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Book Reviews of Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5)

Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5)
Play With Fire - Kate Shugak, Bk 5
Author: Dana Stabenow
ISBN-13: 9780425152546
ISBN-10: 0425152545
Publication Date: 5/1/1996
Pages: 320
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 103

3.9 stars, based on 103 ratings
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

17 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
Very disappointed in the anti-Christian rhetoric in this one. Really preachy against "organized religion"... I couldn't finish this book since every time I'd get through a church-bashing part and I thought the author was done with it, up it would come again.
reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I got tired of reading Stabenow's books in random order and finally got all 17 of them. They are staying on my book shelf - the stories are good, but the rich backgrounds and descriptions make them keepers. She and Diana Gabaldon stay on my shelves, but thank heavens Dana Stabenow doesn't wait 5 years between books.
reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 314 more book reviews
Another good story. This time her client is a 10 year old boy.
reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 14 more book reviews
Fun descriptions of Alaska with an investigator with the Ancorage DA's office. She finds a corpse and is lead to an isolated settlement of fundamentalist and down a road of secrets and suspicions.
annapi avatar reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 334 more book reviews
This is one of the more difficult of the series to read, because the bad guys do not get their comeuppance in the end. Kate finds a dead body in the woods after a forest fire has swept through. Although his death is deemed accidental, she is suspicious and investigates on her own, leading her to a community of religious fanatics. Stabenow uses her book to firmly express her own beliefs, which I wholeheartedly agree with, but the bitter and unsettling ending detracts from the enjoyment of the story, even as it faithfully reflects the truth of the adage that "life isn't fair". The characters as usual are marvelously drawn and very real, and as the series progresses we see Kate's character being more fleshed out and developing.
cyndij avatar reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 1032 more book reviews
Fifth in the series. This one seemed awfully bleak to me. Don't go into this expecting justice to be done. There is little mystery - the reader and Kate know what happened and how very early on, and then it's just a matter of the reader learning why Kate feels she needs to pursue it. I didn't even get the feeling that she thought anything would come of it. There's a lot of exposition about the harm of fundamentalist religions and not a lot of action. Not my favorite, but I found Kate's college story to be interesting.
reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 23 more book reviews
Native Alaskan investigator Kate Shugak hunts for wild mushrooms after a forest fire and finds a corpse instead. It's a complicated and fascinating mystery.
reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 125 more book reviews
This is number five in the series and I thought it was the best one yet! Great characters, stunning description and a good plot. Great winter reading.
reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 131 more book reviews
Kate Shugak is determined to find out how the body in the mushrooms got there. She is sure it wasn't an accident and sets out to prove it even though her life is threatened.
DEC avatar reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 134 more book reviews
Well written, excellent characters, and a very thought-provoking story line.
reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 10 more book reviews
Another excellent Kate Shugak mystery set in Alaska, very pertinent to today's discussions of evolution and intelligent design.
reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 23 more book reviews
if you like shugak, you'll like this
reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 459 more book reviews
From the Kate Shugak series

After a forest fire, Kate ventured into the charred woodlands to look for mushrooms.

Instead, she found a corpse, and a disturbing mystery.
reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 5 more book reviews
Fun in the fast read mystery genre. I enjoyed the Alaskan setting, which added a travel flair.
reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 314 more book reviews
After a forest fire,Kate looks for mushrooms and finds a body.
reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 18 more book reviews
As always, a good read.
barbsis avatar reviewed Play With Fire (Kate Shugak, Bk 5) on + 1076 more book reviews
10 year old Matthew Seabolt, the product of a fanatical religious town (cult?) doesn't even report his missing father. Almost a year later, he finally, secretly hires Kate Shugak to find his father so that his nutso grandfather doesn't know. Of course, Kate had already found the body later identified as Danial Seabolt and now she's on a mission to find out how he wound up naked in the woods, why someone killed him and who done it.

I love this series since I'm a fan of Alaska but hated this story. The crazy, fanatical religious bulls**t got on my nerves and just reinforced my aetheist beliefs. I had to force myself to keep reading and just ignore the crazy zealots.