winter.
Booklist Review
Tony Hillerman fans will feel right at home when they pick up this mystery, even though Jones' story is set in Alaska and not in Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee's home territory. Attractive, eligible Nathan Active, an Inupiat raised by white adoptive parents, has returned to his roots. His job as a state trooper has taken him back to Chukchi, the tiny village where he was born and where his birth mother still lives. Active's dual heritage becomes both an asset and a disadvantage when he begins an investigation of two suspiciously similar deaths. Local superstition, local prejudices, and local politics all come into play as Active quietly and persistently works his way toward the surprising truth. Both culture (there's an Inupiaq glossary) and climate are authentically portrayed in a winning debut that will leave readers looking forward to another encounter with the smart, compassionate trooper and the people of the small town he's just now learning to call his home. --Stephanie Zvirin
Library Journal Review
Fans of authentic Alaskan mysteries will love this new series featuring state trooper Nathan Active. A full-blooded Inupiat adopted by a white family and raised in Anchorage, he has been assigned to the remote village of Chukchi, where his formidable birth mother and a small host of other memorable characters are coping with a string of youthful suicides. People blame a family curse for the latestÄthough Active has his doubtsÄand the next falls totally outside the pattern. Details of speech, everyday life, and cultural beliefs permeate the narrative, while Active's position as a native raised by whites provides frequent humor. First-rate. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.