| Penzler Pick, November 2001: Grady Service is a Conservation Officer in the farthest reaches of Michigan's remote Upper Peninsula, a harshly demanding terrain with its own codes and rituals, all linked to the survival of both humans and the vast wilderness surrounding them. Like his father before him, he's entered the Conservation Service and sworn to police an environment where rules seem made to be broken. It's a tough, taxing job, and of 5,000 candidates annually, 'only four or five made it all the way through probation to full duty.' In much the same manner as another recent series debut (C.J. Box's topnotch Open Season), Heywood, who has written other novels but has now started the 'Woods Cop' mysteries with Grady Service, takes us into the world of men at home in the wilderness. That means both good guys and bad. A big problem for the good guys, however, is that the demanding life is tough on those who love them. As Grady tells it, one night his now ex-wife said to him at dinner, 'I'd like another helping of cauliflower and a divorce.... You have a death wish and I don't wish to be a young widow.' When he meets Maridly Nantz, one of the rare female COs, he's found someone tough enough to take him on. But, first, the two of them must figure out what's behind the deliberate fires, flights of mysterious helicopters, and other unexplained but definitely illegal goings-on in the Mosquito Tract, Grady's own special piece of Upper Peninsula turf. Ice Hunter (the title gives away more than is immediately obvious) is full of enough atmosphere that you'll definitely want to be in a warm, dry room while reading it. --Otto Penzler |
