William Kent Krueger is one of Minnesota’s most prolific writers and a mainstay at bookstores and public libraries. He’s written two standalone novels, Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land (both five-star reads in my view), and seventeen books in the Cork O’Connor mystery series about a former Chicago cop solving crime in his Northern Minnesota hometown. I’ve been waiting with great anticipation to dive into his newest release to see what Cork has been up to and I was not disappointed. Except… Lightning Strike is the prequel, a fun surprise! Krueger did a masterful job of bringing new life to a tired series by starting over when his main protagonist was a boy and painting a vivid picture of the events that shaped him as a man. The book wasn’t perfect, I doubt a twelve-year-old boy would have the skills and courage necessary to conduct murder investigations nor would a father allow him to, but the book still earns a solid four stars from me for pure entertainment value.

This is a good solid murder mystery and a coming of age story in a small town. The characters are well written and introspective and imperfect. Liam is an Irish-American Cop from Chicago who married a woman who is half Ojibwe and returns to her hometown in Northern Minnesota. Cork, their son is learning to walk between the world of his Mother and his Father. The Native American pain and prejudice and traditions are often in conflict with the "white" world of his Father's family. Cork and two friends get involved in the investigation of a missing girl and suicide - that is strongly suspicious. The climax is a thrilling page turner and there are beautiful descriptions of the area.

This is the 18th book in the Cork O'Connor mystery series from this American author. The first book in the series is "Iron Lake" and it was released in 1998. This new release is a prequel and can be read as a stand alone. It is set in 1963 in a small Minnesota town. Cork is 12 years old and the son of an Irish father who is the town sheriff and a mother who is half indigenous. Cork and a friend come upon the body of an Indigenous man and the death and subsequent investigation sparks racial tension amongst the town residents. As his dad works the case, Cork and his friends try to help. This is a wonderful recommendation for mystery fans and unfortunately the issues facing the town in Minnesota do not seem so remote from those found in the present day. I really enjoyed it.

Oh my goodness! Another winner from William Kent Krueger. A largely coming-of-age story, the novel manages to also be a multi-layered crime thriller and prequel to the respected Cork O’Conner series. Leave it to Krueger to pull it all off seamlessly. He continues to be one of the consistently best novelists I follow.

I have not read any of the author's Cork O'Connor series, of which this is a prequel, but I did read This Tender Land, which was excellent. This story focuses on Cork's sheriff father, Liam, and Cork as a 12-year-old boy, in small-town Aurora, Minnesota, in the summer of 1963. The population of the town is a blend of American Indians, Swedes, and the Irish, groups who don't always get along. When a well-respected native American is found hanged, most assume it is a suicide, but Sheriff Liam suspects it was murder. As he investigates, Cork and his friends decide to help, with mixed, and at times scary, results. The book is filled with beautiful writing, terrific characters, stunning settings, and an intricate and mysterious plot. Highly recommend! Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing an ARC.

I've always wondered why series writers go back and write prequels. No previous prequel has really answered that question for me. In this case, though, Krueger's exploration of Cork O'Connor's coming of age is also an exploration of why he became the man we have grown to love through the series. Without the prequel format, the understanding gained by the reader of this book would be lost. This is the best sort of example of showing the reader where Cork's values came from rather than telling us (as, for instance, in a flashback). The book could certainly stand on its own for a reader with no previous connection to Cork, but it is so much more powerful for those of us who have come to know Cork over the years.

The book is a mystery, a coming of age story, a study of father/son relationships, a commentary on Anglo-Indian relations, and a paean to the beauty of the land and water scapes of far northern Minnesota. Krueger's writing, as always, is evocative and transporting.

If you've read the previous Cork O'Connor books, you know what to expect at the end of the book. But even knowing what was coming, I was deeply emotionally involved. This is one of the best of a truly wonderful series.

Published by Atria Books on August 24, 2021

Lightning Strike is a prequel to the Cork O’Connor series. The story begins with Cork being sworn in as the new Sheriff of Tamarack County in Northern Minnesota. After a county resident complains that he's the first “redskin” to become sheriff, Cork recalls his father, Liam, who also held the sheriff’s position. Cork’s memories take the reader to 1963 when Cork was a pre-teen, delivering newspapers and hanging out with his two best friends, Billy Downwind and Jorge Patterson. Jorge’s mother is Mexican and Billy, like Cork’s mother, is Ojibwe.

Like all good mysteries, Lightning Strike is based on misdirection. Three deaths occur, apparently unrelated, but mystery fans will understand that multiple deaths in a mystery are always related. The mystery is the culprit’s identity. William Kent Krueger plants clues that might help the reader guess the answer, but he also sets up several other suspects who might have a motive for committing at least one of the murders.

