The Big Thaw

Rating:
Summary: Just Keeps Getting Better!
Review: I enjoyed "Known Dead", Mr. Harstad's previous book, enough to buy two more copies as gifts. I'm happy now to see I'll have to order two more copies of "The Big Thaw" as follow up gifts. If you haven't read "Know Dead" I would suggest ordering the paperback copy and reading it immediately before "The Big Thaw". Of course it isn't necessary to know the earlier book to enjoy this one, but it is a double pleasure, as some of the characters and action continue from the earlier book.

This time out, we are once again treated to a view of a small community's law enforcement efforts with attendant lack of resources and people, but this time in the midst of a brutal winter. As in his previous books, it is Mr. Harstad's sense of humanity, and his obvious expertise in Police work, that comes through in his writing. Carl Houseman, the adroit deputy sheriff hero of three books by Mr. Harstad, is disarmingly self-deprecating and breezily conversational, in a laid-back, homey manner, snacking on the occasional forbidden doughnut and divulging pointers on crime scene investigation as easily as recipes for couscous and low-fat hot-dogs, while his actions show him to be a consummately professional investigator and Deputy Sheriff.

Carl is not a half-bad politician either, managing to get what he needs most of the time, while at the mercy of the bureaucratic whimsy of multiple State and Federal agencies and even the personal vagaries of a maladroit ex-superior, now unsurprisingly promoted to the State level.

What these books really have going for them though is both a good read, and you care. You're interested in the action but you can also like characters such as Hester and George and Lamar, and wonder about the "long suffering" Sue. Carl himself is believable, and smart, and a good man, and you want him to win. You care.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT READ
Review: I FOUND THESE BOOKS BY ACCIDENT ONE DAY AT THE BOOK STORE AND HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO PUT THEM DOWN. I LIKE THE HUMAR AND THE AUTHER KNOWS SMALL TOWN LIFE AS ONLY SOMEONE WHO IS FROM ONE. ALSO THE PLOTS ARE FROM THE HEADLINES OF TODAY. I AM GLAD TO SEE THAT HE WAS ABLE TO BRING CLOSURE TO GABRIEL FROM THE OTHER BOOK.

Rating:
Summary: A Cold Crime Story
Review: It's cold in Iowa, and you may want to wear a pair of warm gloves while reading this Carl Houseman novel in order to avoid frostbite. You can almost feel the blanket of snow covering the roads and smell the coffee brewing back at the station as Maitland's favorite Deputy Sheriff returns for a third entry in Donald Harstad's fine series.

A break-in at a rural Iowa farm where no one is home will leave two burglers dead, murdered execution style, and Houseman with only one suspect, who he believes is innocent. Only when the vague Special Agent Volont from Harstad's previous entry, Known Dead, arrives does Houseman discover the one man army named Gabriel has returned to Nation County.

DCI Agent Hester Gorse returns, as does Carl's boss Lamar, capable dispatcher, Sally, FBI Agent George, and reporter Nancy Mitchell, who looks to be a very interesting addition to this very enjoyable series. The rural atmosphere and Houseman's self-deprecating humor during tense situations are the trademark of Harstad's novels.

A moonlight chase on snowmobiles, an autopsy viewed by Houseman, Nancy and her photographer Shamrock, and the simultanious robbery of a bank and a gambling ship will all lead right back to the snow covered farmhouse where this all began, and a final confrontation with the always dangerous Gabriel.

This is a cold one, but a good one. Wearing long johns is optional, but highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Another great read
Review: Its two years after the events described in 'Known Dead', and it's deep winter in Iowa. The action starts with a car chase that nets a burglary lookout who is terrified that his cousins whom he dropped off two days before to rob a holiday home might have died from exposure. Deputy Carl Houseman investigate the property and find two bodies all right, but inside the property and definitely not dead from hypothermia. The absent owner arrives, all aggression and bluster, and the plot starts to thicken. Added to the pot are an over-confident FBI surveillance team, a floating casino, an incompetent sniper, paranoid right-wing loons, a frozen river, media reporters, and a very bright survivalist-cum-bank robber in the form of the infamous Gabriel, last seen in 'Known Dead'.

While I agree with another reviewer's comments about the sloppy proof-reading, these are infrequent enough that they didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book, and can be laid firmly at the door of the publisher, not the author. Harstad brings his protagonist, Houseman, to life with his descriptions of an experienced police officer getting dressed using short cuts learned from experience, in his realistic conversations and descriptions with other characters, in his explanations of police procedure. Houseman is a very credible character, sympathetic, astute, self-deprecating, and always hungry. Harstad imbues him with a gentle wit that is been best seen in his interactions with his favourite dispatcher, Sally Wells and DCI investigator Hester Gorse. Now, Sally could give Hester a run for her money as a detective, in my opinion. Harstads' favourite foils are back in the form of the pedantic Art Meyermann, now working for DCI, and the robotic FBI counter-terrorist agent Volont, constantly out-thought by his arch-enemy Gabriel.

