This was another good read from Dana Stabenow, but not her best. Regular characters were mentioned briefly early in the book, then fleshed out some later, but had I not read the rest of the Kate Shugak series, I would have wondered whom they were. Still, there was a good plot with a number of mysteries to solve, and a compassionate look at Kate's internal struggle between her resistance to change and her desire for what was best for her people.
This one does not measure up to the author's earlier books. It rambles, takes 150 pages to get a story going and then rambles some more. I was very disappoined.
This is my first book by this author. I realize that it is the 17th in the series but I don't think it mattered. I don't feel that I was lost without reading the others. Sure there were a couple parts where I didn't know what the author was talking about but then she explained what had happened in a past book so I understood it. Saying that I truly loved this book so much I'm thinking of going back to the beginning to see how great they were and find ever juicy bit I missed : )
