Who’s your favourite writer? I’ve always dreaded being asked that question because I didn’t have one, until now. Cherie Dimaline is my new favourite writer. I read and reviewed Empire of Wild (2019) not long ago because the cover was so striking. Last week, I finally picked up The Marrow Thieves.
This short, dark, dense, YA book won numerous prestigious awards when DCB released it in 2017. TIME magazine declared it one of the Best YA Books of All Time. Why?
The Marrow Thieves is timely. Emotional. Superbly written. Thought-provoking. Gut-wrenching. Grave.
This dystopian novel is labeled Science Fiction. It’s also labeled Young Adult, I assume because it has limited sex and course language, and the main character, Frenchie, is a sixteen-year-old Metis man-boy on the run with an eccentric familial crew in the forests of northern Canada. With him are Frenchie’s love interest Rose (16); Chi-Boy (17) and Wab (18) who are one sweet couple; Tree and Zheegwan, 12-year-old twin boys; Slopper, nine and delightful; Ri-Ri , a seven-year-old girl whose grown up with them from infancy; Minerva their Anishinaabe Elder; and Miigwan who holds them all together.
The story is set in the not-too-distant future, before 2050, in a time I may not be physically here to see, but perhaps you will. Global warming, a concept we are becoming more and more familiar with each day, has destroyed most of the world. Tectonic plates shifted. Cities crumbled into the sea. America fought Canada for clean water from northern rivers. The Great Lakes were “polluted to muck … fenced off, too poisonous for use” (24). The government militarized. The North melted. People died in masses from disaster and disease and stopped reproducing. And then the non-Indigenous folks stopped dreaming. Which brings us to the crux of the story.
The only people who can still dream are Indigenous. As Miig explains: “Dreams get caught in the webs woven in your bones … You are born with them. Your DNA weaves them into marrow like spinners … That’s where they pluck them from” (19). Frenchie’s band of survivors are running north because they’re being hunted for their bone marrow. The government has built new “residential schools” and hired “recruiters” to track down and capture anyone with Indigenous ancestry. They work them, kill them, and siphon their melted marrow into vials labeled by age and nation. The historical echo of exploitation and genocide rips through this book leaving us horrified.
But, take a deep breath. This is science fiction. Right?
Cherie Dimaline is a multi-award-winning author from the Georgia Bay Metis Community in Ontario. Her writing is so fresh, so original, so stylish and real, I’m hoping it seeps into my own bone marrow. I hope she is not a prophet, but merely issuing a warning like those forest fires and floods and Hellish droughts that continue to shake and shock us.
Listen up. Young Adult or grandmother, if you read no other books, please read this one. Preferably aloud to each other. And then talk it out. And hug it out.
And if this book seems too dark and depressing and your guts are already shivering, know this. The sequel is coming out this October. Hunting by Stars. I’ve already pre-ordered my paperback. You see, I have hope for Frenchie and his crew. And I have a new favourite writer.
Photo from her website, cheriedimaline.com which has a wealth of information about who she is.
In the sixth installment of the Rockton series, Kelley Armstrong takes us back to the town’s beginnings, so much so that I felt regrettably this might be the end. Her website says otherwise. Since she is contracted for seven books, the series “will be at least that long,” Armstrong assures us. Still, there is a lingering sense of finality at the conclusion of this book that gives me a pang of sadness. I’ve loved this series since the beginning.
The discovery of an injured stranger, who only speaks some Germanic language, heralds an investigation into the genesis of Rockton, the outlying settlements, and the hostiles. For those new to Rockton, Armstrong spends the first few chapters reminding us where we are—a strange, somewhat violent town in the Yukon where people apply to live so they can disappear from insurmountable problems in the outside world. This means your neighbours might be killers or victims or just on the run from mistakes and wanting a new start. Rockton is off the radar and puppeted by a council who live outside it, with one rep or spy who usually lives in it.
Casey Duncan, the series protagonist, is a detective. Sheriff Dalton is her mountain man partner, and her sister, April is the town’s autistic physician. Casey’s young Newfoundland dog, Storm, provides comic relief and also is an amazing tracker, something this team needs because someone is always disappearing into the bush.
