– THIRST REVIEW –
In Katherine Prairie’s Thirst, geologist Alex Graham is determined to find a lucrative silver mine amongst the mountains of Slocan Valley, Canada. However, her suspicions are aroused when her tent is burned down by a mysterious arsonist, followed by a gruesome discovery in an abandoned mine. She is certain that something sinister is going on, but between the military presence on the Keenleyside dam after an attempted bombing and the sensitivity of her own geological work, she is hesitant to bring attention to the situation. Meanwhile, martial law has been declared in an effort to solve the increasingly violent protests after the dam debacle, sending the entire area into a turbulent mess of politics, activism, murder, and mystery. Alex is left to figure out whether the recent crimes against her have to do with the situation at the dam, or something much worse.
Thirst is a fantastic mystery, loaded with suspense and intrigue from the very first page. It has a pleasant blend of science, politics, activism, and mystery, yet is overdone in none of these things. The plot is wonderfully unique thanks to this winning combination, especially with the protagonist being a geologist, which is something very rarely seen in fictional literature. Katherine Prairie, the author of Thirst, is a geologist herself, and the expertise she lent to her written work made it all the more believable.
Also, each character was wonderfully written to be complex and so very human, making the characters easy to relate to and root for as the story goes on. Aside from that, the general story as a whole was a great read; the pure talent that Katherine Prairie exhibited in every descriptive sentence was truly phenomenal. Thirst is easily one of the best modern mysteries to recently grace the shelves, with enough unique content to entertain fans of any genre. Hopefully Alex Graham will make another literary appearance in the future, because her adventures are more than worth the read.
Authors Talk About It, September 2016