Reviews for A night too dark [sound recording (CD)]
Publishers Weekly
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Bestseller Stabenow deftly explores the environmental and economic impact of gold mining in her sizzling 17th novel to feature Alaska PI Kate Shugak (after 2009's Whisper to the Blood). Global Harvest Resources is intent on opening the Suulutaq Mine, where substantial deposits of gold, copper, and molybdenum have been found on state leases in the middle of the Iqaluk Wildlife Refuge, 50 miles from Niniltna. When Kate, "chair of the board of directors of the Niniltna Native Association," and state trooper Jim Chopin find bear-eaten human remains near the truck of Global Harvest roustabout Dewayne A. Gammons, they assume the remains are Gammons's. After all, there was a suicide note in Gammons's truck. Weeks later, a wounded and nearly catatonic Gammons emerges from the woods near Kate's homestead. More puzzles-and murder-follow. An uneasy resolution to the crimes suggests further drama ahead for Kate and her fellow "Park rats." Author tour. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
This long-running series, which began in 1992 with the Edgar Award-winning A Cold Day for Murder, shows small signs of weariness in the eighteenth installment. The story begins with a man going missing and, later, his body being found. Then, later still, the dead man turns up alive, leading Kate Shugak and Alaskan state trooper Jim Chopin to wonder: Just who did that body belong to, anyway? While the characters are as engaging as always, and Stabenow's writing just as sprightly, the book feels a bit lethargic. There are large chunks where nothing much happens for example, the body isn't discovered until nearly a third of the way through the book, and it's a good while before the missing man turns up alive. A leisurely pace is one thing, but some readers might find that this one meanders a little too much. On the other hand, fans of Murder, She Wrote-style mysteries (lengthy introductions of character and plot setup, relatively speedy resolution) will have no problems, and longtime fans will be pleased to spend more time with the always appealing Shugak.--Pitt, David Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
As a controversial gold mine prepares to open in the Iqaluk Wildlife Refuge, an employee leaves a suicide note and dis-appears into the wilderness. When a search party finds bear-eaten human remains, the body is assumed to be the missing miner. Kate Shugak is at a loss when the man stumbles out of the woods some weeks later. Now she must identify the body. VERDICT Mixing the economic, political, and environmental impact of a gold mine on the beautiful Alaskan landscape with Kate's private life and her unacknowledged opposition to the mine makes the 17th Kate Shugak novel (after Whisper to the Blood) a page-turner. Readers of Stan Jones's Alaskan mysteries will appreciate Stabenow's portrayal of the state. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 10/1/09; available as an audio CD.] (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Think of gold, lots of gold. Global Harvest Resources Inc. has discovered 42 million ounces of everyone's favorite metal at the Suulutaq Mine, on state leases smack in the middle of Alaska's Iqaluk Wildlife Refuge. Eager to assay even more, mine superintendent Vern Truax brings in a staff of dozens who work for a week, then head for a week off in the nearest townNiniltna, 100 miles awayto drink, flirt and buy souvenirs. A suicidally inclined few opt for an unarmed stroll in the park, courting "death by Alaska" (aka, getting mauled by a bear or moose). When bits of a body duly turn up, investigator Kate Shugak (Whisper in the Blood, 2008, etc.) heads for the mine to see if anyone is missing and learns that Dewayne Gammons has been a no-show for a week. Despite niggling doubts, Kate writes him off as a suicide. When Gammons drags himself into Kate's yard a month later, the cute Aleut has to reconsider. First, who was the bear's real meal? Second, why has Gammons' friend Lydia, another mine employee, also turned up dead? And third, how are the two fatalities connected to State Trooper Jim Chopin's search for a bigamist, or to an industrial spy serving three paymasters, each craving proprietary information concerning the Suulutaq Mine? Kate, still unhappily serving as the chair of the Niniltna Native Association, is even unhappier about cell phones, moneyed tourists and other encroaching changes to the Alaskan lifestyle, not to mention the greed that accelerates them. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