These books are written with an overarching sense of intelligence. The concept of the hidden Yukon town is clever, but as Armstrong reveals more information as to its genesis through the wily detective, we see a blossoming brilliance in this cold northern darkness. Casey Duncan narrates in the present tense, first-person point-of-view, and we are given ample entrance into her thoughts as she struggles to solve the mystery of the injured stranger and what it might mean to the town and its inhabitants. With that, we learn Casey’s theory of how the hostiles evolved from a splinter group from the second settlement—a settlement that had broken free of the town of Rockton. And so we see these factions which are not so much classes as cultures who strive to navigate “an endless balance of debt and obligation.”
Outdoor enthusiasts will appreciate the riveting action and adventure scenes where Casey and Dalton negotiate with grizzlies, wild boar, wolves, and all the Yukon wilderness has to offer. There is scarcely a moment to eat or sleep or put the book down. No one is who they appear to be, including the injured stranger.
A Stranger in Town is published by Minotaur Books.
One thing stands between fiction and non-fiction. Reality. As a novelist, I’ve written stories about killers and their victims but those characters live only in my imagination. The killers and victims in Warren’s books are real and that raises the stakes considerably. These are not simply characters, but traumatized people whose lives and futures were snuffed out and whose surviving families must live on with that knowledge.
These are people who Warren personally interviews and that impresses me. I know it takes sympathy and understanding to talk with victims affected by crime. Alan Warren jokes that his autism allows him to be poker-faced and unemotional in meetings with killers and the victims’ surviving family and friends, but his altruism and compassion shine through in what he chooses to reveal in his books, what he chooses to omit, and how he approaches each word.
Murder Times Six: the True Story of the Wells Gray Park Murders is a book about “justice.” The question Warren continues to return to is this: should David Shearing, confessed murderer of six, be allowed parole? Shearing has applied for parole before and can do so again in 2021. Warren asks: “Do we want people who commit such violent crimes, like murder and rape, out in free society? Would you want him living next door to you?” This book presents the case against Shearing. Why should he be allowed to live a “normal” life with the wife he married while incarcerated when his victims’ lives were snuffed out for one selfish reason? Shearing wanted two young girls he’d noticed in the bush and become obsessed with. This is a “story of a family trying to live and enjoy their lives.” It’s not a story intended to glamorize David Shearing. You will not find graphic details here. This is a book that honours the victims and survivors.
In August 1982, three generations of a Kelowna family went camping at Wells Gray Provincial Park in British Columbia — Bob and Jackie Johnson and their daughters, thirteen-year-old Janet and eleven-year-old Karen, along with Jackie’s parents George and Edith Bentley. None of them ever returned. Many people know that their charred bodies were discovered later — the remains of four adults piled into the back seat and the two young girls (sisters) in the trunk.
Forty years later, Warren interviewed David Shearing at Bowden Institution, a medium-security prison in Alberta. He also interviewed Shearing’s wife, Heather. One thing I appreciate about Warren’s book is the detailed research he’s done into subjects such as hybristophilia: an intense love and sexual attraction for a man who’s committed heinous crimes. This “potentially lethal disorder” is more common than we think and there are several prison dating sites that enable it. Warren also explains the Canadian prison and parole system and discusses pedophilia and cutting-edge “treatments” as this topic relates to Shearing’s motives for murdering this family.
The book is divided into three parts. First, the story of the family, their excitement about going camping together, their disappearance and gruesome discovery, and finally Shearing. Next, police interviews with Shearing, his changing stories and confession, subsequent trial, and incarceration. And finally, tributes to the family and victim impact statements that will break your heart.
Warren documents a long list of references — everything from parole hearing reports to the genetic predisposition of humans to kill each other — but what makes this book are the personal words and touches along with Warren’s own insights into Shearing and the people he destroyed. The city of Kelowna continues to mourn the loss of this family — three generations gone because one man wanted two young girls who’d not even set foot in high school. He wanted them and he took them.
Alan R. Warren is a host and producer of NBC news talk radio show House of Mystery which reviews True Crime, History, Science, Religion, and Paranormal Mysteries. He is also the best-selling author of several True Crime books and can be found at www.alanrwarren.com
In an age where murder is sensationalized through television drama, the reality of a real cold-blooded “murder times six” by a ruthless and selfish killer, begs to be heard and acknowledged. Warren does important work and I applaud his dedication to sensitively bring justice to the victims of violent crimes.
