Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekback

This review can also be read in the Canon City Daily Record.

Fourteen-year-old Frederika, and her younger sister, Dorotea, herd the family's goats further into Blakasen, the mountain that is their new home in Swedish Lapland. It is 1717, and their family has left their fishing boat behind in Finland to try their fortune on a homestead, far from the water that haunted their father. In a glade, amidst their muttering about summer heat and their frustration with the finality of relocation, the girls stumble upon the mutilated body of a man, left to rot. Fellow settlers dismiss the death as an attack by wolves, but Maija, the girls' mother, insists the man was murdered.

As an outsider, Maija's interest in the murder is not appreciated. Winter is upon them all, and there is neither time nor energy for her sleuthing. But she presses forward, fearful for her own family's safety. The intelligent and thoughtful woman gathers information from those about her - members of her new community, the village priest, and the "Lapps" who roam the land, following the reindeer herds.

Frederika, herself, has become haunted by the treachery on Blackasen. Visited by the spirit of her great-grandmother, and well-armed with the folklore of a Nordic culture, the young girl discovers there is a fine line between evil and light, truth and deceit.

Here on the dark and unforgiving mountain, a community, meant to create safety and survival through harsh and forbidding winters, begins to succumb to the burden of secrets and deception. Culture and faith, spirit and politics, seasons and verity collide. And their priest, the man who must act as the liaison between the king and his subjects, and God and his children, has his own craftiness to manage.

As bitter cold descends upon the villagers, they find themselves in the middle of the harshest winter anyone can remember, a "wolf winter." The stillness and silence accompanying heavy snow swallows time. Its passing is shown through exquisite vignettes - pieces of quiet poetry.

This beautiful and eerie tale, set in a faraway land and a faraway time, flows with a unique voice and well-conceived characters. Ms. Ekback's writing evokes suspense, doubt, and brief glimmers of hope. There is room for more exploration of Maija's compelling desire to find the killer despite the real risk to herself and her family. And some of the sentences stuttered a bit, but the history and the finely wrought details are enchanting, creating a thoroughly engrossing novel.

The last 10 pages of this Northern whodunit are satisfying and complete. Without loose ends to tangle and confuse, this stunning debut novel is one to savor and enjoy.

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The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

 

This review first appeared in The Canon City Daily Record.

I love to drive through town just as the sun goes down and the lights inside the houses are turned on. I can see into the homes. I see kids around the table, heads bent over homework. I see a blue light reflected in a man's glasses as he sits at a computer. I see a woman laughing, coaxing hair behind her ear. A front door opens, letting out a dog, allowing me to see furniture, pictures on the walls, dishes in the sink. I've seen so much, yet I've never seen foul play.

Rachel Watson, The Girl on the Train, passing through the outskirts of London, looks through windows, too. She sees a couple - a "golden couple" - on her morning and evening rides. She feels connected with them, creates idealized stories about them, imagines she really knows them. And then something unexpected happens - something that does not match her fantasy of this couple. There is a news report that suggests dark, suspicious events. Lonely Rachel may have answers. But can her questionable perspective be trusted? This startling spine-chiller has only just begun.

Saying too much may give away important details, for this story echoes Hitchcock's mastery of the psychological thriller. The details are the story. Facts cleverly unfold within the novel, keeping the reader entertained, convinced - only to be surprised, again, by the ending. Suspense is part of the compelling magic of this book.

The Girl on the Train is representative of a new genre: thrillers concerning the domestic lives of women. Themes of motherhood and marriage feature prominently, the backbone of Ms. Hawkins's fast-paced story. It has been compared to another New York Times Bestseller, Gone Girl. These novels are relatable, examining the lives accepted as the norm, and bringing crimes against women to the discussion. But this isn't a feminist diatribe. This is a story about a woman who must overcome her blemished past in order to solve a fatal mystery.

The pacing of the unpredictable plot overlaps the steadying lull of a train - morning and evening. It is narrated, alternately, by three different women, each with a unique perspective on the events at hand. Rachel, Megan, and Anna are each convincingly and painfully flawed without being feminine archetypes. They are complex, lives entangling.

Paula Hawkins began her writing career as a journalist in London. While The Girl on the Train is her first thriller, she has also written under a pen-name, Amy Silver. Her earlier works were romantic comedies, but she favors writing tragedies in contemporary settings. And here, in this unconventional work, it is obvious she has found her niche.