Thunder Bay: A Cork O'Connor Mystery

Written by William Kent Krueger

Narrated by Buck Schirner

The promise, as I remember it, happened this way.

Happy and content in his hometown of Aurora, Minnesota, Cork O'Connor has left his badge behind and is ready for a life of relative peace, setting up shop as a private investigator. But his newfound state of calm is soon interrupted when Henry Meloux, the Ojibwe medicine man and Cork's spiritual adviser, makes a request: Will Cork find the son that Henry fathered long ago?

With little to go on, Cork uses his investigative skills to locate Henry Wellington, a wealthy and reclusive industrialist living in Thunder Bay, Ontario. When a murder attempt is made on old Meloux's life, all clues point north across the border. But why would Wellington want his father dead? This question takes Cork on a journey through time as he unravels the story of Meloux's 1920s adventures in the ore-rich wilderness of Canada, where his love for a beautiful woman, far outside his culture, led him into a trap of treachery, greed, and murder.

The past and present collide along the rocky shores of Thunder Bay, where a father's unconditional love is tested by a son's deeply felt resentment, and where jealousy and revenge remain the code among men. As Cork hastens to uncover the truth and save his friend, he soon discovers that his own life is in danger and is reminded that the promises we keep - even for the best of friends - can sometimes place us in the hands of our worst enemies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Jul 24, 2007
• ISBN: 9781423329824

William Kent Krueger

William Kent Krueger is the New York Times bestselling author of The River We Remember, This Tender Land, Ordinary Grace (winner of the Edgar Award for best novel), and the original audio novella The Levee, as well as nineteen acclaimed books in the Cork O’Connor mystery series, including Lightning Strike and Fox Creek. He lives in the Twin Cities with his family. Learn more at WilliamKentKrueger.com.

Reviews for Thunder Bay

[msaucier818 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had not read a Krueger book in at least a year, and I now question why I had put it off for so long. I always very much enjoy the Cork O'Connor series and this entry was better than most as I remember it. It tells the back story of Henry Meloux, who has been the local Native American wise man and father figure in the previous installments. It was great to read about him, and I thought Krueger did a fantastic job of keeping the story balanced and plausible. I look forward to the next one.

[carolmt_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great book.

[kateiyzie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fast-paced read. Enjoyable Am Indian back story.

[purlyo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

William Kent Krueger never disapoints. Great storyteller and good writing - great combination!

[kateisaac · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fast-paced read. Enjoyable Am Indian back story.

[she_climber · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Favorite one of the series so far! I loved the back story on Henry. Audio, as usual for this series, but a new narrator which I really didn't mind. David Chandler, the old one also did all the CJ Box books and the same voice and the different Jo(e)'s always had me confused. Moving on to #8.

[tadad_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm of two minds about this book. There's a story within the story and the inner—the backstory of Henry Meloux—is well done. The plot of the surrounding story was a bit threadbare with a rushed ending that, by itself, would leave this book with a much lower rating. We also get a little drama in Cork's personal life that seems almost perfunctory before it passes. If you're enjoying this series, this is worth reading simply to put some flesh on Henry beyond "wise, old shaman."

[jamespurcell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The series continue with focus on Henry Meloux his early life and his current quest for his son. A good story well told that offers the color and atmosphere of Lake Superior country as the background for and old rooted but stile alive family mystery.

[librarymary09 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I found it a little disconcerting to read this book, which uses first-person narrative, after the 3rd person narrative of the earlier books in the series. The change definitely impacted my enjoyment of the book. It kept pulling me out of the story.

[eadieb-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a thoroughly engrossing story that held my interest until the very end. The whole Cork O'Connor series is packed full with adventure and interesting characters. I am looking forward to the next book as with each one they get better and better.

