Living is hard on the high lonesome, but dying is easy.When two of Nick Drake’s oldest Paiute friends disappear during a robbery of ancient relics that leads to a double murder, his race to find them puts him on a collision course with an obsessed killer. And that’s only for starters. A plane crash on a snowy mountainside after a wedding and with a baby on the way leads to a desperate fight for survival. Only one outcome is life will never be the same for Nick, Gemma, Pudge, November, and the other characters who readers have come to love in this spellbinding mystery series.Award-winning author Dwight Holing draws on his deeply rooted connection to the American West and understanding of the natural world to create a masterful story. With memorable characters and prose that crackles like the unforgiving setting, the suspense builds and drives "The Nowhere Bones" to a climax as powerful as a force of nature.Readers agree about the Nick Drake mystery ★★★★★ Smart, thrilling, beautifully-written page-turners.★★★★★ A love song to a remote land.★★★★★ The suspense left me gasping!★★★★★ Two mysteries in one.★★★★★ Love the emphasis on Native American folklore and mysticism.
Dwight Holing is the author of twenty books, including two Amazon #1 bestselling mystery series: the Silver Falchion Award-winning Nick Drake Novels and the Jack McCoul Capers. He is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Western Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime.
His ten-book-and-counting Nick Drake mystery series has won fans and awards for his deft portrayal of richly developed characters, vivid descriptions of settings, multiple storylines, and unrelenting pace. Reviewers laud his philosophical insights that bring added depth to the stories and principal characters and his incorporation of indigenous cultural history.
Holing is also the author of two collections of short stories, California Works and Over Our Heads Under Our Feet. Many of the stories were previously published in literary journals and won awards, including the Arts & Letters Prize for Fiction.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Oregon and began his writing career as a freelancer. Assignments took him from Alaska to Zanzibar and his feature articles on adventure travel, conservation, natural history, and environmental issues appeared in Audubon, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, Outside, San Francisco Chronicle, Sierra, and Travel & Leisure, to name a few. He also wrote and edited books on those subjects. His publishers included Smithsonian Books, Time-Life, and Animal Planet.
Dwight Holing lives beside a coastal river in California with his wife and two dogs who’d rather swim than walk. Learn: Dwight Holing Follow: Dwight Holing Instagram: @dwight_holing
Book 5 of the Nick Drake series offers two parallel storylines. In one we "witness" the crash of Gemma's plane as Nick and Gemma fly to Portland, OR for their honeymoon. The second plot line revolves around a paleoanthropologist and his team at a rockshelter site in southeastern Oregon. As was the case with the first four installments, I blasted through this novel at a rapid pace. I love the main characters of Nick Drake, Gemma and Pudge Warbler and Deputy Orville Nelson. Nick's fellow wildlife ranger, Loq, takes on a more significant role in this book. The stark yet beautiful setting in southeast Oregon is also a strong attraction to these thrilling books. The author also does a fine job of developing the bad guys, and in The Nowhere Bones there are several villains to grab one's attention. I look forward to recently published book six. Keep them coming Mr. Holing.
Again I have read and Marvelled at the visions of Oregon and the evil and courage that dwell in humans. The author has brought New characters into Nick Drakes life. Some are brave and true and others weak and nasty. I see that there is one book left in this series. I hope Mr. Holing has not I run out of lessons in Native American history and adventures for Nick and his family. I will finish the series this week and hope for more in the future.
I found this fifth book in the "Nick Drake" series by Dwight Holing to be captivating, intriguing, and educational. I always look forward to the next book coming out in this series. As always, the author is very adept in the history of Harney County, Oregon, and the Native Americans who have lived there. Narrator Charles Legget did an excellent job.
The parallel stories in this fifth book of the series kept my attention. As always, Nick seems to become stronger and more confident in his new life on the high desert of OR. Love the supporting cast in this book, especially Orville. All of them are such strong, independent people. The infusion of the history of the native people is educational and eye opening.
“The Nowhere Bones is an easy-going, relaxed, and yet spellbinding story. Dwight Holing obviously has an intimate understanding of the American West that shines in this visually spellbinding book. This is the author’s fifth in the nine book Nick Drake mystery series.”
Interestingly, the author skillfully employs analepsis in this story to describe historic insights and the chronology of events which can be a challenge to follow. But considering the protagonist’s history with drug addiction brought on by experiences in Viet Nam it all blends well.
Nick Drake, a Vietnam Veteran, drives this story that occurs after his return stateside in 1970. Now a Fish and Wildlife Ranger, his enthusiasm for helping people leads him into some precarious situations.
The story is cloaked somewhat by Nicks Marriage to Gemma, a veterinarian and pilot, who’s single engine plane crashes off course into a snow-covered mountain glade while enroute to the couple’s honeymoon destination. In the fading light beneath a bruised gray sky, Nick’s jungle survival instincts ignite—and so do flashbacks of the life events that preceded the crash.
