Whisper to the Blood
by Dana Stabenow

Minotaur Books, February 2009, $24.95

Kate Shugak, her half-wolf dog Mutt, her 16-year-old foster son Johnny Morgan, and Alaska state trooper “Chopper Jim” Chopin are back in another wonderful adventure set in a fictional Alaska national park. In what might appear to be uninhabited wilderness to most outsiders, there is plenty going on: Global Harvest Resources, Inc., a Canadian mining firm has big plans to mine more gold than was found in the Alaskan gold rush, not to mention copper and molybdenum; and the “Park Rats” who inhabit the area are torn between the desire for the high-paying jobs promised by the company and the fear that changes brought by the mine will destroy their ancestral hunting and fishing grounds. Four elderly “aunties” who appear to spend most of their time quilting, but who are, in fact, traditional area power figures, arrange for a reluctant Kate to chair the board of the Niniltna Native Association. Chopper Jim is troubled by a cold case, which heats up as new violence and murder complicate the scene. The novel presents a sensitive and sensible approach to the environmental problems and threats to the traditional order. The author brings to life even the most minor characters with dialogue that is simple, often humorous, and invariably just right. Mystery, action, and suspense are enhanced by the background of the unforgiving Alaskan winter. Stabenow does her usual excellent job in this superb tale of the Alaskan Bush. This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.