Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger
Cork O'Connor #1
Mystery
1998
Finished on February 3, 2025
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)
Publisher's Blurb:
As a blizzard buries Aurora and an old medicine man warns of the arrival of a blood-thirsty mythic beast called the Windigo, Cork must dig for answers hard and fast before more people, among them those he loves, will die.
It was 2014 when I read my first book by William Kent Krueger. Ordinary Grace came highly recommended by a coworker and as luck would have it, the author came to our Barnes & Noble for a book talk and signing.
Yes, I had my own endcap for many years.
I loved Krueger's stand-alone novel Ordinary Grace (you can read my review here) and quickly went on to read Iron Lake (reviewed here), the first in his Cork O'Connor series. I've since read This Tender Land and The River We Remember, but have not yet returned to his mystery series. With two of his most recent installments (Lightning Strike and Fox Creek) on my shelves, I decided it was finally time to spend the next couple of years catching up on the series.
Just as the first time I read it, Iron Lake took me several chapters before I stopped questioning my decision to read it again. By the halfway mark, I was invested in the story, and as the final chapters drew near, I couldn't stop reading, the story was so intense! I stayed up far too late, but it was a good distraction from the current news coming out of Washington, DC. I'd forgotten most of the plot, but remembered one key event, so I wasn't nearly as shocked as I was when I read the book in 2014. I'm excited to get a copy of Boundary Waters and return to Cork and the Minnesota wilderness, but I'm also tempted to re-read Ordinary Grace.
All of this is cool! I didn't know you worked at B&N, I had tried for years to find work at a bookstore but I always needed experience. Always wondered how I could possibly get experience, haha.
ReplyDeleteGreat you met the author. From your Lesley Recommends end cap I have read Momo and followed the account online as well.
Tina, yes I worked at B&N for 10 years. I loved it! I started out as a "shelver" and eventually was in charge of setting the displays every Tuesday with all of the new releases. It was such a great job, truly my dream job. I think a lot of people get hired on as "seasonal" help during the holidays, but I had experience by working at Borders (in TX) prior to moving back to Nebraska.
DeleteI loved Borders! It was sad when they shut down, one of my favorite stores.
DeleteTina, it was a fun place to work. It was my first job in a bookstore.
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ReplyDeleteWow!! Your own end cap AND you met him! I love his writing. He looks like a very friendly guy too. I met Dean Koontz once and we talked and talked. I love friendly authors.
Ti, yeah it was fun to have my own endcap. And yes, WKK is a very friendly guy. It was a fun event.
DeleteFirst of all, I had forgotten you had your own endcap! It is fun to be able to put books around that you'd like to encourage people to read. I loved that aspect of library work. I looked back and I read Iron Lake in 2010 and then Ordinary Grace a few years after - maybe 2014. I had kept thinking I would read more, but I just never have. My husband on the other hand has read all of the Cork O'Connor books and stayed current with that series. Nice picture of William Kent Krueger. I remember meeting him at a mystery book conference and he was so nice to talk to. Glad you enjoyed Iron Lake - good luck with reading more of the series and also more of the standalone books. :-)
ReplyDeleteKay, I should look back through my photos and see how many more pictures I have of my endcaps. I had fun creating those! Yes, Krueger was a very nice person and we had a great book event with him. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series!
DeleteI've also read Ordinary Grace (liked) and This Tender Land (loved). I have one more of his on my shelves to read this year.
ReplyDeleteHelen, if you have The River We Remember on your shelves, you're in for a treat!
DeleteThat's neat you got to meet the author and have liked his books! We shopped for Christmas at a B&N at Fashion Island in Newport Beach ... and the bookstore was really good. In fact I thought it was the best stocked B&N I had ever been in. It had back list books and front list too. The staff were on their walkie talkies helping us find things on different floors. It was funny. We bought quite a bit, hmm.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I remember Fashion Island! It was THE place to shop when I was growing up in San Diego. Everyone would go up there to buy prom dresses. Nice that they have such a large B&N. I sure do miss working in a bookstore, but I enjoy retirement more. ;)
DeleteOh, I love it that you had your own endcap. You are the perfect person to recommend books to others!
ReplyDeleteDeb, it was great fun to come up with themes for my endcaps. I loved recommending books to new and return customers.
DeleteI would love to have my own endcap! I volunteered at the local library in their used book shed when my husband worked in Maine. I put sticky notes on a few books I wanted to recommend and tried putting them front and center but it was too small a space for that. The other volunteers didn't seem interested in taking part either. Maybe someday when we settle down!
ReplyDeleteI really liked This Tender Land. I'll have to look for this one and some of his other work.
Jen, there were times when those in upper management (on the corporate level) didn't want us to have any endcaps that weren't part of their monthly plan, but for the most part, my store managers were pleased with my personal touch. They even told me that customers would often come in asking if I was working so I could give them some recommendations. I always had a great time handselling books, especially during the holidays. I hope you get a chance to work in a library or bookstore once your nomadic lifestyle comes to an end.
DeleteI remember your endcap!! It was always a dream of mine to work in a bookstore... so much more fun than a hospital ;-) Ordinary Grace was a big hit with my book club back in NY, but I've never read any of his other books. They're all on my wish list though.
ReplyDeleteHa! I can't believe you remember my endcaps. I guess I posted them several times on my blog over the years... My job at Borders (in Fort Worth) and B&N (in Lincoln) were my best jobs ever. I loved organizing and displaying the new books, chatting with customers, meeting authors, etc. If we had a B&N nearby, you know I'd be working there (part-time between travels, of course!). Hope you get to more of WKK's books. I'm on my second Cork O'Connor book and so far, it's not really wowing me. I'll stick with it and give #3 a try, but the series may not be for me. His standalones are very good, though. Time to reread Ordinary Grace!
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