Like Harstad's earlier books in this series, I really enjoyed this one. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Another great read
Review: Its two years after the events described in `Known Dead', and it's deep winter in Iowa. The action starts with a car chase that nets a burglary lookout who is terrified that his cousins whom he dropped off two days before to rob a holiday home might have died from exposure. Deputy Carl Houseman investigate the property and find two bodies all right, but inside the property and definitely not dead from hypothermia. The absent owner arrives, all aggression and bluster, and the plot starts to thicken. Added to the pot are an over-confident FBI surveillance team, a floating casino, an incompetent sniper, paranoid right-wing loons, a frozen river, media reporters, and a very bright survivalist-cum-bank robber in the form of the infamous Gabriel, last seen in `Known Dead'.

While I agree with another reviewer's comments about the sloppy proof-reading, these are infrequent enough that they didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book, and can be laid firmly at the door of the publisher, not the author. Harstad brings his protagonist, Houseman, to life with his descriptions of an experienced police officer getting dressed using short cuts learned from experience, in his realistic conversations and descriptions with other characters, in his explanations of police procedure. Houseman is a very credible character, sympathetic, astute, self-deprecating, and always hungry. Harstad imbues him with a gentle wit that is been best seen in his interactions with his favourite dispatcher, Sally Wells and DCI investigator Hester Gorse. Now, Sally could give Hester a run for her money as a detective, in my opinion. Harstads' favourite foils are back in the form of the pedantic Art Meyermann, now working for DCI, and the robotic FBI counter-terrorist agent Volont, constantly out-thought by his arch-enemy Gabriel.

Like Harstad's earlier books in this series, I really enjoyed this one. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: New Found Pleasure
Review: Just discovered this author. Excellent read. Best this year. More please! The best thrillers give a real sense of place and atmosphere. This book gives a fascinating insight into contemporary small town Iowa. It might be cold but you really feel you should go and find out!

Rating:
Summary: These cops like to eat!
Review: These cops sure do like to eat, with Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman leading the way to the buffet. This adds a feeling of realism to this entertaining novel set in a truly godforsaken sounding part of Iowa. The plot is not full of mystery and suspense, but more of the day to day plodding and in fighting of a real sounding sheriff's operation. I came away from this novel with a feeling of knowing the characters, even the minor ones, and enjoying the little screw-ups that occurred in the course of the chase. The only annoying part of the book is the incessant use of "cool" by the protagonist and most of his associates. People don't really say "cool" all the time, do they?

Rating:
Summary: These cops like to eat!
Review: These cops sure do like to eat, with Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman leading the way to the buffet. This adds a feeling of realism to this entertaining novel set in a truly godforsaken sounding part of Iowa. The plot is not full of mystery and suspense, but more of the day to day plodding and in fighting of a real sounding sheriff's operation. I came away from this novel with a feeling of knowing the characters, even the minor ones, and enjoying the little screw-ups that occurred in the course of the chase. The only annoying part of the book is the incessant use of "cool" by the protagonist and most of his associates. People don't really say "cool" all the time, do they?

Rating:
Summary: Procedure does not equal plot
Review: Thirty years ago Julian Symons wrote of police procedurals that "A fair degree of realism is possible, but it cannot be pushed too far for fear that the book might be as dull as the actual days of a policeman." Donald Harstad's latest is dull not necessarily because of too much procedure--I am a huge fan of procedure-- but because he and his editor have assumed that procedural realism will cover up plot weakness. The last 120 pages of the book are superfluous and little more than an extended chase for a known killer. With Hollywood offering such lucrative options on books, one can hardly blame writers for offering up stories that will appeal to film producer's literary agents. But do all readers have to suffer through pages and pages of chase scenes? Why not just ship the manuscript directly to Paramount?

Rating:
Summary: Chillingly Closer to Cussler than Christie
Review: This 3rd installment of former Deputy Sheriff Carl Harstad's Nation County series is heavier on the "thriller" side of the police procedural scale than "who-dunnit" (or is that donut? As in the previous books, there's a whole lot of coffee and donuts being consumed ;-) It could be subtitled: "Known Dead - Book II." I sure am glad that I read "the Big Thaw" immediately following "Known Dead" and strongly urge you to also get and read the former first because "The Big Thaw," more than other serial procedurals, is a continuation of the saga started last time, and it really helps to know the players and have them fresh in your mind.

This time, there are some dead burglars at the home of "snowbird" farmers. Deputy Houseman is on the case. His Cohort, Hester Gorse, is stationed on the floating casino on the Mississippi. Volont and Gabriel are back as foiIs. Readers on "the Coasts" may get a warped view of the Heartland with Harstad's sustained focus on militant extremists who are actually a minute portion of the mostly hard-working and level-headed folks that produce our nation's food. But most of the characterizations are "dead on," showcasing the humour and self-effacing good nature of many rural mid-western law enforcement folks. It's another "BINGO!"