[jastbrown · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

William Kent Kreuger's mystery series featuring Cork O'Connor seemed, in my mind, to start out relatively slowly. I felt that it wasn't until his fourth or fifth book that he really hit his stride. I'm very thankful that I had bought up his complete series before beginning to read them (based on an enthusiastic review I read of a later book).. otherwise I might have given up on the series early on and missed some really great stories. And in hindsight even the early books have a great deal to offer. The novels are set in rural, northern Minnesota for the most part with the action shifting to The U.P. of Michigan in one story and to Wyoming in another. Mr. Kreuger gives Cork O'Connor a family life that is anything but 'storybook'. From one end to the other this is a loving, but modern family, with real life modern problems that they do manage to get resolved. Fairly early in the series, the stories begin increasingly encompassing Cork's and his family's Native American connection to good advantage!This is a very good and satisfying series which I gobbled up faster and faster towards the end. Now I have to sit and eagerly await the next Cork O'Connor adventure. This is a series where the books could be read as stand alones, but for maximum enjoyment I would strongly recommend reading them in the order that they were written.

[marthal_5424 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Maybe more stars after I have finish reading it.. By page 8, I'm hooked. A nice mix of characters, the elderly and the college age girls, one with a boyfriend problem. Set in Minisota. I'm intrigued

[candyh_64 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is another very good book by Krueger. This themes of this story are love, loyalty and family relationships. Krueger has an intriguing and compelling way of drawing the reader into the story with his telling of the Indian lore and history that go with the area of the country that he so loves. Truly a good book and I highly recommend it.

[jepeters333 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Henry Meloux asks Cork to help him find his long lost son. Cork tracks the man to the Canadian town of Thunder Bay, Ontario, where it turns out he's a prominent (if reclusive) industrialist. When someone tries to kill Henry, and the evidence points to his son, Cork digs deep into his old friend's personal history, where he uncovers truths that might be best left buried.

[kathy89_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Elderly Indian asks Cork O'Connor to locate a son he fathered with a white woman 70 years ago. The old man believes his son is in trouble and needs him. They find a Howard Hughes type secluded on an island but sense something is not right. They spend time tracking through the woods looking for the campsite that the Indian said was used 70 yrs ago by the woman's father and wealthy benefactor while looking for gold. Subplot has Cork and his wife concerned over their teenage daughter's unplanned pregnancy.

[miked_181283 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very good story and my first read of Krueger's. I will definitely seek out his earlier stories of Cork O'Connor.This one has to do with an elder of the Ojibwe tribe, Henry Meloux, who asks Cork help in connectiing him with a son he has never seen. The story revolves around Henry's wish and the resulting mystery of his life.......hidden gold and greed and jealousy add to the drama.

[jenforbus · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When Cork O'Connon is called to the bedside of his elderly friend Henry Meloux, it seems as though he may be dying. Henry wants Cork to find his son, a son he's never even seen. Henry, an Ojibwe medicine man, sense that he has a son and that his son needs him.Henry gives Cork a woman's name, and soon Cork O'Connor finds himself headed to Canada to find a famous recluse by the name of Henry Wellington. People who are reclusive, don't want to be found, and neither did Henry Wellington. By the time Cork and Henry Meloux finish the journey of locating Wellington, Henry Meloux's story emerges.What I found with this book was that there wasn't anything in either extreme for me. There wasn't anything that stood out as magnificent and nothing that stood out as bad. It was simply an enjoyable book. I didn't make any great connections with any of the characters, but they were decent characters. I'm not sure if this is a case where I would have had more connection had I started reading earlier in the series. I think the subplot with Cork's daughter probably could have been eliminated altogether. It seemed to be more of a distraction from the main plot than adding to it. The main plot tended to be a bit on the predictable side and this is definitely a slower plot. The action is not edge-of-your-seat-type action. I mean, we're dealing with a 90ish year old medicine man and his 70ish year old son here. Not a lot of speed at those ages.I'll definitely follow up with this series, but it won't be one I have to read immediately.

[willowwaw · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Of all the Cork O'Connor mysteries this one would have to be my LEAST favorite. Krueger changes the writing style to a first person narrative of Cork's stories and then switches to Henry Meloux's story, which would have made the story my favorite! I loved how the reader got to see Henry's side of things and his back story. Maybe now they should be called Henry Meloux mysteries, because it seems Cork is drying up.