Comeback: A Gun Pedersen Novel

Gun Pedersen #1

by Leif Enger, Lin Enger

***NOMINATED FOR AN EDGAR AWARD***In the midst of substantial personal loss and scandal, six-foot-six Gunsten Søren Pedersen, the Detroit Tigers’ worshipped, veteran fence-swinger, walked away from his career and sport that he loved. Retiring to the tranquil solitude of Minnesota’s North Woods, disgraced, Gun left behind disappointed fans and searing press coverage. But a millionaire real estate investor is out to tear up Gun’s new turf. Loon Country Attractions, to be built on Gun’s piece of paradise, comes replete with an amusement park, convention center, and shopping super-center—with vast environmental degradation to boot. The townsfolk are divided, and Gun is further pulled into the center of the chaos when his daughter becomes pawn in a political campaign that’s turned ugly. Gun seizes the opportunity for redemption, fighting for everything that he holds dear. Fans of Lee Child's Jack Reacher, Craig Johnson's Longmire, and Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon, enjoy the Engers' Gun Pedersen.***PRAISE FOR THE GUN PEDERSEN SERIES*** “A well-written, fast-reading thriller. . . . It’s got everything.”—Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine“Comeback is so good, you want to sit down and read it all at once. It’s got love and shame and money and the Minnesota woods and lakes, and dark mystery, and a reluctant hero, and it’s written with humor and passion.”—Garrison Keillor“Solidly entertaining.”—ALA Booklist“In Swing, the plot twists as unpredictably as a hangman’s rope. Swing has muscle (and heart, too).”—Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine“[A] sure hit.”—R.D. Zimmerman, author of Deadfall in Berlin“Compelling.”—Publishers Weekly“Sacrifice is the best novel I’ve read this year. Not just the best mystery, but the best novel, period.”—Jeremiah Healy, author of the John Francis Cuddy series“Sharp and engaging!”—Minneapolis Star TribuneTHE SINNERS’ “[A] revelation . . .”—Booklist

Genres: Mystery

213 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 6, 2020

About the author

Leif Enger was raised in Osakis, Minnesota, and worked as a reporter and producer for Minnesota Public Radio for nearly twenty years. He lives on a farm in Minnesota with his wife and two sons.

His writing is a smooth mix of romanticism and gritty reality, recalling the Old West's greatest cowboy stories.

Enger's novel, Peace Like a River, was one of Time magazine's top-five novels of the year 2001 and appeared on several other best seller lists.

His second novel, So Brave, Young, and Handsome also appeared on best seller lists in 2008.

For further details, see the author's Wikipedia page.

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Leif Enger’s books I normally LOVE. This one was really hard to follow. Frustratingly so. The writing style was assumptive and a bit over the top heroic. I felt like I was missing a sentence or important information- like I’d read too fast and not paid enough attention. I re-read what I’d just read often to try and clarify what was going on, thinking I’d missed something but I hadn’t.

[Jennifer Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I am a huge fan of Leif Enger. This collaboration with his brother is much, much lighter fare than what Leif writes on his own. It’s a pretty straightforward adventure and murder-mystery-type novel, just like a lot of the shows I enjoy watching. Though it’s nothing to write home about in terms of plot or even characters, the Enger brothers do know how to write coherent and well-thought-out sentences, which makes this book leaps and bounds ahead of most modern novels. Also, their love of baseball, which I share, shines through and increases my enjoyment. I plan to read the other books in the series.

[Flo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing writing. Leif Enger is a well known writer but his brother Lin is not famous. However the two of them go at this mystery-action tale by writing beautiful words and even better sentences. Wow! Gunsen Soren Pederson was once a famous baseball player in Minnesota. But after his wife's fatal car crash he gives up playing and moves to Minnesota's wild country town of Stony. He brings up his daughter, Mazy, and plans to live a quiet life fishing, swimming, boating, hunting if only his fans will leave him alone. But city planners begin to bug him and when Mazy, now 19, gets abducted, he proves he's as good at catching bad guys as hitting a ball with his bat.
I enjoyed this book very much. If you like excellent writing download this one and remember it's a series. I'm starting the next one right away.

[Margie Trumbull · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite a Story

This is my kind of excitement and I admire the Engers' writing! Not too many stories set this far North feature this mix of big city and N Woods corruption and frontier type justice. And there is a guilt plagued father's
determination to protect his daughter. Gun is just about "too heroic" to believe, but such are the tales of the North...where Men are Men...or legendary.

[Mary Shore · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave up about halfway through. Enough of the reluctant hero already! I don’t care what happens to any of these characters.