A Cold-Blooded Business

What great books...I have all of her books and can't wait until the next one is published!

I got one of these books somehow and then went shopping to find the whole series. Bought some of them used since that is the only way to get them but you can see how much I liked the series. I am going to give them all to my local school library after I finish them. They will make great books for the teens and the teachers to enjoy. Lots of action, information about the Alaska lifestyle and the various groups living there, and writing that keeps your interest from start to finish.

_________________________________________ Kate Shugak, a former investigator for the Anchorage DA, now lives on her homestead near Niniltna and the Quilak range, near the Canadian border east of Anchorage. Kate is an Aleut, the first in her family to go to college. A major part of the charm of the series is the meeting of the Native and white cultures. And Ms. Stabenow is a crackerjack storyteller. The series is up to #14 now. It's not critical where you start - I've yet to read a poor one. My favorite, "A Cold-Blooded Business" (1994), takes Ms. Shugak to the North Slope oilfields. Ms. Stabenow spent 6 yrs working on the Slope and it shows. Kate's new boss Toni is evicting a couple of entrepeneurs from the camp: 'After a moment the door cracked. A large, round blue eye peered out. It encountered Toni and paused. There was a long sigh, and the door opened further, to expose a six-foot platinum blonde in a minuscule leather cowboy vest... There was a lot more breast than there was vest. Kate sternly repressed what she assured herself was merely a momentary feeling of inadequacy... A gentleman was just rising from the bed, buckling his jeans. "Why, Bob", Toni cooed. "I haven't seen you in ages. Where've you been keeping yourself?" "Up yours, Hartzler", he snarled. "Oh, goodness me, did I knock a moment too soon?" Toni wondered aloud. Belle and Jane both giggled as he snarled again and shouldered Kate aside on his way out.' I started on Ms. Stabenow's mysteries after reading, and liking, her "Star" science-fiction series - "Handfull of Stars", "Second Star" & "Red Planet Run" - good space-operas all, light-hearted and fun. In part these are the Klondike gold rush transposed to the asteroids - better done than most such, and clearly written by someone who knows some mining history. Ms. Stabenow passes a reality check in an area I know well, and thus gains credibility for other background material. In short, Dana Stabenow is a fine, conscientious writer and a helluva storyteller. Highly recommended. Review copyright 1998 by Peter D. Tillman

COLD-BLOODED BUSINESS smokes. Dana Stabenow is a terrific mystery writer, and this novel is a smoking good mystery. Kate Shugak, a strong native Alaskan superwoman, is in prime form here. She goes undercover as an oilfield roustabout to investigate drug smuggling. Stabenow describes her frigid Alaskan setting with perfection. I love her characters--the good ones as well as the evil ones. Even the ones in-between. COLD-BLOODED BUSINESS is an awesome book.

When I grow up I want to be Kate Shugak. I want to be fiercely independant, pretty, strong and intelligent. I want to work for money when I need it at the jobs I choose. I want to be able to live off the land and live in the middle of nowhere. I want a beautiful fierce dog at my side. I want the relationships in my life to be by their own rules. I want to live an unboring life of excitement, whether it's dangerous or peaceful. Never mind that Kate is two years younger than I am now, I want to be her when I grow up!