I'm well into my fifth C.J. Box novel in a month. "Blue Heaven," set in North Idaho about 40 miles due east.
The man does his research, right down to the sign at the Airport welcoming people to the Inland Northwest, the talk-show lineup on Spokane's Fox radio station (including Mark Fuhrman of OJ trial fame), and other little details.
I'm impressed with his fictionalized town, "Kootenai Bay." Obviously, it's Sandpoint. I knew that when he described the street through town, which takes a left hand turn at the "outlet store" (in real life, Clearwater Creek's home store), then turns right again and goes under a railroad bridge. The woman character works at the outlet store. Kootenai Bay is an apt nom de plume, as the Kootenai River and the Kootenai National Forest are local features. I think I know the decrepit restaurant north of town where some of the action takes place. Haven't been there since the 70s.
The plot has a lot of retired LAPD police officers taking up residence in the area. I know of only one, Mark Furhman although there may be others. So far, Furhman has not appeared in the plot except mention as one of the talk show hosts, which is accurate.
I noticed one tiny detail flaw. A major character is driving west, and turns around at the Montana border. Montana is east of Idaho, so he would have to drive east to get to it.
The novel is imminently readable, but not as captivating as his others despite my familiarity with the locale. The reason is the plot is not quite as coherent as the others, at least from my point of view. |