When Cork and Jorge visit a clearing on the Shore of Iron Lake known as Lightning Strike, they are shocked to find Big John Manydeeds hanging from a rope. An autopsy reveals a high blood alcohol content, which is consistent with the cases of empty whiskey bottles found behind Big Johns’ home. People on the rez all believed that Big John had stopped drinking and are unwilling to accept the fact of his apparent suicide. They are suspicious of Liam’s apparent unwillingness to investigate the death, viewing Big John’s demise as another case in which white law enforcement turns its back on Indians.

Murder suspects accumulate after Liam, prodded by his wife and mother-in-law, begins to consider the possibility that Big John didn’t kill himself. Big John may have been carrying on with the wife of Duncan McDermid, who owns the local iron mine, but the local judge isn’t interested in issuing search warrants related to that investigation because McDermid is white and powerful. Big John also had more than a few fights with his stepbrother, who happens to be Billy’s uncle. At least three minor characters make repeat appearances, which mystery fans will realize is enough reason to put them on the short list of suspects.

A couple of plot elements distinguish Lightning Strike from typical mysteries. The spirit of Big John seems to appear from time to time, perhaps assisting the investigation of his murder, although never in a way that can’t be explained without a belief in spirits. Believe what you want, the story seems to say.

Cork plays a key role at several points as he searches for clues or contributes helpful insights. His efforts are credible — he makes no deductions that are beyond a child of his age — but the central role of a kid in a murder investigation gives the story a certain charm. Cork learns some life lessons as he ponders both Christian and Native American spiritual beliefs, ultimately recognizing that he’ll need to travel a long path before he finds satisfying answers about the meaning of life and death.

The theme of white hostility toward Native Americay.ns and Native American distrust of whites gives the story some weight without making it preachy. Lightning Strike is, at bottom, a well-crafted mystery with likeable characters. Action scenes at the end add a level of tension by placing Cork in danger. The novel is a good end-of-summer book for readers who are ready to transition away from beach reads but not quite ready for the heavy literary diet that winter might bring.

RECOMMENDED

My Review:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5 stars

I loved This Tender Land - so I was so excited to read the prequel to the Cork O’Connor series, which I have not read (yet). This story takes place in Aurora, Minnesota in the 1960s. Young Cork finds a man, who he knew, hanging at Lightning Strike, from what appears to be a suicide. Cork’s father is the town sheriff and must skirt sensitive issues of tensions between the way the treats those on the reservation and the white people of Aurora. As the Sheriff continues to investigate, it appears the scene is much more than just a suicide. Cork and his friends also go about town to do their own investigation into the mystery of Big John’s death.

The first few chapters were very slow as you are learning all the characters but it is so well written you know you have to keep going. I trusted Krueger wouldn’t let me down...As soon as you warm up to Cork, his friends and family, the story all falls into place. What baffles me is the kid being allowed to just wander around and camp overnight in previous murder sites - so many red flags. But then it is the 60’s. If you are looking for a fast breezy beach read, this isn’t it. This is so much more than that and the ending really broke my heart and now I could see how it could have changed/motivated Cork in the future series.

Thank you to Atria Books and netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

The newest book by William Kent Krueger is a prequel to his Cork O'Connor series. I have never read any of that series but love his stand alone books Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land. This book exceeded my expectations.
Sheriff Liam O'Connor is determined to get to the truth when a much loved Ojibwe resident, Big John is found hanging from a tree by the sheriff's son Cork and his friend. The sheriff isn't quite sure that the death is a suicide despite the evidence that is left at the scene. Cork who had admired Big John feels that he must also get to the truth. This story is about them uncovering the mystery of Big John's death but it is also so much more. It is about making assumptions based on race. It is about the time in your life when you begin to leave childhood behind and become an adult. It is about friendship and family and so much more.

This was another great story that will stick with me awhile. I plan on starting the series and taking the journey with Cork O'Connor as an adult .

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a huge fan of William Kent Krueger’s writing, but I have not read anything from the Cork O’Connor series before Lightning Strike. That being said, this book can be read as a stand-alone, and it is totally worth it!

There are moments that shape our lives forever, and for Cork O’Connor that moment was discovering the body of Big John, a man he revered, hanging in the woods of an abandoned logging camp. Cork’s father, Liam O’Connor, is the sheriff of their small town, and while he first suspects Big John’s death is a suicide, it soon becomes apparent that the case may not be so cut and dry. He needs to stay focused on the evidence at hand, which leads him down a path that could ruin his relationships with those in community and his own family, but he’s devoted his life to uncovering the truth no matter what. Cork respects his father and wants to help search for answers, but is it worth the risk with a potential killer on the loose?