What do you do when your new lover is accused of murder and you’re not really sure of his guilt or innocence? The evidence against ex-convict Mason Burke may be circumstantial but it’s so compelling even Deputy Jess Winslow doubts her lover’s innocence.
In the captivating sequel to Deception Cove, Burke and Winslow barely have time to take a breath before a body washes up on the Pacific shore. The Victim: Bad Boyd. A local celebrity who played pro hockey, Boyd isn’t just bad, he’s wicked. This heinous bully has fought, terrorized, and murdered dogs over the years, and he’s destroyed people. All for his own sadistic pleasure. Still, he’s never been caught. Until now.
The Accused: loveable, dependable Mason Burke. With his fifteen-year-stint in the Chippewa penitentiary for murder barely behind him, Burke is the last person seen with Bad Boyd. And they were fighting. Mason loves his pit bull. Boyd killed pit bulls. The altercation was inevitable.
With their newfound love belching puffs of mistrust and doubt, this high octane thriller tests the limits for both Burke and Winslow. Should he turn himself in or abandon his little family and run for it? And who will find the real killer with Burke in jail? Worse, if he runs, he’ll lose everyone he loves.
Lone Jack Trail sees us traversing more epic West Coast terrain. It’s obvious Laukkanen’s travelled these trails. His 3D sensory descriptions take us there. The small coastal town of Deception Cove is a familiar character but the surrounding wilderness is a dangerous haven for meth cookers and killers.
Laukkanen’s writing is emphatic but precise and controlled, though his feelings fleck the surface like fish for flies. When Burke visits Bad Boyd’s vacated dog-fighting barn, I thought I might have to skip a few pages. There are things I can’t read and don’t want to know. But even something so close to Laukkanen’s heart as animal cruelty is treated delicately and we feel Burke’s pain (and Laukkanen’s) in the spaces between.
What draws me to Laukkanen’s writing besides his engrossing narrative style is his ability to write ordinary heroes doing extraordinary things. Burke’s clever young sidekick, Chris Rengo, is a homeless former meth cooker, but he often comes up with the right information at the right time. Deputy Tyner Gillies, named for a real live police sergeant and author, is fearless — a warrior and one of the good guys in a town known for corrupt cops. And then there’s Jess Winslow and Lucy. Jess is an ex-Marine suffering from PTSD and her service dog, Lucy, is based on Laukkanen’s own rescued pit bull. Lucy is as much a hero as anyone in this cast of eccentric characters.
In the exhilarating climax on Lone Jack Trail, we discover just how much of a team these three really are — Burke, Winslow, and Lucy, the dog. With its satisfying ending, Lone Jack Trail will leave you smiling and wanting more in this series.
Just this week, I read that books with a dog in them are “enchanting” while books where a dog dies are “heart-rending.” Let me assure you that you’ll be safely enchanted with Deception Cove though your heart may swell in the reading.
This story is about a dog, a very particular dog named Lucy, and those determined to destroy her and those bent on saving her. Author Owen Laukkanen knows Lucy well. He adopted her as a six-year-old pit bull who was destined for death in a California kill shelter. She became his muse and found her way onto the page and into our hearts. Like Laukkanen, the two protagonists in this story are bound to Lucy.
Mason Burke has been incarcerated since he was eighteen years old and caught doing the wrong thing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Part of his work at the Chippewa State Pen was training dogs to become emotional support for veterans with PTSD. When he’s released, all Burke wants to know is if the dog he trained and fell in love with is surviving. He manages to find his way to Deception Cove, a small Pacific Coast town in Washington. There he meets a recently-widowed US marine named Jess Winslow whose post-war world revolves around Lucy.
Enter the problem. Winslow’s husband was playing with a bad crowd, stole something he shouldn’t and got himself killed for it. Now, the bad boys, who just happen to be lawmen, have stolen Lucy and are threatening to kill her if she doesn’t give them back their package.
