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  • Iron Lake: Cork O'Connor, Book 1
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  • Customer reviews

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
5,780 global ratings
5 star
57%
4 star
32%
3 star
9%
2 star
1%
1 star
1%
Iron Lake: Cork O'Connor, Book 1

Iron Lake: Cork O'Connor, Book 1

byWilliam Kent Krueger
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Top positive review

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K. M. Martin
VINE VOICE
5.0 out of 5 starsFirst Cork O'Connor
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2017
The first Cork O'Connor mystery introduces him to audiences and tells an entertaining story about secrets hidden in a small Minnesota town. Cork is part Anishinaabe Indian, has friends and mentors in the tribe, but has been the sheriff of Aurora enforcing white men's laws. After a confrontation between whites and natives that caused him to kill a white resort owner, he lost a recall election. He has been deeply grieving which caused him to lose his marriage.

Cork has started a new relationship with Molly Nurmi but hasn't given up hope of rebuilding his marriage to Jo in order to keep his relationship with his children. When a woman in town asks him to help locate her missing son, Cork finds himself in an investigation that leads to the death of a prominent and heartily disliked judge, Minnesota militant groups, Indian casinos, and small town corruption and secrets.

I liked the setting. I liked Cork who was a man who fought for justice more than he fought for the law. I'll be reading more of the series which has now reached sixteen books.
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76 people found this helpful

Top critical review

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161803398
1.0 out of 5 starsAtria Paperback printing is horrendous
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2019
This is not a review of the content of the book, rather of the Atria Paperback "20th Anniversary" edition printed in 2019.

This is the worst printed paperback I have ever seen. The paper is soft and grayish, not crisp and white, it is unpleasant to touch and hold. The ink is extremely uneven. It varies between too light and faded, to too dark and blurred to a bold font.

This is a good book that deserves a better printing. I cannot recommend this edition.
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47 people found this helpful

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From the United States

K. M. Martin
VINE VOICE
5.0 out of 5 stars First Cork O'Connor
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2017
Verified Purchase
The first Cork O'Connor mystery introduces him to audiences and tells an entertaining story about secrets hidden in a small Minnesota town. Cork is part Anishinaabe Indian, has friends and mentors in the tribe, but has been the sheriff of Aurora enforcing white men's laws. After a confrontation between whites and natives that caused him to kill a white resort owner, he lost a recall election. He has been deeply grieving which caused him to lose his marriage.

Cork has started a new relationship with Molly Nurmi but hasn't given up hope of rebuilding his marriage to Jo in order to keep his relationship with his children. When a woman in town asks him to help locate her missing son, Cork finds himself in an investigation that leads to the death of a prominent and heartily disliked judge, Minnesota militant groups, Indian casinos, and small town corruption and secrets.

I liked the setting. I liked Cork who was a man who fought for justice more than he fought for the law. I'll be reading more of the series which has now reached sixteen books.
76 people found this helpful
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NANCY LYNCH
5.0 out of 5 stars Watch out they are addictive!
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2017
Verified Purchase
A friend sent me the list of Williams books and said she was certain I would like them.
I do...been reading non stop and am on #5 at present.
They are full of mystery and also Indian folk lore. SUPER fun.
36 people found this helpful
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F. Oliver Jr.
5.0 out of 5 stars What a great story!
Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2017
Verified Purchase
I loved this book. The story itself seemed to fall together slowly and at times it was dragging, but then all hell broke loose. The few clues became an avalanche of clues pointing towards....who?
I had a difficult time putting this down during the last hundred pages. If you like the Alex McKnight books you will enjoy these.
23 people found this helpful
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the landscaper
5.0 out of 5 stars Damn this is a good book. Hard to believe it's his first effort
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2017
Verified Purchase
Damn this is a good book. Hard to believe it's his first effort. Well done William. When I wasn't reading this book, I was thinking about it and wishing I was. Slowed my reading down at the end to make it last longer. Good stuff.
74 people found this helpful
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Scott E. High
TOP 500 REVIEWER
5.0 out of 5 stars Reminds Me Of Home
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2020
Verified Purchase
I left Central Wisconsin 56 years ago but was painfully reminded of the harsh winter climate when reading this novel set in Minnesota. Add in the early morning paper route one of the young characters was responsible for which required newspapers to be delivered during all kinds of weather. Another similarity was that both of us were Eagle Scouts and members of the Order of the Arrow. And then of course we had a hunting cabin (or tar paper shack is a better description) just on the other side of a bog close to the Manitowish Waters Ojibwa Reservation. The Ojibwa by the way had much better and far more comfortable accommodations than we had. While the bog served as a natural boundary, on occasion we could tell that we were being watched, but we never did discover who was doing the watching. So the similarities I lived through were prevalent in this story.

