Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Less Than a Treason by Dana Stabenow Series: Kate Shugak #21
Published by Tantor Audio on August 22, 2017
Genres: Mystery
Length: 7 hours, 1 minute
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm
KATE SHUGAK is a native Aleut working as a private investigator in Alaska. She's 5 foot 1 inch tall, carries a scar that runs from ear to ear across her throat and owns a half-wolf, half-husky dog named Mutt. Resourceful, strong-willed, defiant, Kate is tougher than your average heroine – and she needs to be to survive the worst the Alaskan wilds can throw at her.
Two thousand people go missing in Alaska every year. They vanish in the middle of mountain footraces, on fishing boats in the Bering Sea, on small planes in the Bush. Now a geologist known for going walkabout with his rock hammer has disappeared from the Suulutaq Mine in the Park. Was it deliberate? An accident? Foul play? Kate Shugak may be the only person who can find out.
But for the fact that Kate, too, is now among the missing…
The Kate Shugak series is now up to 21 books and I have read them all. It begins with A Cold Day for Murder in 1992 and now we have Less Than a Treason, following the cliffhanger in Bad Blood after 4 loooong years. I hoped it wasn’t the ending, so I was excited to receive this to review.
The mysteries about the crimes were half and half. Some were easy enough to predict and others were less obvious. The issues left open at the end of Bad Blood were more suspenseful. The personal relationships had me tense until near the end. Apparently, I don’t like when the main characters and possible romantic couples are not geographically together for most of the story. I have loved the relationship with Kate and Jim in the past few books. It had me on edge here, as did Kate’s other key relationship with Mutt.
I had not listened to any of these on audio until now. I did see some social media posts asking whether Marguerite Gavin would be doing the narration. And no wonder, she is amazing! I love listening to her. Her character voices really worked for me. She made me feel all the characters and their emotions. She especially brought forth Bobby with his fun attitudes. I never would have made it through the first half of the story without her.
With the main characters separated and all the diverse bits of information to later weave into solutions, it was frustrating. The characters felt like themselves except with stuffed down emotions? They went about their tasks. Then once things started coming together with Kate and Jim working the cases, everything felt right. I don’t expect this to be a romance; I just expect the characters to have relationships of various types to add to the emotional complexity of the characters. This feels like the ending, but I rather hope it isn’t.
Listen to a clip here.
About Marguerite Gavin
Marguerite Gavin is a seasoned theater veteran, a five-time nominee for the prestigious Audie Award, and the winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones and Publishers Weekly awards. Marguerite has been an actor, director, and audiobook narrator for her entire professional career, and has over four hundred titles to her credit.
About Dana Stabenow
Dana Stabenow was born in Anchorage and raised on 75-foot fish tender in the Gulf of Alaska. She knew there was a warmer, drier job out there somewhere and found it in writing.
Her first science fiction novel, Second Star, sank without a trace (but has since been resurrected as an e-book), her first crime fiction novel, A Cold Day for Murder, won an Edgar award, her first thriller, Blindfold Game, hit the New York Times bestseller list. The Land Beyond, the final third of her historical trilogy about Marco Polo’s granddaughter, Silk and Song, was published in October 2015.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- Anne: 2017 Audiobook Challenge
- Anne: 2017 New Release Challenge