I thought this was a great book, and it felt reminiscent of “Stand By Me” but with a bit more mystery. I really enjoyed getting to know these characters, even though I’m a bit late in starting this series, but I found them to be very relatable and emotionally driven in a way that drew me in from beginning to end. I highly recommend this book and can’t wait to read the rest of the Cork O’Connor series!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4146652760

LIGHTNING STRIKE by William Kent Krueger (This Tender Land) is a new prequel to the best-selling and award-winning Cork O'Connor mystery series. In Kreuger's latest work, Cork is just twelve years old (it is 1963) when he and his friend, Jorge, discover the body of an Ojibwe named Big John Manydeeds. At first, Cork's father, Sherriff Liam O'Connor, thinks that the death is clearly suicide, fueled in part by alcohol. Gradually, though his perspective shifts and murder increasingly seems likely. Tension arises as to whether the perpetuator is from the reservation or perhaps is the rich, white mine owner. Connor and his young friends are encouraged to "follow the crumbs" as they, too, try to solve the mystery and help Manydeeds' soul to rest. The boys' actions moved the story along, but I thought it was a bit unrealistic at times that they were privy to (and freely sharing) sensitive police investigation information. Overall, this is a complex, entertaining mystery set in a peaceful, natural area of Minnesota – a wonderful introduction to Cork and suspenseful background for current fans of the series. LIGHTNING STRIKE received a starred review from Library Journal ("perceptive coming-of-age novel").

“Lightning Strike,” by William Kent Krueger, Atria Books, 400 pages, Aug. 24, 2021.

In this prequel to the Cork O’Connor series, it is 1963 and Cork is 12. Cork’s father, Liam O’Connor, is sheriff of Aurora, a small town alongside the shores of Minnesota’s Iron Lake.

Cork and his friend Jorge Patterson are hiking through the woods as part of a requirement for a merit badge. Their destination is an abandoned logging camp known as Lightning Strike. The boys stumble upon a body hanging from a tree. It is Big John Manydeeds.

It is Liam’s job to confirm that Manydeeds’ death was a suicide. Cork doesn’t want to return to Lightning Strike, but his friend Billy Downwind asks Cork to go with him to see the place because Big John was his uncle.

The boys then go talk to Henry Meloux, a healer. Cork’s mother Colleen is half Anishinaabe, which is also called Ojibwe. Cork begins to look for answers on his own. When an arrest isn’t made quickly, the O’Connors receive threats.

This is the 18th in the series and one of the best. The characters are complex and well-formed. The setting is almost idyllic. It is an excellent mystery with in-depth cultural details of an oft-ignored community. You will enjoy this even if you haven’t read others in the series.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

This prequel to the sheriff Cork O'Connor series gets everything right. It provides insights into this beloved character who has now graced 18 novels. I am a big fan of William Kent Krueger, especially his Cork O'Connor series and was thoroughly engaged in this story of Cork when he was 12 years old and his father was the local sheriff. You don't have to have read the series to enjoy this book but I highly recommend the entire series.

Lightning Strike is the prequel to William Kent Krueger’s successful, long-running mystery series based on a Minnesota sheriff, Cork O’Connor. This is my introduction to the series; my introduction to this author came in 2019, when I read and reviewed This Tender Land. I read this free and early, thanks to Net Galley and Atria Books. It will be available to the public Tuesday, August 24, 2021.

In the prequel, Cork is twelve, and he’s on a camping expedition with his friend Jorge when they come across a body hanging off the maple tree at Lightning Strike. What’s worse, it’s someone they know; the corpse is that of Big John Manydeeds, the uncle of a close friend. Cork’s father, Liam, is the sheriff, and although he’s been told to let the adults investigate this horrific event, Cork keeps coming up with useful bits of information.

Seems he has a knack.

One of the most admirable aspects of Krueger’s writing is the way he folds his setting, characters, and plot seamlessly to create an atmospheric stew that’s impossible to look away from. The story takes place in the far northern reaches of Minnesota in (fictitious) Tamarack County, near Iron Lake and the iron range, as well as the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Indian Reservation, and the tension and conflict between tribal members, which include Cork’s mother and grandmother, toward Caucasians, which include Liam, are a central feature of this mystery. Tribal members insist that Big John would never have taken his own life, and even had he done so, he would never done it at this sacred location. At first they aren’t taken seriously, but as events unfold, it becomes increasingly clear that they are right. This was no suicide.

