Lone Jack Trail by Owen Laukkanen

I absolutely adored last year’s Deception Cove by Owen Laukkanen, so I was both thrilled and apprehensive to read the follow-up thriller. Thrilled, because I was gifted a copy of the book by the publisher and because I was in the mood for a good thriller. Apprehensive, because of the what-if that haunts the pre-reading of a sequel: what if the sequel isn’t as good as the first book? What if the sequel ruins everything that I loved about book one? What if, what if, what if–

I shouldn’t have worried. I loved Lone Jack Trail just as much as Deception Cove! Read on for more.

Lone Jack Trail by Owen Laukkanen

Genre: thriller

Publication: Mulholland Books, August 2020

Could ex-con Mason Burke be a killer? When an athlete’s body is found in Deception Cove, Marine veteran Jess Winslow begins to wonder if her friend is capable of murder.

A body washes up on the shore near Deception Cove. It belongs to “Bad” Brock Boyd, a disgraced former professional athlete from Makah County who recently finished a prison sentence for dogfighting. Marine veteran Jess Winslow, now a trainee deputy in Deception Cove, is assigned to help investigate the suspicious death. But when it comes out that her friend, ex-convict Mason Burke, had a run-in with the victim on the day of his death, she’s forced to question whether everything she thinks she knows about Burke is wrong.

As prime suspect in the case, Burke is forced to go on the run. Jess is torn between the man she could love and the facts of the case, which seem to point squarely at him. (blurb from Goodreads)

My thoughts

While this is a sequel, you can read the book as a standalone. At the same time, Lone Jack Trail does reference the events in Deception Cove quite a bit and builds on the relationships and conflicts there. It’s probably best to read Deception Cove first.

This book hit the sweet spot for me. It’s compulsively readable, with well-developed characters, a setting that shapes the story, and tension that doesn’t abate until the final page. Throw in an adorable dog named Lucy, and it’s a winner. I was enjoying the story so much that it was hard to remember I was reading to review it.

The Protagonists

Opening the pages of this book, it felt like I was meeting old friends. Jess and Mason feel like real people. While they love each other, there’s tension between them about where their relationship is going.

Both have a violent past. Mason’s an ex-con who served time for murder, Jess is an ex-Marine who served her country and wound up mentally broken. Both struggle to overcome the past with mixed success. He’s worried that he’ll always and only be a killer, especially as the locals shun him for his past actions. Aside from Jess, Lucy the dog, and a young kid named Rengo, his mentee (and an interesting character himself), he doesn’t have friends.

Jess also has something to prove. She’s a trainee deputy, finding her way as law enforcement in a county that’s still overrun by the corruption. She might be a tough ex-Marine, but she’s still vulnerable to flashbacks to the horrors of war.

Laukkanen does a terrific job of creating a sense of who these people (and dog) are and what makes them tick. Sure, they make bad decisions. They’re human and humans tend to make bad decisions for bad reasons. Or good decisions for good reasons. Or bad decisions for good reasons, or vice versa.

The Antagonists

The antagonists feel human, too. While their actions are clearly wrong, they have well-developed motives, ones that become understandable, even sympathetic, as the story unfolds. I could identify with people like Jana and Dex and Logger even when I didn’t particularly want to. Who hasn’t wanted revenge? Who hasn’t lied? Who hasn’t made a mistake and then compounded that mistake with a bigger one? Laukkanen’s characters span the scope of humanity. There’s everything from the bad-to-the-bone victim, to the troubled ex-Marine, to the weary sheriff, to the ex-con striving for redemption and fearing he’ll never get it.

The Reading Experience

The action might be a tad predictable. The outcome was never truly in doubt for me.

But at the same time, the story unfolds with such rich detail that it completely absorbed my imagination. I felt like I was riding shotgun with Jess and Mason, with Lucy sitting on my lap, thumping her tail and licking my face when she wasn’t sniffing the smorgasbord of aromas outside the window.

I heard the fired gunshots, shivered in the cold alongside Mason when he runs, smelled the chemicals lingering in a former meth lab.

I was there when the harsh landscape became as formidable a foe as any killer.

And I enjoyed every moment.

The Hope of Redemption

For these characters, redemption comes drenched in beauty and heartache and blood. Laukkanen doesn’t flinch from portraying evil, but he does so in a way that offers hope of something better. People can be rescued; people can change. You can move forward from a dark past and work for a better future. He gives us glimpses of grace in the midst of the harsh and unforgiving Makah Bay county, and he does so in a thrilling, satisfying way.

Lone Jack Trail fully lived up to my expectations, and I can’t wait to see where the series goes from here. It is a haunting, thrilling story. Read it. You won’t regret it.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.