This book is certainly a thriller. It might be partly procedural but that’s in the background because the “good guys” are ex-law enforcement. Forsaken Country is more of an adventure-thriller with the exciting chase-parts of it taking place in wilds of far northern Minnesota, right on the boarder of Canada.  

Forsaken Country
by Allen Eskens
2022 /
Read by Brian Troxell – 11h 8m
Rating: B+ / thriller-adventure 
#8 of the Detective Max Rupert series

The daughter and young grandson of Max’s old friend Lyle, a retired sheriff, have gone missing and the friend is convinced that something seriously bad has happened. Her ex-husband is definitely trouble. They investigate etc.  

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the books of Allen Eskens until this one. This books is just not quite up there with his best. I did enjoy the setting though, northern Minnesota is an area I’m pretty familiar with.

A few years ago Max Rupert took an early retirement from his job as a detective with the Minneapolis Police Department and went to lives alone, almost as hermit, up north near Grand Rapids.

The characters, except Max, are wonderfully well drawn. But Max Rupert is, in too many ways, a selfish, egotistical jerk.  He’s always promising things and “giving my word.”  And then when it doesn’t happen he mumbles “I’m sorry” and goes right back to more promises. He’s so dramatic, so sincere, so full of BS. Totally convinced there is RIGHT and there is WRONG and that he expects himself to be forever RIGHT.  I don’t remember him being this way in the prior books, but,  well, maybe a bit.

There’ll probably be another book because it does seem like a series even though Eskers denies that.  And I’ll most likely read it shortly after it’s release.