Mercy Falls

After reading the first four Cork O’Connor mysteries and really enjoying them, I read this one until the wee hours of the morning only to have it end in a cliffhanger. It was hugely disappointing. So now do I buy book six to find out the ending? I quit reading Craig Johnson’s Longmire series when he pulled this kind of stunt and I am tempted to give up on this guy too. Books that end with a cliffhanger should have a warning label on them.

I have read all the series to this point, and I love Krueger’s writing. This was very disappointing.
The story line made me dislike his wife even more than i already do, and after slogging through the
entire book I found the end seemed to be hanging, unfinished and disappointing. Of ALL the books I
have read by Krueger, my favorite was “Ordinary Grace”, which was a splendid book, beautifully
written, and I would like to read more like that. Some of the books in his series were great,
but that would not be “Mercy Falls”., which left me feeling I had not actually finished the book, and
puzzled.

Overall, this is a very good book, as good if not better than the first 4 in the Cork O’Connor series. You have the same great characters – Cork, his family, his contacts, his fellow lawmen, his friends, and you see those characters develop more in this story. I liked that there were some nasty villains, plenty of suspense, and several plot twists and turns. Just when you think you have the story figured out, something happens that takes it in a different direction.

It looks like the author uses a few “new” literary devices – maybe state-of-the-art when this book was written in 2005. First is starting the book with the last chapter (kind of like the “Two days Previous….” start to a modern action/drama TV show). I’m not a big fan of that approach, but it does set you up for some of the plot twists later on and contributes to a level of suspense and tension throughout the book. The second literary approach is to use this book as a send-up to the next book (Copper River). Which is one of the reasons I was thinking of dropping a star: the story is left unresolved; the biggest, nastiest, slimiest, and creepiest of the villains are still at large and reeking havoc on our hero and his people. Hopefully all will be resolved in Book 6, Copper River.

Which leaves me to my one beef: why $13.99 for an e-book version (same on Kindle or Nook, by the way) that is basically first of two? Why $13.99 for a 10-year old (almost 11-year old) book? New releases from authors like Baldacci, Grisham, and Rollins are in the same price range. Simon & Schuster seem to be doing some serious profiteering on a book medium that has no paper, no warehousing and distribution, no middlemen – and that can’t even be shared like a tree-book. I’ve been reading e-books since the Peanut Reader (now Nook, after several iterations) came out for the early Palm Pilots (pre-smart phone era). This publisher price-gouging is very disconcerting.

One small solution: buy the three-book sets. Prices per book will be less than $10. If you haven’t read the first in the Cork O’Connor series, buy the first three-book set. I plan on buying the third three-book set, after Copper River. Despite the high prices, William Kent Krueger as an author is just that good, and one of my favorites.

Looking for books by Krueger and decided to try this well known series. Characters and setting are finely drawn. I was able to get into the story quickly and there was a lot of action and description that enabled me to easily become involved with the story. I am not at all familiar with that part of the country, so I did enjoy the large part of the story depicting how residents dealt with the extreme weather, etc. It was an enthralling adventurous story.

This author has written many wonderful Cork O’Conner novels that I am currently reading in order. My only concern is that lately the content is getting darker and more nefarious which is unsettling to me. Otherwise, William Kent Kruger is a great and prolific author. Just don’t know if I can keep reading if the storyline continue in such dark hues. Start from his very first Cork O’Conner series and you will have some good reading ahead of you!!

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