It’s been several years since I’ve read one of Dana Stabenow’s Kate Shugak books, so when this one was offered by one of my free book sites, I jumped on it. I remembered I always liked her stories because they were set in Alaska, a place I’ve always wished I could visit. This book is the 12th of 23 books in the Kate Shugak series, a native Aleut private investigator and her half-wolf, half-husky dog, Mutt, in the Alaskan wilderness. I didn’t realize when I started reading this book that it was written in 2002 and because of that I was confused when they were referring to individuals being Vietnam vets and the ages and time lines didn’t match for today’s date. After I googled it, it then made sense and was much more pleasing to read. I didn’t think enjoy this book as much as I remembered enjoying others in this series that I’ve read.

I give this book

From Amazon:

“Change never comes easy, so when the news breaks that the new administration might be drilling for oil in a wildlife preserve in southeastern Alaska, home to P.I. Kate Shugak, battle lines are quickly drawn across the community. But for Kate, who hasn’t been able to get back into her daily life ever since her lover’s violent death a few months ago, it’s a welcome reprieve from doing nothing.

Tensions run high when Kate’s friend and chief park ranger, Dan O’Brien, is deemed “too green” by management and asked to take early retirement. Kate rallies the troops to fight for his job, but before she can really start throwing her weight around, a long-time resident is found brutally murdered. Alaska State Trooper Jim Chopin enlists Kate in the investigation, and it isn’t long before she discovers that when it comes to the beauty and danger of living and dying in Alaska, nothing is as simple as it seems . . .”