This personal history helped me relate to the people, climate and scenes described in "Iron Lake". I normally read aggressive crime/thriller/mystery novels which are set in large urban populations where the technology used is up-to-date, the urban scenes dark and dreary, and a host of attractive women seem to make up the majority of the population. Many of those novels don't even identify the race or heritage of the characters, leaving the reader with a homogeneous feeling. Mr. Kruger however is very specific on race, body type, character, level of intelligence, and the goals of each of his actors.

I discovered this novel when I switched up my method of discovering new authors to read. Recommendations from friends helped as well as tracking down some of the novels that Amazon sends me outlines of. Then it's a matter of weaning down the choices further to determine the average rating given by reviewers -- not just to each specific novel selected but also to the other works written by the same author. William Kent Krueger stood out for the quality of all of his works and because of the rather unusual setting for his Cork O'Connor mystery series.

This novel turned out to be an exceptional selection. "Iron Lake" was written 20 years ago and was such a good seller that a twentieth anniversary edition was just published for those of us unfamiliar with this author's skill set. The northern winter scenery was a story in itself and figured prominently in the plot. Nothing moved too fast and in fact some critical thinking was required to keep up with the characters' thoughts and actions. But the novel itself proved to be an extremely enjoyable read especially since the first person narratives were often given by several of the main characters. That was extremely helpful in deciding why some actions were taken and how those activities affected the lives of each of them. Great job Mr. Krueger. I'll be taking another trip with Cork very soon.
18 people found this helpful
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161803398
1.0 out of 5 stars Atria Paperback printing is horrendous
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2019
Verified Purchase
This is not a review of the content of the book, rather of the Atria Paperback "20th Anniversary" edition printed in 2019.

This is the worst printed paperback I have ever seen. The paper is soft and grayish, not crisp and white, it is unpleasant to touch and hold. The ink is extremely uneven. It varies between too light and faded, to too dark and blurred to a bold font.

This is a good book that deserves a better printing. I cannot recommend this edition.
47 people found this helpful
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BuffaloGuy
5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2021
Verified Purchase
I had read and was impressed by two of the author's most recent books, so I thought I'd check out his Cork O'Connor series, even though I never read crime novels. This book went far beyond being merely a crime novel: it had complex, deep, richly-drawn characters who I came to care deeply about all the way through. The story is also rich, with interesting sub-plots and the whole is taut with suspense. Once I started, I could barely put it down.
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Beachgirl
5.0 out of 5 stars Will be a great mystery seried
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2020
Verified Purchase
After reading Krueger's three stand alone novels, I was interested in getting into his mystery series with Cork O'Conner as the main character. There are always twists and turns and unexpected happening that make it a very interesting story. His writing flows as he puts words together beautifully. I will look forward to reading other books in this series. If you like good mysteries and good writing and character development, you will like this book and all the rest of his books!
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CMarie
5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting and atmospheric read
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2021
Verified Purchase
This is a great book. It folds you into the cold northwest winter and a culture of whited and indigenous folks. To that add well developed characters and a real mystery. I stayed up late and got up early to finish. I had seen these books but never bought in part because they seemed perhaps more for men. But that was not correct. I will be getting more
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Amanda Messina
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Mystery Series to Get Into*Fabulous Characters
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2020
Verified Purchase
I finally got into a mystery series with this one. After many failed attempts at series by other authors, I found one. The Native American heritage explained in this book really had me hooked, even though I really didn't think I would be that interested. All the positive reviews made me try it.

Cork O'Connor is THE GUY and I am going through the books now to see what he will do next. He's got an ex and a past and it's just all in here.
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