There is no melodrama in this book, just deep-hearted soul that binds us to these wounded characters in their plight to stay alive. On the run with Burke and Lucy from the lawmen who murdered her husband, Jess’s story is revealed through vivid flashbacks. Afghanistan is never far away for Jess and her PTSD doesn’t take a day off. It was Lucy who saved Jess from blowing her head off and now she can’t “look at the shotgun without seeing the lead.” Who steals a war veteran’s therapy dog?
Though a thriller, Deception Cove could also be marketed as romantic suspense. The growing relationship between Burke and Winslow simmers on the page as they race to save Lucy, get the package, and avoid getting killed by some very evil men. These three are characters you want to befriend. The good news is you can. Deception Cove is only the first in this series.
Laukkanen’s voice is rich, slow, and easy, though the story never misses a beat in its relentless pacing. A natural storyteller, he holds us in the palm of his hand as he spins out honest dialogue and superbly paced action in a richly detailed marine environment. Once a commercial fisherman, Laukkanen’s knowledge of boats and the Pacific coast is apparent with the expertise and ease he writes.
If you’re looking for a soulful thriller that you can’t put down, this book is for you. I kept getting drawn to the back cover and the photo of Laukkanen and Lucy. His love for her and for writing translates to the page. “It was on walks together through the city that I rediscovered my love for writing, and so I owe this book to the hound, and so much more besides.” Thank you, Lucy and thank you Owen for this gem. Perfect summer reading.
An evocative epic laced with myth and fact, Water Sight completes the Last of the Gifted Series. In the first book, Spirit Sight, we find Cymru (Wales) hovering on the eve of destruction as the English king, Edward 1, better known as Longshanks, sends his armies railing against the native Celts. Fans of Braveheart, note that Longshanks practiced his brutal conquest techniques on the Welsh before turning his eye northward to Scotland and tangling with William Wallace.
There are several things I particularly appreciate about this book.
The interweaving dual storylines are fluidly crafted. As in Book One, the story is narrated by two protagonists: Hyw (16) and Catrin (14)—a brother and sister with extraordinary gifts. As the war with the English builds, so do their gifts and their need to use them. Hyw is a shapeshifter; Cat a spiritual healer able to lead captive spirits home to their eternal rest in Garth Celyn, a mystical place as legendary as faerie.
Cat shines in this story. Her quest is to reclaim the three relics that once belonged to the murdered Llywelyn—The Crown of Arthur, the Coronet of Wales, and Y Groes Naid (the Cross of Neith)—and give them to his younger brother, Prince Dafydd to rally the people. Though she is in love and betrothed to Rhys, for the most part Cat’s on her own as Rhys is working to protect Dafydd.
Powell’s lyrical writing has a formal tone flecked with Medieval and Old Welsh Gaelic phrases in such a way that they’re contextually definable. The language reflects the culture and reminds us that what was once taken by the English is now alive again. Powerful phrasing, sensory descriptions, and mythical references abound.
There are time-ticking constraints. It’s May 1283 when the story begins and they must rally the people by Autumn Equinox, and win by Nos Galan Gaeaf (Halloween.) When the veils are lowest between the worlds, Llywelyn must leave Hyw’s body, where his spirit has been housed since his murder, and join his Princess Eleanor and the ancestors in Garth Celyn. To be defeated means the soul of the legendary Prince of Wales will be lost forever.
Though the atmosphere is violent, vicious, and grave, Powell finds ways to add comic relief through Hyw’s hijinks as he shapeshifts into various animals: a hawk, a horse, a jackdaw, a mouse, a sparrow, an eagle. His transformations become more rapid as the stakes rise and his responses are comical.
The romance is true and transcends time. Cat and Rhys are destined; while Hyw’s love for James, a boy he grew up with, is sweet, sensitive, and accepted by the culture. “We are meant to be together, Hyw. If you will stay a hawk, then I will become a falconer. But if you would be a man, then come back to me.” Indeed, as they walk through the crowds holding hands, we can only hope for them.
This is a series for young adults and I recommend it to teachers and librarians. The characters face contemporary struggles in a historic setting. The mingling of myth, magic, and adventure will appeal to middle grade and high school students, but also their parents. The Last of the Gifted is a classic.
