Taconite

by E.A. Cook

In 1893, two miners are murdered at the Mountain Iron Mine. An anonymous employer hires a one-time cowboy, gunslinger, miner and deck hand, Lucient Robineux, owner of the Robineux Agency, to investigate the possibility that another once great detective agency called the Pinkertons are stopping people from unionizing by resorting to murder.

135 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 2015

About the author

E.A. Cook was raised in the North Woods of Minnesota and has since lived a life that rivals the characters he writes about. As a young man he spent years traveling around North America covering 43 states and trips over the borders of Mexico and Canada. He traveled by box car, hitchhiking, and as a carny traveling with 8 different shows off and on over twelve seasons. He's worked as a hot dog vendor and face painter in New Orleans and has been an Account Executive for print advertising, owned a private investigations company, and is presently a taxi driver by night and a writer by day. Cook lives in Colorado with his Tribe.

Reviews

[Glenn B Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, some disclaimers: I’m a personal friend of EA, we share a love of northern Minnesota and it’s mining history, and we’re both fans of Louis L’Amour.
I mention Louie L’Amour because this book reads something like one of the L’Amour Sackett series books. It is a short book set in frontier times, and features a family history which could easily be fodder for more books.
All in all, I enjoyed the book.
However, it does have a few shortcomings. For one, there is far too much exposition. Secondly, some events are quickly glossed over or mentioned in passing when they could/should be given more weight. Finally, the ending reads with too much finality. I’d like it a little more open ended leaving more hope of future books within the series.
Other than those issues, I found the book engrossing — even a page turner at times. I’d heartily recommend it to fans of the genre.