The key suspect in Big John’s murder proves to be the town’s wealthiest citizen, a tightfisted, overtly racist, elderly Scotsman that owns practically everything. He’s a suspect too soon to be the actual killer, I figure, and I think I can see where the story is headed, but without giving anything away, I have to tell you, Krueger introduces all sorts of twists and turns I don’t see coming, and they aren’t far-fetched ones, either.

There is dark foreshadowing all over the place, and the tension and outrage that exists between the tribe and law enforcement—well, the sheriff, really—grow to ominous proportions. Liam insists on examining facts and hard evidence; the Ojibwe are eager to include portents and messages from the great beyond. They want that nasty rich guy arrested now, if not sooner, and when Liam tells them that it doesn’t work that way because circumstantial evidence isn’t enough, that hearsay can’t win a conviction, they scoff and point out that when the suspect is Ojibwe, those things are always more than adequate. And again, they have a point. A local business owner who is Ojibwe tells him, “Sheriff, you better believe every Shinnob on the rez is watching you right now. Every step you take.”

While Liam is busy with his work, nobody is paying much attention to the boys; Cork, Jorge, and their friend Billy Downwind, who is related to Big John, poke around some more, and what they unearth is both shocking and dangerous.

Lightning Strike owned me until it was done, and though I rarely do this, I’m headed to the Seattle Bibliocommons to find the next book, which is technically the first in the series, because for this series and this writer, once cannot possibly be enough. Highly recommended!

This is an origin story for a series by author William Kent Krueger. I admit I haven’t read any of the series and have only read a stand alone by the author that was excellent. Krueger can paint a setting and fill in the detail with such clarity that readers can feel the air move around them as they read the description of the atmosphere. In LIGHTNING STRIKE, the author invites us to experience life and death through the eyes of a 12 year old boy, just leaving childhood and not-quite nearing adolescence, much less adulthood. Nonetheless, he and his buddies are confronted by some very adult problems that they decide to solve themselves. The solution set will stay with them for the rest of their lives. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

William Kent Krueger’s latest novel, Lightning Strike, gives readers a glimpse into Cork O’Connor’s life at age 12 in Aurora, Minnesota. In a devastating tragedy for the native Indian community, a well-loved and revered man is found dead in what is initially deemed a suicide. The town sheriff, who also happens to be Cork’s father, must investigate the crime as Cork simultaneously searches for his own answers.

While I haven’t read any of the previously published Cork O’Connor novels, I did really enjoy his character, and especially reading this story largely from his perspective. The internal struggle between Cork’s Native American heritage on his mother’s (and grandmother’s) side of the family and his white father gave Cork’s character depth (although the tension got repetitive in the dialogue between the father, Liam, and the grandmother).

The writing style was not particularly special, and there were many detective novel tropes that made the story feel basic. The weary, war-veteran cop/detective struggling to keep his work and personal lives separate, the affair, the death that is staged as a suicide but is, of course, actually a murder. At times, the dialogue was cheesy or felt forced. I also really don’t believe that Liam would have shared as much information with his young son and family members as he did, or let Cork go out in the woods overnight when there’s a murderer potentially still loose; however, the year is 1963, so I let it slide. The most unique thing about this book to me, especially in the mystery genre, was the incorporation of Native American culture and characters. I appreciated the spiritual aspects of the story, and that not everything had to be clearly explained, just felt and known on an intuitive, instinctual level.

In my opinion, the strength of this book was Cork’s character and some of the themes specific to his journey. The loss of innocence, as he is the one who discovers the dead body initially, and in the end loses his father; eventually he comes to realize that bad things actually do happen to good people. The people that have always served as authority figures, he now sees as flawed, morally ambiguous, and human just like everyone else. I think it was a smart choice to put Cork right at that transitional age when these difficult truths are coming to light. For any reader who wants a deeper dive into the childhood of Cork O’Connor, this book will deliver.

A story about Cork as he was growing up in the small town where his father was the sheriff. When a beloved friend is found hung they began to search for the reasons behind is murder. Cork is told to look for small crumbs to find clues for a web of confusion. Father and son develop a deep bond in their investigations. The story gives meaning to Cork as an adult. Well written!

I consider myself a halfhearted fan of William Kent Krueger: I enjoyed both Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land (https://littorallibrarian.org/this-tender-land-by-william-kent-krueger/). But the only one in the beloved Cork O’Connor series I had read was Iron Lake, so when I received a copy of Lightning Strike from Atria Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, I was happy to dive right in.

