Notes from Neil

Thursday, Jan. 9 — Sitting at home this past Monday, on one of those ultra-rare occasions when weather closed our stores, I couldn't help thinking about growing up in the Keweenaw Peninsula. We must have been in a near constant "polar vortex" for three or four months every year without knowing it. We just called it winter. Here's what we're reading:

The Kept - James Scott.
The turn of the twentieth century in snowy upstate New York is the harsh background for this novel of darkness and beauty. A young boy watches from the barn as his father and siblings are murdered by strangers on their remote wilderness farm. When his mother returns from her distant midwife duties, there's a shocking turn of events, followed by a journey of revenge through an unforgiving land populated with equally unforgiving people. What could have been a straightforward adventure tale in a less imaginative writer's hands becomes a thrilling psychological puzzle as bits and pieces of the mother's past are revealed. The 12-year-old boy, Caleb, is an especially finely crafted character; completely believable as the world he knew is destroyed and replaced with one of disturbing and unwelcome surprises.

The Wind is Not a River - Brian Payton.
A little history lesson is in order - during World War II, there was a place where American soil was occupied by the Japanese army for a time - the westernmost of the Aleutian Islands, off the coast of Alaska. The locals were either held prisoner or sent to Hokkaido, which was much closer to the islands than was the Alaskan mainland. Our government was very interested in keeping the invasion under wraps for morale purposes and, despite the fact that it took bloody fighting to reclaim the territory, maintained that secrecy for many years.

John Easley is a reporter who's discovered what's happening and wants to write about it, even after having been kicked out of Alaska by the military. His surreptitious journey to one of the islands ends with the plane he's riding in being shot down. He and one other survivor try to stay alive in a forbidding and inhospitable environment, while avoiding the occupying Japanese force. At the same time, his young wife manages to make her way from Seattle to the islands in a desperate attempt to uncover any news about her husband, from military personnel who are unwilling to help. An impressive combination of adventure that'll keep you awake at night and a love story of great depth and nuance.