The story quickly transitions to an ancient archeology site that becomes the epicenter of a murder and the disappearance of one of the site’s crew, Stephani Buhl, and two of Nicks friends. Tuhudda Will, a revered Paiute tribal elder and his grandson Neuma. Leading the dig is renowned Professor Paxton Sizemore, (Pax) a colorful paleoanthropologist, from the University of Oregon, Eugene. Pax reveals to Nick that there is an ever-present danger of looters on dig sites and that he has had more than one threat against him personally which might include his archeology sites. But they are well protected because it just happens that one of Pax’s crew packs a Colt Python he claims is just for rattlers. Right.
Nick is pulled away from the dig site to aid his coworker, Loq, at the nearby Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge where he is investigating several breaches to levies. During their assessment, breaking the still silence of the morning air - shots ring out – aimed at them, to which Loq, also a Vietnam Vet, instinctively returns fire from his government issued .30-30 Winchester lever action rifle. When the gun smoke settles, they soon discover the reason for the ruckus, an illegal marijuana farm and its apparently unhinged, violent operator.
The ransacked archaeology (murder) site, and the grow operation require the intervention of “old school” Harney County Sheriff, Pudge Warbler, Nicks soon to be father-in-law. These two transgressions in the High-Lonesome that Pudge calls home ignites the investigation which charges ahead at full tilt. I picture Pudge as a Wilford Brimley type—probably because I once met Brimley elk hunting in Colorado, where he looked like he owned the entire mountain, much like Pudge is apparently the overseer of the entire county. Halfway through this 310-page, 5-hour story, I was reeled in, hook, line, and sinker!
Not only is this book a mystery, but it’s also an adventure across Oregon. The investigation escalates fast: a suspect flushed out in Eugene, another murder uncovered, a violent confrontation, and finally a gripping chase over slush-covered Cascade Range logging roads that leaves the reader hanging on every page.
A climatic and heroic rescue of a young woman, Stephani, literally teetering on deaths doorstep in the darkened depths of a pictograph painted cave unveils the final answers to this delightful mystery. Several underlying messages are present in the plot that I respectfully won’t give away, with one exception; stay away from the business end of a Remington 12-gauge!
The wide cast of characters, each carrying their own quiet mystique, gives the story real depth. I especially enjoyed the presentation of Native American history—particularly the Paiute—which was both intriguing and genuinely educational. A poignant moment for me was a child birthing helped along through spirit and prayer in the middle of a survival crisis. It’s almost guaranteed to tug hard at your heartstrings.
This is my first review of the Nick Drake series, but I am happy that all the familiar characters, Nick, Gemma, Pudge, November, Tuhudda, Nagah, Loq and others are all still here. I especially enjoyed the visual imagery it produces of the high desert environment of Eastern Oregon around Burns. The Nowhere Bones by Dwight Holing does jump around a bit but is wonderfully refreshing. Outdoor enthusiasts are sure to enjoy this novel.
I really enjoy this series. The main character, Nick Drake, is a man with a deep love of the land and wildlife he protects and the family and friends he has come to know. He works hard to protect those he cares about and even people he has just met that need his help. In the latest book he is about to get married and become a father and is nervous about it but ready to take on this particular change in his life. Before the ceremony he becomes involved in two separate investigations along with his fellow ranger and friend, Loq, and his soon to be father-in-law who is also the local sheriff. They are trying to find out who killed a university professor at a dig where some ancient bones were found. In the meantime, they also come across water being diverted from the marsh and try to find who is doing that and how to resolve that issue. At the same time Nick is trying to figure out if he should take a promotion that will take him away from the area he loves and have him live in the big city of Portland. The author does a great job of describing the surroundings and you feel like you could be there. He has very realistic characters and the storyline is great. The books are set back in the late sixties and early seventies and he captures the essence of that time well. Look forward to reading the next in the series.
From the Desperation of Addiction to the Joy of Marriage and Parenthood
If you're new to Nick Drake you owe it to yourself to start-up your 📖 1 and read them inI 6th aorder. You'll be able to watch as Nick wrestles with his demons as a soldier - addict returning from Vietnam to the the psych ward of Walter Reed Hospital. But even if you don't , this book is one of the best crime dramas I've had the pleasure of reading in a long time. Placed in the high desert of Oregon it should appeal to anyone who has ever stopped to view a sunset. It is incredibly revealing about the native cultures of that area. And best of all you finally see Nick healed of many of the scars he has labored under for years. Enjoy yourself. I did!
I cannot say enough but I will say that I have enjoyed reading Dwight Holing’s Nick Drake series. Once started these books are hard to put down. The landscape (the Big Lonesome), the Way of the People (the Paiute the Numu), the reverence of land and sky, what’s lost and what’s found...these novels makes one stop to think back and think forward to appreciate where we’ve been, what could be lost and in some regards has been lost but yet the possibility of all that can still be found if one sits and listens to the quiet and view the far distance within each of us.
