Boundary Waters: A Novel (2) (Cork O'Connor Mystery Series)

So, here I am at book # 2 in the Cork O’Connor series. Cork is still an appealing character, but I don’t understand his motives quite yet. He is once again pulled into an investigation and this time the FBI are there to add to the fun. They were trying to find out what happened to the character named Moray Grant. She was murdered but her killer was never found. Her daughter Shilo is taken. The FBI thinks they know who did it or at least who helped as an accomplice, but they are too transparent to me as a reader. I knew something wasn’t right not too far into the story. It didn’t always make sense. Parts would have been exciting if there hadn’t been so much back and forth bs. Some of the characters were just talking and acting like children. Once again, I only liked certain characters such as Shiloh and Louis. By the end of the book all I could think was so much death for nothing. So much death because characters got greedy. I think I enjoyed Cork with his family much more than the actual case he was helping with. I understand that he wants more from his life than flipping burgers, but it is ridiculous how he is just allowed to show up as a private citizen and throw himself into an investigation without any restrictions. I don’t know if it is because the set up is a small town where he was sheriff previously or what, but it just doesn’t work for me. I gave the book 4 stars because Cork is just the type of character who does not seem to care about what others think about him and I like that about him. This is definitely a guilty pleasure read/listening series though because I need more substance than this series gives me. With these books so far, I don’t have to think too much. I don’t have to worry about if the character is morally/ethically right or wrong though I do believe this particular aspect of Cork’s character will come back to haunt him in the end. Another thing I wish I could understand is the scenario in which Cork had to resign or whatever being sheriff the first time. Why do they keep mentioning it if the writer won’t go into detail about it? Make up your mind! Either give us the story or stop bringing it up. I am not one of those readers who like pieces of a story given to me through multiple books unless it is intentionally written that way. I don’t have the feeling this is. This feels like a t.v. show that gives you a week-by-week story to latch on to and it gets resolved by the end of the season. If that is the case, they need to wrap that storyline soon. I am sorry, but as much as I like Cork the author needs to keep him in the present unless there is a good reason to bring the past in. I can understand the hesitancy between Cork and Jo, bringing up the past there makes sense, but unless both are going to be dealing with some major fallout from that case that blew up Cork’s job quite frankly, they need to shut up about it. I’m trying really hard to move forward. I am working on book # 3 now, but I’m getting tired and a bit bored. Please for the love of sanity cut the crap that doesn’t make sense and give me more of Cork finding himself again as a police officer and helping and healing along with his family. The healing of his family is the important story to me. Everything else is secondary!

This was an exciting mystery/ thriller set in Minnesota near the BWCAW. Much of the chase occurs in the boundary waters and having been there, it is both believable and compelling. The invented names for locations was a little jarring, occasionally and I would have appreciated the narrator to have checked on Ojibwe pronunciation. Many common words were off. Great story though.