In this prequel to the Cork O’Connor series, twelve-year-old Cork is living in Aurora, Minnesota, a small town in the forest near Iron Lake. His father, Liam O’Connor, is the local sheriff, which is handy when Cork and his friend stumble upon a dead body. It LOOKS like the man, a Native American named Big John Moneydeeds (someone Cork revered), has committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree. As Liam begins his official investigation, Cork begins his own effort to figure out what really happened.

It is a fine mystery, as well as a coming of age novel. Even more, it takes a good hard look at what ilife in general and the justice system in particular were like for Native Americans in the early to mid-1960s. The title refers to the way things can change in an instant…as Cork finds out. A good read. Four stars.

*4.5 stars rounded up. I have enjoyed two standalone novels that William Kent Krueger has written but have never read his Cork O'Connor series so decided this prequel would be a good place to start. As with his standalones, this story really speaks to the heart of his reader with excellent characterizations and richly-depicted setting.

Set in the north woods of Minnesota in summer of 1963, Cork and his friend Jorge find the body of a man hanging from a tree deep in the woods, that of Big John Manydeeds, a well-respected Ojibwe man. Cork's father, Sheriff Liam O'Connor, investigates the death and begins to have some doubts about whether this was a suicide. Cork wants to help and is given advice 'to follow the crumbs' by Henry Meloux, a wise man of the tribe. Cork is only twelve but this will be a year of many hard lessons for the boy.

This is a fascinating mystery case, the facts of which do indeed involve following the trail of crumbs. The plot is also a revelation of what it was like to be part of the Native population of that era. Could they ever hope for justice to be served, same as for a white person? Sheriff Liam, a good man, finds it difficult to walk the fine line separating the two races.

The story brought to mind many of the great coming-of-age novels I've enjoyed over the years, beginning with To Kill a Mockingbird. Liam O'Connor takes his place amongst the honorable men of those novels. I liked both the book cover and the title, which comes from the idea that everything can change in an instant, like a lightning strike.

I received an arc of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks for the opportunity. I'm eager to read the rest of the books in this series now!

A perfect entry into the Cork O’Connor series for fans of William Kent Krueger‘s standalone novels, Lightning Strike is an exquisitely written prequel with heart, violence and historical context. A solid detective story with twists and turns headed towards an uncertain conclusion, wrapped inside a coming of age story about early adolescent boys within the historical setting of early 1960’s Middle America, featuring conflict between abysmally-treated Native Americans and their white neighbors.

It’s the summer of 1963 in Aurora, Minnesota and 12-year old Cork O’Connor and his friend Jorge are hiking to a sacred site called Lightning Strike when they happen upon a grizzly scene –Big John Manydeeds, an esteemed member of the Ojibwe tribe and venerable wilderness guide, hanging from a tree of an apparent suicide. Enter Cork’s father and sheriff of Tamarack County, Liam O’Connor, to process the scene and start an investigation. As it becomes apparent that Big John’s death was under suspicious circumstances, tensions rise due to simmering mistrust by the Ojibwe with the Sheriff’s department and a history that more than suggests this revered Native American will not get the justice he deserves due to years of prejudicial treatment. Feeling the need to be helpful, young Cork O’Connor takes on his own investigation, sometimes against the direct orders of his father, with the goal to do right by Big John. Finding invaluable clues and evidence along the way, Cork is forced to grow up quickly in the face of a complicated world that he straddles as part Irish/part Native American, learning that doing the right thing can sometimes have dreadful consequences.

Despite the conflict, death and shining a light on the frustratingly awful treatment of Native Americans, Lightning Strike at its core is a beautiful story that makes you feel warm inside. It focuses on relationships that we can all relate to – father and son, mother and son, friendships between people of different races, the young and their elders, and childhood buddies. It explores the time in life where you start transitioning from being a kid to an adult via having your eyes opened to the world around you that was previously hidden through childhood innocence. It also dives into doing the right thing and being able to live with yourself, even if it’s hard and could cause difficulties along the way that would be easier to avoid. Finally, it highlights the beauty of diverse communities and friendships, and overcoming the horribly divisive nature of small-minded prejudicial thinking. These are all wonderful things that come together perfectly in this novel via the skillful pen of an American treasure, William Kent Krueger.

If you’re not reading WKK’s books, you’re missing out on a resplendent experience. And if you’ve read his standalones, but like me hadn’t yet been introduced to the Cork O’Connor series, then Lighting Strike is an absolute must read. You’ll be hooked and then be delighted to find out there are 17 more books in the series. Watch that TBR pile grow. Happy reading!