The Last High by Daniel Kalla

 From the publisher: A Vancouver doctor and a detective face the deadly consequences of the opioid crisis as they track down the supplier of fentanyl that landed a group of teens in the ER with critical overdoses. The Last High explores the perfect storm of greed, addiction, and crime behind the malignant spread of fentanyl, a deadly drug that is killing people faster than any known epidemic. 

While The Last High is not particularly original, it is easy to read and highly enjoyable. A "bag of chips" kind of novel. A doctor who is also a guilt-ridden sober addict, a Canadian detective of Chinese descent who still feels like an outsider, and a whole bunch of people dead from an extremely potent street drug. Wisecracking bromance-y detectives. A paternal mentor. A race to discover what's happening and who is responsible, and to save lives.

The author is an emergency room physician and it shows. Everything about the hospital scenes feels realistic. Maybe not so much how the doctor gets to tag along after the detective as he interviews suspects, but their relationship is sweet. The book does contain violence, and a lot of drug use and death. The author wants to both entertain and educate, and he achieved that with this reader. 

It seemed like it was setting up a sequel but I don't see one on the horizon. This is an author I would read again. 

The Galesburg Public Library owns The Last High in our Libby Overdrive collection, and the print book will be available soon.

Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline

From the publisher:

A bold and brilliant new indigenous voice in contemporary literature makes her American debut with this kinetic, imaginative, and sensuous fable inspired by the traditional Canadian Métis legend of the Rogarou—a werewolf-like creature that haunts the roads and woods of native people’s communities.

Joan has been searching for her missing husband, Victor, for nearly a year—ever since that terrible night they’d had their first serious argument hours before he mysteriously vanished. Her Métis family has lived in their tightly knit rural community for generations, but no one keeps the old ways . . . until they have to. That moment has arrived for Joan.

One morning, grieving and severely hungover, Joan hears a shocking sound coming from inside a revival tent in a gritty Walmart parking lot. It is the unmistakable voice of Victor. Drawn inside, she sees him. He has the same face, the same eyes, the same hands, though his hair is much shorter and he's wearing a suit. But he doesn't seem to recognize Joan at all. He insists his name is Eugene Wolff, and that he is a reverend whose mission is to spread the word of Jesus and grow His flock. Yet Joan suspects there is something dark and terrifying within this charismatic preacher who professes to be a man of God . . . something old and very dangerous.

Joan turns to Ajean, an elderly foul-mouthed card shark who is one of the few among her community steeped in the traditions of her people and knowledgeable about their ancient enemies. With the help of the old Métis and her peculiar Johnny-Cash-loving, twelve-year-old nephew Zeus, Joan must find a way to uncover the truth and remind Reverend Wolff who he really is . . . if he really is. Her life, and those of everyone she loves, depends upon it.

Originally published to critical acclaim by Penguin Random House Canada in September of last year, Empire of Wild will be released by HarperCollins Publishers at the end of next month. I've had Cherie Dimaline's The Marrow Thieves on my to-be-read list for quite some time and I jumped at the chance to read an advance copy of Empire of Wild. And it is spell-binding.

The novel follows Joan of Arcand (which I confess I didn't pick up on until reading another review) as she still mourns and searches for her husband Victor a year after his disappearance. Discovering a man who looks like him, but isn't him sends her on a desperate quest that touches on belief, history, religion, and exploitation. Mythology and folklore are interests of mine, and I was familiar with the rougarou of Cajun legends. I was absolutely delighted to come across an #ownvoices novel dealing with a similar creature from Canada.

You can place The Marrow Thieves on hold for pick up now. Empire of Wild will be available through Galesburg Public Library as a print book, audio book, and on Overdrive on July 28.

Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley

From the publisher: It's late summer, war is raging, and families are torn apart by divided loyalties and deadly secrets. In this complex and dangerous time, a young French Canadian lieutenant is captured and billeted with a Long Island family, an unwilling and unwelcome guest. As he begins to pitch in with the never-ending household tasks and farm chores, Jean-Philippe finds himself drawn to the daughter of the house. Slowly, Lydia Wilde comes to lean on Jean-Philippe, true soldier and gentleman, until their lives become inextricably intertwined. Legend has it that the forbidden love between Jean-Philippe and Lydia ended tragically, but centuries later, the clues they left behind slowly unveil the true story.

This is my first book by Susanna Kearsley, but it won't be my last. This compelling novel switches back and forth in time - from the present, where a young woman is helping turn a Long Island home into a museum, to the past, where a hard-working family lives their normal lives as best they can in a time of war.

I really enjoyed the scenes from the past and was intrigued to see where the plot was going. I found modern day character Charley a little annoying, with a life too filled with drama of various sorts (broken romance, potential new romance, estranged grandmother, recently deceased brother, depressed niece). I could have done with a lot less Charley. I actually skipped her chapters a few times to jump ahead and see what happened next with Lydia and Jean-Philippe (although I always returned to read Charley's chapter before going too much further).

I found the book a bit draggy in the middle; editing out some of the modern day drama would have improved the novel. However, overall I enjoyed the writing style, the plot, and the characters. A definite recommend for fans of Kate Morton and other present/past historical mysteries.

I read an advance reader copy of Bellewether. It is scheduled to be published in August 2018 and will be available through the Galesburg Public Library.

In the Barren Ground by Loreth Anne White

From the publisher: In the Barrens, a vast wilderness in northern Canada bordering the Arctic Circle, night consumes every hour of the winter. Humans are scarce; ferocious predators roam freely. Locals say spirits do, too. Rookie cop Tana Larsson doesn’t mind the dark and quiet. Five months pregnant and hoping to escape the mistakes of her past, she takes a post in Twin Rivers, population 320. With her superior out of commission, Tana becomes the sole police officer in 17,500 square miles. She gets a call about the fatal wolf mauling of two students, and the only way to reach the remote scene is to enlist the help of the arrogant, irritatingly handsome Cameron “Crash” O’Halloran, a local pilot with a shady reputation and a past cloaked in shadow. When the scene they uncover suggests violence much more sinister than animal, Tana must trust Crash if she wants to protect the town—and herself—from the evil that lurks in the frozen dark.

In the Barren Ground is a violent but compelling story set in the wilds of northern Canada. A young female cop is called to the scene of two murders. Amidst the carnage of dead people and dead wolves, there are clues that the deaths may not have been due to an animal attack. The more Tana investigates, the more she believes that a serial killer is at work, setting up crime scenes so they appear to be animal attacks. When the killer feels hunted, the killer’s attention turns to Tana.

The author does an excellent job of building and maintaining tension as the threat grows. She also does a good job of ramping up the growing attraction between Tana and Crash, the local bad boy pilot. I liked Tana as the strong but flawed and vulnerable female main character. Crash was a little more stock.

The killer’s motives are not original, but overall the big reveal of the murderer’s identity was handled well. The way the author works a book about a local legend into the plot is also neatly done. I usually don’t like too much graphic violence in the books I read and found the level of detail in this one off-putting, but I was compelled to keep reading by the strength of the narrative.

I enjoyed the Canadian setting. I don’t know whether the portrayals of Native voices and customs are accurate, but I hope so. They definitely added to the story. The small village has its problems, but the people pull together when they need to. On the whole I’d describe In the Barren Ground as a feel good story of terrible violence.

Although In the Barren Ground is from Montlake Romance, the romance is not prominent. A romantic relationship forms but not quickly. This book reads like the first in a series, and I look forward to reading book 2.

I read an advance reader copy of In the Barren Ground. It will be published on August 16 and will be available at the Galesburg Public Library.