Jack Pine - Tapa dura

Suspenseful and intriguing. Wonderful descriptions of the Boundary Waters region of Minnesota, and well-developed, believable characters. A must-read for mystery fans and lovers of the North Woods. Good Reads--William Hazelgrove"

The pleasure of this book is in the vivid use of language almost synesthetic in the way that it awakens several senses at the same time one almost sees, hears, feels and smells the forest and the people. The characters ring true and come to life. Nanette Tredoux--William Hazelgrove"

Best-selling author Hazelgrove (e.g., Real Santa; Tobacco Sticks. The Pitcher) captures the human need to believe in something good. Library Journal--William Hazelgrove"

Hazelgrove writes with warmth and feeling, his characters richly drawn, moving and evocative of it s time. Booklist--William Hazelgrove"

"In northern Minnesota, a logger is found dead. At about the same time, a teenage girl claims that she was molested by a Native American, but then changes her story. Some concerned citizens wonder if the same man is responsible for both incidents, but Deputy Sheriff Reuger London isn t inclined to jump to conclusions, as he s convinced neither that the logger s death was murder nor that the girl was really molested. Under pressure to close the cases, London soon finds himself stuck in the middle of a potentially violent conflict between loggers and environmentalists. Hazelgrove tells great stories (his last book was the wonderful Real Santa, 2014), and he creates believable, captivating characters. The people in Jack Pine feel like just that: people, not fictional characters. Hazelgrove gives these characters a tactile environment, the Minnesota Boundary Waters region near the Canadian border, and real voices (that distinctive upper-mid-western drawl we know from Fargo). Another fine effort from a very interesting writer. This one will appeal especially to William Kent Krueger fans." David Pitt--William Hazelgrove"

When the sixteen year old daughter of a prominent attorney is raped in a woodshed and a logger found shot the next morning, Deputy Sheriff Reuger London becomes embroiled in a war between environmentalists, the Ojibwa Indians fighting for their timber rights, and the ruthless son of a powerful logger. Ben Johnson is the biggest logger in the Northwoods and his son Cliff will soon take over the business. Logging is dying a slow death from environmental restrictions and all that’s left are the scrub firs and jackpine. But far up in the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota are trees called the Old Pines. These three hundred year Norwegian pines are priceless and Johnson Timber wants them. A radical leader of Earth First, Tom Jorde, will do anything to stop the logging in the Boundary Waters. Then another logger is murdered and Jorde is implicated. The town pressures Reuger to stop the environmentalist and arrest an Indian, Tommy Toboken, for the rape of the girl. Tommy had saved his life once before and Reuger knows he is being setup. When he falls in love with the lawyer brought to town to defend Tom Jorde and realizes Johnson Timber is going to log out the Federally protected trees, Reuger is torn between old loyalties and what is right.