Rating: 
Summary: Great Read
Review: ISBN: 0-553-58095-7
Title: Known Dead
Author: Donald Harstad
Publisher: Bantam Books
Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman is back in Harstad's latest novel "Known Dead."
An officer is dead and so is a local small-time addict, ambushed in an Iowa high-grade marijuana field. Houseman's job is to find out why they are dead and who gunned them down. Federal and state crime agency's descend on Nation County and while the case explodes the leads do not. The author's narrative takes on a new twist when an anti-government family blockade themselves in their farm buildings and attack the police. In what appears as an unrelated incident more cops draw gunfire, one more 'known dead' and suspense builds. Housman must ferret out the connection between crimes. Action is non-stop in this second Harstad novel. This author's unique style puts you in the middle of the crime and takes you step by step through to its solution. Great read.
Beverly J Scott author of "Righteous Revenge" and "Ruth Fever." Reviewer for Intriguing Authors and Their Books at http://www.funeralassociates.com/authors.htm
Rating: 
Summary: So Far So Good
Review: My first exposure to Harstad, and he looks like a comer. I was a little concerned about thoroughness when on Page 162 Melissa Werth had her parents killed in a car wreck and by Page 211 her mother suddenly appeared, risen from the dead apparently. I still will try his Eleven Days.
Rating:
Summary: So Far So Good
Review: My first exposure to Harstad, and he looks like a comer. I was a little concerned about thoroughness when on Page 162 Melissa Werth had her parents killed in a car wreck and by Page 211 her mother suddenly appeared, risen from the dead apparently. I still will try his Eleven Days.
Rating:
Summary: i liked it, simple as that....
Review: Okay, okay. It's never that simple, right? Well, actually....
It is that simple. The main character isn't superman hiding his glory, waiting for the right moment to pop out and amaze friend and foe alike.
He's believable. (not like some so-called "cop" characters i've read lately. do you believe a guy that drives a porsche in minnesota is really out there fighting crime?) I'll admit to putting the book down - I spent a weekend on it. But hey, I can't spend all my weekend hours reading good books. Bottom line: Was this book good? Yes.
If I lend out this book do I want it back? Yep.
Will I read more by this author? I already have..... ;o)
Rating:
Summary: i liked it, simple as that....
Review: Okay, okay. It's never that simple, right? Well, actually....
It is that simple. The main character isn't superman hiding his glory, waiting for the right moment to pop out and amaze friend and foe alike.
He's believable. (not like some so-called "cop" characters i've read lately. do you believe a guy that drives a porsche in minnesota is really out there fighting crime?) I'll admit to putting the book down - I spent a weekend on it. But hey, I can't spend all my weekend hours reading good books. Bottom line: Was this book good? Yes.
If I lend out this book do I want it back? Yep.
Will I read more by this author? I already have..... ;o)
Rating:
Summary: A writer to watch: humorous and challenging
Review: Someone gave me two mysteries, one by Sharon McCrumb (ugh) and this one by Don Harstad (superb). His work needs a little smoothing (this is only his second book), but "Known Dead" is one of the best stories I've read this year. His self-deprecating hero matches his humorous approach to murder. Some parts are so clever (I won't give them away) you may want to cheer.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read, You won't be Disappointed
Review: This is my first book by Mr. Harstad and it certainly will not be my last... great procedural knowledge and wit combined with lots of surprises.. certainly ranks up there with my favorite authors like McBain and Sanford... recommend reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Harstad the Best At What He Does
Review: You will be hard pressed to find a better police procedural novelist then Donald Harstad. With only his second novel he shows that he can write in a great narrative voice able of invoking all ranges of emotions in a reader. With his main character Carl Houseman, Harstad takes the reader on the exact same rollercoster his likeable sheriff is on. The storyline for "Known Dead" revolves around the killing of a DEA agent who was investgating a marijjuna field in an Iowa state park. Also killed is a lowly local drug dealer. The killings look like an ambush and Houseman starts to investigate the drug angle, only to find more than he bargined for. The tale leads down the road of right wing milita groups and this is were Harstad's use of narative makes the reader almost parnoid. Harstad brings back great characters from "Eleven Days" such as Hester, Sally and Lamar, and adds the new character FBI agent Volont who I hope will appear in more novels in the future. Harstad does get a little more technical in this one and cuts down on the gore from "Eleven Days" Still it is a quick interesting read that trully makes you wonder about America's Heartland.
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