Lightning Strike: A Novel (Cork O'Connor Mysteries Book 18)
An instant New York Times bestseller, this prequel to the acclaimed Cork O’Connor series is “a pitch perfect, richly imagined story that is both an edge-of-your-seat thriller and an evocative, emotionally charged coming-of-age tale” (Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author) about fathers and sons, small-town conflicts, and the events that shape our lives forever.
Aurora is a small town nestled in the ancient forest alongside the shores of Minnesota’s Iron Lake. In the summer of 1963, it is the whole world to twelve-year-old Cork O’Connor, its rhythms as familiar as his own heartbeat. But when Cork stumbles upon the body of a man he revered hanging from a tree in an abandoned logging camp, it is the first in a series of events that will cause him to question everything he took for granted about his hometown, his family, and himself.
Cork’s father, Liam O’Connor, is Aurora’s sheriff and it is his job to confirm that the man’s death was the result of suicide, as all the evidence suggests. In the shadow of his father’s official investigation, Cork begins to look for answers on his own. Together, father and son face the ultimate test of choosing between what their heads tell them is true and what their hearts know is right.
In this “brilliant achievement, and one every crime reader and writer needs to celebrate” (Louise Penny, #1 New York Times bestselling author), beloved novelist William Kent Krueger shows that some mysteries can be solved even as others surpass our understanding.
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Community Reviews
This is another one for my 2024 Cleaning out the TBR Closet challenge. This is a series that I have had on my to-read list for a long time, this installment has been on my list since Jul2022. However, that is when I discovered that this was a prequel to installment #1, which has been on my list since Jun2021.
The prologue starts in 1989, with the swearing in of Cork O’Connor becoming Sheriff of Tamarack County, MN and Cork’s memories 25yrs earlier of when Cork’s father, Liam, was Sheriff. The book summary introduces the primary storyline of 12yr old Cork and his buddy, Jorge, finding the body of Big John, a legend on the Ojibwe reservation, hanging from a tree in Lightning Strike meadow. Big John, a recovering alcoholic was ruled intoxicated and the hanging a suicide. But Cork doesn’t believe it, nor do most of the people on the reservation. Cork and his friends, Jorge and Billy, believe that Big John’s spirit is still around. There is also a secondary storyline of the relationship between Liam and son, a relationship that has had an effect on Cork for the rest of his life.
Most of the story revolves around Sheriff Liam’s investigation of Big John’s death. Simultaneously, Cork, Jorge and Billy search for what they believe is Big John’s spirit, while also doing their own investigation, much to the dismay of Sheriff Liam. Many at the reservation believe that Big John’s spirit hasn’t moved on because they believe that there is something that Big John is still waiting for something to be done. There are a couple of strong suspects that could mean Big John’s death was murder and not suicide.
The second half (Part 2) takes a surprising turn and is so indicative of how there are a whole different set of rules and advantages for white people than the set of rules and disadvantages for everyone else. White privilege at its worst. The scenes of parents letting their kids run around all summer unsupervised for most of the day, and sometimes even allowing them to go on overnight camping trips brought back memories of my own childhood in the late 60’s and 70’s. When I was a kid, my brothers and I would spend summers and most school vacations at our family cabin up in Big Bear Mountain. We would spend our days roaming all over the mountain and the woods off on our own, with absolutely no supervision. No way any of my friends or relatives would allow their kids to do something like that now.
I also enjoyed the Author’s Notes that provided background on the Indian Relocation Program that was enacted by Harry Truman. It was an absolutely horribly program and practice of basically eradicating native American Indian tribes and forced assimilation to a life and world that they have never belonged to and have never felt welcomed to. Krueger illustrates the effects of this program in this story with Cork’s friend Billy and his family as well as the attitudes and behaviors of many of the townspeople in Aurora.
The character development of Cork and his father was well done but was a little thin on some of the other primary characters. I would have loved to know more about some of the other characters, like Grandma Dilsey. Being that this is when Cork is a tween, I don’t imagine that she will be around for the next installment that takes place 25yrs later. The pacing was a slow build throughout the story to the shocking end and kept me interested throughout. The writing was very well done. I’m usually not the kind of reader that typically enjoys a lot of descriptive prose. However, Krueger’s prose definitely had a way of capturing my interest and holding it. He’s a good writer and storyteller. Then there was that rather shocking end that got me a little teary-eyed. I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.3 that I will be rounding down to a 4star rating.
The prologue starts in 1989, with the swearing in of Cork O’Connor becoming Sheriff of Tamarack County, MN and Cork’s memories 25yrs earlier of when Cork’s father, Liam, was Sheriff. The book summary introduces the primary storyline of 12yr old Cork and his buddy, Jorge, finding the body of Big John, a legend on the Ojibwe reservation, hanging from a tree in Lightning Strike meadow. Big John, a recovering alcoholic was ruled intoxicated and the hanging a suicide. But Cork doesn’t believe it, nor do most of the people on the reservation. Cork and his friends, Jorge and Billy, believe that Big John’s spirit is still around. There is also a secondary storyline of the relationship between Liam and son, a relationship that has had an effect on Cork for the rest of his life.
Most of the story revolves around Sheriff Liam’s investigation of Big John’s death. Simultaneously, Cork, Jorge and Billy search for what they believe is Big John’s spirit, while also doing their own investigation, much to the dismay of Sheriff Liam. Many at the reservation believe that Big John’s spirit hasn’t moved on because they believe that there is something that Big John is still waiting for something to be done. There are a couple of strong suspects that could mean Big John’s death was murder and not suicide.
The second half (Part 2) takes a surprising turn and is so indicative of how there are a whole different set of rules and advantages for white people than the set of rules and disadvantages for everyone else. White privilege at its worst. The scenes of parents letting their kids run around all summer unsupervised for most of the day, and sometimes even allowing them to go on overnight camping trips brought back memories of my own childhood in the late 60’s and 70’s. When I was a kid, my brothers and I would spend summers and most school vacations at our family cabin up in Big Bear Mountain. We would spend our days roaming all over the mountain and the woods off on our own, with absolutely no supervision. No way any of my friends or relatives would allow their kids to do something like that now.
I also enjoyed the Author’s Notes that provided background on the Indian Relocation Program that was enacted by Harry Truman. It was an absolutely horribly program and practice of basically eradicating native American Indian tribes and forced assimilation to a life and world that they have never belonged to and have never felt welcomed to. Krueger illustrates the effects of this program in this story with Cork’s friend Billy and his family as well as the attitudes and behaviors of many of the townspeople in Aurora.
The character development of Cork and his father was well done but was a little thin on some of the other primary characters. I would have loved to know more about some of the other characters, like Grandma Dilsey. Being that this is when Cork is a tween, I don’t imagine that she will be around for the next installment that takes place 25yrs later. The pacing was a slow build throughout the story to the shocking end and kept me interested throughout. The writing was very well done. I’m usually not the kind of reader that typically enjoys a lot of descriptive prose. However, Krueger’s prose definitely had a way of capturing my interest and holding it. He’s a good writer and storyteller. Then there was that rather shocking end that got me a little teary-eyed. I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.3 that I will be rounding down to a 4star rating.
While I adore William Kent Krueger's books that are not part of the Cork O'Connor series, with this book, I think I've discovered that Cork O'Connor is not for me. Krueger is a superb writer, in all his works. This just didn't grab my mind or my heart quite the way I want a book to do. I gave up on it about halfway through (about five weeks ago). There are just so many books - thankfully - to choose from, it's just unnecessary to keep struggling with one that isn't right for me. Or you. This one may be right for you!