- Hardcover: 291 pages
- Publisher: William Morrow (Oct 7 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0380977648
- ISBN-13: 978-0380977642
- Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 14 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 431 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,474,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
While most modern mysteries set in Alaska concentrate on the damage done to the ecology or the strange personalities who take refuge in this arctic vastness, Sue Henry's books are more straightforward and usually more fun. In such stories as Deadfall and the Anthony Award-winning Murder on the Iditarod Trail, Henry follows in the sled and snowshoe tracks of writers like Jack London and Robert W. Service, who realized that Alaska was the last great frontier of adventure. Her characters, like champion sled-dog racer Jessie Arnold, are welcome throwbacks to a simpler period when physical challenge was a healthy way to measure self-esteem.
Jessie is testing herself in the thousand-mile Yukon Quest race, which follows the old mail trail from Whitehorse to Fairbanks, when one of the other racers is kidnapped and held for ransom. The kidnappers insist that only Jessie can deliver the money, and it has to be on the most dangerous leg of the race. Any attempt to involve the police will result in the victim's death. Of course, the worst blizzard of the year blows up just as the race gets to that point, and it goes without saying that Jessie risks herself and her beloved dog team to recover the victim and capture the bad guys. Even if the thought of somebody shouting "Mush!" fills you with silent laughter, you're sure to be gripped by Henry's ability to recreate the pleasures and perils of an arcane sport in a breathtaking landscape. --Dick Adler
From Publishers Weekly
Alaska's spectacular, dangerous wilderness forms the background to Henry's engaging, if overplotted, sixth novel (after Deadfall). Professional musher Jessie Arnold is in peril, this time on the Yukon Quest, "the toughest dogsled race in the world," which runs over 1000 miles from Whitehorse, Canada, to Fairbanks, Alaska. Early in the race, novice musher Debbie Todd is captured and held for $200,000 ransom. The kidnappers demand that Debbie's frantic stepfather give Jessie the money for delivery during the race, warning them both that Debbie will die if they inform the police. But Jessie secretly notifies her good friend, Inspector Charles Delafosse, before she tackles the race's most demanding leg. In a climactic finish, Jessie almost loses her life when she confronts the criminals on American Summit during a blinding blizzard. Throughout this turmoil, Jessie is also trying to sort out her feelings for her lover, State Trooper Alex Jensen, who's at his father's funeral in Idaho. Henry decorates her novel with glorious evocations of Alaska, believable characters, interesting mushing lore and deft explanations of dogsledding mechanics. But the story suffers from a thin plot that leans on obvious clues and unlikely coincidences. Nonetheless, dog lovers will enjoy it, as will those willing to forgive the faults in construction in favor of some beautiful writing. Agent, Dominick Abel. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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First Sentence
JESSIE ARNOLD HALTED HER TEAM AND STOMPED IN THE SNOW hook to secure the sled, though as far as they had come and this late on a chill mid-January night there was little chance that her dogs would proceed without an encouraging word from their driver. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
JESSIE ARNOLD HALTED HER TEAM AND STOMPED IN THE SNOW hook to secure the sled, though as far as they had come and this late on a chill mid-January night there was little chance that her dogs would proceed without an encouraging word from their driver. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not Good,
By
This review is from: Murder On The Yukon Quest (Mass Market Paperback)
Sue Henry's mystery stories cover ground but her characters are so flat and lifeless that they could be used for ground cover. Even the dogs have more personality.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Good mushing, lousy mystery,
By Ray King (Morgan Hill, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Murder On The Yukon Quest (Mass Market Paperback)
While billed as "An Alaskan Mystery", this is really a book about life on the trail. Even as that, it fails to satisfy. The plot involves a kidnapping and murder on the Yukon Quest race. I believe it fails to live up to its billing as a mystery because the clues necessary to solve it aren't provided. The author basically tells you one of the culprits, you can sort of guess another by elimination, and the remainder require a TV "Perry Mason" like confession at the end (in his books, Gardner did things differently). This isn't the way a mystery should be written. The book is better when viewed as a mushing story but Ms. Henry's writing style reduces what should be an exciting adventure into painful tedium. After finishing YQ, I re-read Ludlum's "Bourne Identity" which I'd rate 5 stars. The differences in pacing, sentence structure, descriptions, ... were startling yet there's nothing about YQ that shouldn't support as exciting a novel as BI. Even if YQ provided the clues to be a good mystery, it would still be boring and that's its worst flaw. The only reason I gave it a second star was the author does a commendable job providing insight into the life of a dogsled racer. If you want a book that provides these insights, this might be an O.K. choice but if you want either a mystery or a well written novel, hunt elsewhere.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Topnotch thriller,
By
This review is from: Murder On The Yukon Quest (Mass Market Paperback)
Sue Henry is back to her best form in this sixth book of the Alaska Mystery Series. Jessie Arnold decides to forego the Iditerod in order to compete in the less famous but more rugged Yukon Quest. Partway through the race, one of the mushers is kidnapped and Jessie is asked to deliver ransom to the kidnappers while she is in the middle of the race. As always, Henry's descriptions make the reader feel the freezing temperatures and stark beauty of the Yukon and the Alaskan wilderness. She also describes well the feelings of the characters who are put in dangerous situations. Henry deals with Jessie's ambivalent feelings about her relationship with Alex Jensen in this book. This is the best in the series since the first novel, Murder on the Iditerod Trail.
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