Living is hard on the high lonesome, but dying is easy.When two of Nick Drake’s oldest Paiute friends disappear during a robbery of ancient relics that leads to a double murder, his race to find them puts him on a collision course with an obsessed killer. And that’s only for starters. A plane crash on a snowy mountainside after a wedding and with a baby on the way leads to a desperate fight for survival. Nick and Gemma finally get married, with a baby on the way it was a good thing, but as usual Nick seems to attract trouble. This was another good read and a great addition to this series.
I greatly enjoyed this fifth book in the series. I'm not overly fond of books that skip back and forth from one subplot to another or to different time frames. But Mr Holing is very adept with this technique, particularly the timing of these switches, keeping the pace flowing smoothly. As usual there are strong well developed characters and quality writing included within an entertaining mystery.
I have read all the Drake stories and would recommend them to anyone. His style in Book 5 is to move back and forth from a mystery to a personal journal. It works so well that you can't put down the book. I have travelled the high lonesome thru Burns Oregon many times on Rt 20 and the descriptions on the landscape are spot on. I hope that Nick Drake lives and flourishes at No Name Mountain.
Nick Drake, well settled into the community after his treatment for post Vietnam war PTSD, continues to involve himself into solving crimes while employed as a a wildlife ranger. His transition into husband and father does not diminish his responsibility to law enforcement and respect for anthropology and archeology which play a significant role in each of his episodes. Well written, good plot development and the plot moves along well.
I really enjoyed it but had to deduct one star from my normal Nick Drake rating. The reason? About 25% of the story was out of sequence. That can make a story interesting but this story needed some headers or comment at the start of those chapters. It was mildly confusing at time. Also, although a healthy list of characters spreads the question of who’dun’it the Nick Drake stories get a little intricate at times. Still a great book and I’ll definitely read the next.
I enjoy these Nick Drake novel so much. They are way more than a good read. The stories are teachers. Mr Holing teaches us about nature, natural land formations, the experiences of war veterans and importantly Native American ways. I believe anyone would enjoy this series. For me I’m anxious for the next book. Thank you Dwight Holing!
I started this book and put it down. I didn't think I would like the outcome at all! But it was really good and kept me reading. The characters are getting more and more developed and familiar and the plots more complex. As with all of these Nick Drake stories, there are several intertwined plots. Great book!
I have spent the last few weeks enjoying and learning from all 5 Nick Drake books. I learned more about my husband and his service in Vietnam, even tho he was not a combat marine. Your background of the 70s was very real (according to my 70+ year old memory)..your characters were real and enjoyable....GIVE ME MORE!
I have read the first four books twice and believe me I never do that and now I have finished the fifth. I very much enjoyed the history of the characters the environment and the writing.I have only one very small quibble. Would you please learn the difference between the uses of lie and lay
amcon361@gmail.com Almost put it down after the first paragraph...elk shedding velvet in the spring! A 2 minute research would have revealed that. I guess there were no real outdoors people doing the pre-read. After that the book was joy to read as was the series.
This has rapidly become one of my favorite series. Plenty of action and mystery to go around. I love the Native American folklore and I get a good sense of place from the author. All the main characters are wonderful. I was a little concerned about the 2 storylines running concurrently but it fit together pretty well.
You’ve outdone yourself with this one, Dwight!!! It’s your best. I spent my life as a law enforcement ranger and now a writer. I love reading other authors who write the kind of books I do. None grip my like you did with this one. Wow!
The latest Nick Drake installment requires you to read carefully to keep the story line straight and guess what will happen next but Mr. Holing brings it all together at the end. Really enjoy the series.
Nick Drake is still healing himself and improving the world he is responsible for! As the characters grow and change in each story, the series gets better and better! The next one cannot be written soon enough!
I enjoy this series and look forward to book 6. I was a teenager in the 70's, my father was a career military and Vietnam veteran so I can relate to the main character. The native American culture is an added bonus.
Enjoyed the novel. Have read all in the series and I think this one is the best. Great mystery with interesting backstory of Native Peoples. Highly teaching. Don't have to read the series before reader his book, but it would add to the enjoyment.
I have read all the books in the Drake series and like the previous ones this one was excellent. Well written, well researched and an excellent story line. Well done Mr. Holing. Hoping there will be a book six.
I like the main character in this book. He has his struggles and he seems very human to me. Nick is a Vietnam vet. I love the Indian lore that runs through the story. This is the 5th book in a series and I have read all of them. It is a nice pause from life reading Dwight Holing's books.
Could not put the book down So many twists and turns—-a real ‘who did it’. Great story continuity and continued depth of character development. I hope there are more adventures with the folks of No Mountain.
This book just increased my admiration for mr. Holing. Abandon all chores for the day as once you start reading you will not stop until you teach the end. Great plot, loved every minute and am tempted to Te- read immediately to savor the incredible writing.
Along with very good characters and fast-paced action, this book intertwines local history and culture to make everything even more interesting. I hope for another one.
Nick Drake has come a long way. Beautifully written and as always his travels are filled with gut wrenching decisions and life changing events but always well worth the journey. I thoroughly enjoyed this series.