From Library Journal
Harry Griffin is a Vietnam veteran, recovering alcoholic, and graphic artist for a St. Paul, Minnesota, newspaper. His old friend Bud Maston invites him to a rural lodge for a hunting trip, and Griffin reluctantly accepts. Within 24 hours, Griffin has a passionate coupling with Maston's beautiful but sinister new wife, Jesse, kills Jesse's grown son Chris to prevent Chris from killing Maston, and has a drink for the first time in a decade. Logan's first novel charts Griffin's investigation into Chris's life and the seamy, convoluted events leading up to his accidental death. Although a bit too long, this suspense novel moves at a brisk pace and has well-drawn characters and landscapes. For large fiction collections.A.J. Wright, Univ. of Alabama, BirminghamCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
A first novel by a former Vietnam vet predictably will feature a hero who is also a vet; however, this fast-paced, violent thriller set in small-town and rural Minnesota also features two other characters who spent time in Nam. The main character is Harry Griffin, a dried-out journalist helping fellow alcoholic pal Bud Maston through a tough time. Against his better judgment, Harry accompanies Bud on an ill-conceived deer-hunting trip; along the way, he meets Bud's new wife, the sensual Jesse (who immediately tempts Harry), and her two troubled teenage children. A tragic shooting occurs on the trip, and the intrigue in a town full of secrets shifts into full throttle, endangering Harry's life. Logan's characters all have skeletons in the closet; blend in a dose of Hemingway-style macho, Ojibwa Indian mystery, and the 12-step philosophy, and Logan sends the whole mixture careening toward a thrilling--if unlikely--ending. Nonetheless, a rousing, edgy first novel with a twist on the typical troubled Viet-vet story that is most satisfying. Joe Collins


Book Description

Harry Griffin is a loner who's witnessed some of war's rawest moments. A survivor, he is guided in all things by his unfailing loyalty and honesty. But a tragic altercation in Minnesota's North Woods that leaves a young man dead and suspicions of murder hanging in the air tests Harry's courage as never before. Nothing could have prepared him for the eerie silence that has fallen over the incident, the challenge to his nerve, and the raw carnality of his best friend's wife.

Digging for answers in a town ready to lash out in fear of the dark secrets he is moving ever closer to, Harry ignores the signs of danger athis own peril. Until it all ignites in a fire of unexpected betrayal and a bloody settling of accounts.


From the Publisher
A winter hunting trip that explodes in tragic death...a snake-pit of small-town secrets...and a chilling mystery that reaches from the past, setting men and women against one another in a whiteout of violence, blackmail and vigilante justice. These are the elements that announce Chuck Logan's remarkable debut thriller as one of the year's most exciting discoveries. Harry Griffin is a quiet loner whose current profession as an illustrator for a big-city newspaper gives no hint of his hard-knocks background. Witness to some of war's rawest moments and survivor of a battle with alcoholism, Harry's only constant is loyalty. He is a man who pays his debts. Hence, when old friend Bud Maston, one of the state's richest men, insists Harry join him on a hunting trip, he goes. But nothing has prepared Harry for the raw carnality of Jesse Deucette -- the new Mrs. Maston. And once Harry is stranded with her at Bud's snowbound lodge, events rapidly spiral toward tragedy. On the opening morning of deer season, Harry thwarts an attempt on Bud's life. Haunted by the blood he has spilled, Harry seeks answers. And the answers lie in Stanley, Minnesota -- where Jesse Deucette-Maston uses her deadly allure to manipulate and cajole, and everyone seems to have a dark secret. Ultimately, Harry turns over enough stones to bring the town's roiling cauldron of hypocrisy and deviancy to a boil. In the novel's climax, he learns both the best and the worst that humans are capable of.


About the Author
Chuck Logan is the author of The Big Law, The Price of Blood and Hunter's Moon.Formerly an illustrator, a graphic designer and a veteran of the war in Vietnam, he lives in Stillwater, Minnesota with his wife and daughter.

ANNOTATION

A Minnesota hunting trip becomes a nightmare of treachery and deception. When Harry Griffin, a newspaperman and former Special Forces commando, is invited by his old friend Bud Maston to go on a hunting trip, the outing appears innocent enough. But a terrifying scenario of death unfolds when the group, including Bud's alluring new wife and her two grown children, enter the northern wilderness.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Harry Griffin is a quiet loner whose current profession as an illustrator for a big-city newspaper gives no hint of his hard-knocks background. Witness to some of war's rawest moments, and survivor of a battle with alcoholism, Harry's only constant is loyalty. He is a man who pays his debts. Hence, when old friend Bud Maston, one of the state's richest men, insists Harry join him on a hunting trip, he goes. But nothing has prepared Harry for the raw carnality of Jesse Deucette - the new Mrs. Maston. And once Harry is stranded with her at Bud's snowbound lodge, events rapidly spiral toward tragedy. On the opening morning of deer season, Harry thwarts an attempt on Bud's life. Haunted by the blood he has spilled, Harry seeks answers. And the answers lie in Stanley, Minnesota - where Jesse Deucette Maston uses her deadly allure to manipulate and cajole, and everyone seems to have a dark secret.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Harry Griffin is a Vietnam veteran, recovering alcoholic, and graphic artist for a St. Paul, Minnesota, newspaper. His old friend Bud Maston invites him to a rural lodge for a hunting trip, and Griffin reluctantly accepts. Within 24 hours, Griffin has a passionate coupling with Maston's beautiful but sinister new wife, Jesse, kills Jesse's grown son Chris to prevent Chris from killing Maston, and has a drink for the first time in a decade. Logan's first novel charts Griffin's investigation into Chris's life and the seamy, convoluted events leading up to his accidental death. Although a bit too long, this suspense novel moves at a brisk pace and has well-drawn characters and landscapes. For large fiction collections.-A.J. Wright, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham

BookList - Joe Collins