Chuck Radda

3.5
Francis McNally, retired private investigator, is caring for his wife who is battling cancer when he gets a call for help. Ten years previous he had failed to find the caller's missing wife. Now, another person has gone missing in Nunavut.

Derek Phillips has been experiencing time lapses and visions. Autumn, the company he works for, has offered Derek the chance to be on the cutting edge of a new project. Climate change will allow availability of new energy sources and Autumn wants to get a head start. Now he has disappeared and a local townswoman wants him found.

McNally's wife knows this is her husband's opportunity to atone for his earlier failure and she encourages him to take the case. McNally journeys to Canada's frozen North's deadly cold and long dark days.

The locals have a complicated relationship to Autumn, enjoying the influx of money while resenting the environmental threats.

With snappy dialogue, direct questioning, and sharp insights, McNally is a classic PI character, modernized in all the best ways--as a respectful and loving husband, there is none of the sexism of classic noir. I loved the genre in-jokes, like references to Nick and Nora or Columbo. McNally's voice is well-honed, offering a real feel for the character.

I had not read the earlier McNally book Dark Time and although it's events are referenced in Northward I did not need to know the entire story to appreciate the moral burden McNally carries from his failure to find a man's wife in that volume.

"Northward" has several meanings in the book. It's the direction McNally travels from his home in the States. Derek's wife references her dad's euphemism "going northward" as the result of 'too much cold, not enough light.' And maybe it means crazy, or maybe it means getting in touch with the spirit world.

McNally encounters people motivated by cold cash and self-sacrificing idealists and a man who may be a shaman. He meets a female 'mountie' and a townswoman who has embraced her Inuit heritage.

The bulk of the novel is the unraveling of truth from behind the facades, but there is a high-action scene at the end. And some otherworldly encounters that can't be explained.

I enjoyed Northward and would read this author again. I thank the author Chuck Radda for his book through a Goodreads giveaway. My review is fair and unbiased.… (meer)

Just received this giveaway copy... looking forward to digging in!

I've finished the book.... it took awhile. This book went on my nightstand as a 'read a bit before going to sleep' book. While the writing and editing were well done, and the story was interesting, it moved very slowly. A 'good' book is one where I find myself reading two or three or four chapters, instead of one... where I find myself getting the book to read some more in the evening, even thought it's my 'nightstand' book.

The beginning felt a bit more like a documentary -- which I understand. After all, it starts with an actual incident, and then moves forward (or sideways!) from there. And once it moved beyond the factual, it was much easier to connect with the characters.

All in all, it leaves me with mixed feelings as to what I should put for a rating. At least for me, this was not an exciting, can't-put-it-down book. But in the end, an interesting story and good writing/editing carries a lot of weight.

This book was received free, as a Goodreads Giveaway.… (meer)