Red Knife (Cork O'Connor Series #8) » (Bargain)

For the last twenty years, William Kent Krueger has made his home in St. Paul, Minnesota, with his wife and two children. His Cork O’Connor novels, Iron Lake (winner of the 1998 Anthony Award for Best First Novel and the Barry Award), Boundary Waters, Purgatory Ridge, Blood Hollow (winner of the 2004 Anthony Award for Best Novel), and Mercy Falls (winner of the 2005 Anthony Award for Best Novel) - as well as the political thriller The Devil’s Bed - are available from Atria Books.

When the daughter of a powerful businessman dies as a result of her meth addiction, her father, strong-willed and brutal Buck Reinhardt, vows revenge. His target is the Red Boyz, a gang of Ojibwe youths accused of supplying the girl’s fatal drug dose. When the head of the Red Boyz and his wife are murdered in a way that suggests execution, the Ojibwe gang mobilizes, and the citizens of Tamarack County brace themselves for war, white against red.
Both sides look to Cork O’Connor, a man of mixed heritage, to uncover the truth behind the murders. A former sheriff, Cork has lived, fought, and nearly died to keep the small-town streets and his family safe from harm. He knows that violence is never a virtue, but he believes that it’s sometimes a necessary response to the evil that men do. Racing to find answers before the bloodshed spreads, Cork himself becomes involved in the darkest of deeds. As the unspeakable unfolds in the remote and beautiful place he calls home, Cork is forced to confront the horrific truth: Violence is a beast that cannot be contained.

In Red Knife, Krueger gives his readers a vivid picture of racial conflict in small-town America, as well as a sensitive look at the secrets we keep from even those closest to us and the destructive nature of all that is left unsaid between fathers and sons, husbands and wives, friends and lovers.

The New York Times - Marilyn Stasio

Cork O'Connor, a former sheriff whose Indian bloodline gives him tribal access, is one of those hometown heroes you rarely see (and can hardly believe in) anymore—someone so decent and true, he might restore his town's battered faith in the old values.