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NORTHEAST KINGDOM, THE
by Peter Collinson
Jove, July 2002
315 pages
$6.99
ISBN: 0515133612


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

In 1995, a young writer named Chuck Hogan made a remarkable debut with a novel entitled The Standoff, a crime thriller inspired by the events of the FBI siege of Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge. This first novel and novelist displayed gifts suggesting that, in Hogan, a new master of the genre was on hand.

In 1998 came Hogan廣 sophomore effort, The Blood Artists, and it was a major disappointment. Nearly all the things that had made The Standoff such a masterful piece of crime fiction, such as tight plotting and finely drawn characters, were missing. His plot was over-the-top and his characters unsympathetic. Now, four years later, Chuck Hogan returns pseudonymously, as Peter Collinson, with The Northeast Kingdom. In it, all the best features of his previous two novels are on display in a tightly crafted and atmospheric thriller.

The titular Northeast Kingdom is a part of Vermont that features lush green rolling hills and mist covered valleys that are virtually untouched by modern times. In this landscape, novelist Collinson has created the quaint village of Gilchrist. The townspeople are seemingly of another era and go about their lives in the hope that the rest of the world will leave them alone. Inevitably, however, civilization at its worst intervenes as Gilchrist finds itself home to the Federal penal system廣 newest high tech maximum security Federal Penitentiary, ADX Gilchrist, which is populated by 312 of the worst the penal system has to offer. For a time these two polar opposites maintain an uneasy coexistence. Until two storms, one brewed by nature and the other by human nature, collide

The storm of human nature comes in the form of charismatic and messianic ADX Gilchrist inmate, Luther Trait. A brilliant and malevolent man, Luther has patiently been plotting a prison escape of massive proportions. Finally, with the arrival of a famous female crime novelist to interview him and the impending blizzard, all the pieces fall into place and Luther廣 dream of escape is about to be realized

Collinson廣 plotting shows great skill and imagination, as Luther Trait廣 prison break is like no other I can recall. Utilizing resources on the outside and the inside, Luther Trait executes a prison break that involves the entire convict population who proceed to take over the town of Gilchrist. Having accomplished this daring feat, Trait then stands American society on its head as he issues a series of threats and demands to the Federal government and reveals the means at his disposal to make them comply

But Luther Trait hadn廠 bargained on the resolve of the people of Gilchrist. A battle of wits and wills begins as the remaining citizens of Gilchrist fight to take their town back, with the help of a visitor, whose own skills, ruthlessness, and resolve are more than a match for Luther Trait廣. The ensuing struggle is told in a muscular and very visual style. It廣 easy to see why this novel was optioned by Hollywood over two years before it was published.

Peter Collinson is a resident of New England and he uses his pedigree to good advantage, bringing both his characters and landscape vividly to life. The characters have a flintiness that rings true and Collinson makes his readers feel the crunch of the snow beneath their feet as they trek across the icy fields with the townspeople of Gilchrist. After his second outing, I寮 lost a good deal of faith in Chuck Hogan廣 future as a novelist. With his solid work as Peter Collinson in The Northeast Kingdom, my faith is restored and I eagerly await his next offering.

Reviewed by Michael Grollman, August 2002

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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