Slipknot

This is an amazing book. The author, an ardent Dead Head, did an amazing job incorporating modern day law enforcement duties with Grateful Dead philosophies. One must absolutely read this if one has any kind of an affinity for the dead and mystery novels!

Slipknot is an engrossing mystery involving amazingly unique, 3 dimensional characters you really grow to care about. The book is set in a small town on the Olympic Peninsula where McKinney's small town sheriff tries to keep the peace between the loggers and the environmentalists, and solve a couple of murders along the way. The varied characters and the sheriff's non-judgmental descriptions of the beauty of the old growth forests contrasted with the beauty of the previously logged re-growth forests is so well done you find yourself thinking about the points of view of both sides. A wonderful book. When is the next Gavin Pruitt book coming out?

SLIPKNOT is an enjoyable read. I learned some of the ins and outs of the logging business. I really enjoyed how Gary compares every day life with songs of the Grateful Dead. Even if you aren't a Dead Head, it is neat how he does the comparison. Slipknot always has interesting turns of events leading the investigation up to the murder. The exciting action increases from the start to the finish. You will definitely not know what is coming next.

This is a gripping story, but what totally captured me was all the concerns and situations that made these people and their worries seem so real. Gavin is a member of a community where everyone knows everyone else's business better than they know their own. They won't necessarily tell, though, because rising or falling in social class can encourage anyone to hush up. Gavin tries to be a good neighbor to a deliberately difficult man. He wants to do a good job parenting an adult daughter who sees him as quaint at best. He lives partly in the past because he's a "Deadhead," in love with the music he trusted as a kid. On the other hand, he's obsessed with modern equipment intended to reduce stress. What makes the whole situation tough is the fact that his coast town doesn't seem so small when the local loggers and developers attract the anger of big city environmentalist groups. He steps into that because he must, but where can he find the time? He's a whole person, not just a sheriff, and so his struggle is fascinating to watch.

Gary McKinney's "Slipknot" starts with a killer (literally) scene and never lets the reader down. His smalltown Washington coast setting permeates the escalating action as Deadhead sheriff Gavin Pruitt tracks down the murderer of a prominent environmentalist amid a wild cast of characters from drunken loggers to a Doc-Martin wearing femme fatale eco-activist. The sparring -- physical and verbal -- is lively and the characters colorful, yet the people are real in their complexities and emotions. McKinney, who grew up in a small Northwest logging community, gets the police-procedural facts and the places "dead on." I'm not a Grateful Dead fan, and didn't need to know the insider references to enjoy this rich, fast-paced story. I'm eager for the next Gavin Pruitt adventure!