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Big Wheat: A Tale of Bindlestiffs and Blood
1919 on the high prairie, and a small army of people and machines moves across the land, bringing in the wheat harvest. Custom threshers, steam engineers, bindlestiffs, cooks, camp followers, and hobos join the tide. The threshing season is on.
But there is also an evil upon the land. A killer who calls himself the Windmill Man believes he has a holy calling to water the newly plucked earth with blood. The moving harvest is an endless supply of victims. He's been killing for years and has no plans to stop. Who could stop him? Nobody knows he exists.
But then a young man named Charlie Krueger, jilted by his childhood sweetheart and estranged from his drunkard father, joins the harvest as a steam engineer. But in a newly harvested field in the nearly black Dakota night, he comes upon a strange man digging a grave. Now he is the only person who can stop the evil. But the killer knows his name and when next they meet, one of them will have to die….
But there is also an evil upon the land. A killer who calls himself the Windmill Man believes he has a holy calling to water the newly plucked earth with blood. The moving harvest is an endless supply of victims. He's been killing for years and has no plans to stop. Who could stop him? Nobody knows he exists.
But then a young man named Charlie Krueger, jilted by his childhood sweetheart and estranged from his drunkard father, joins the harvest as a steam engineer. But in a newly harvested field in the nearly black Dakota night, he comes upon a strange man digging a grave. Now he is the only person who can stop the evil. But the killer knows his name and when next they meet, one of them will have to die….
6 pages, Audio Cassette
First published May 27, 2010
3 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Richard A. Thompson
53 books8 followersRichard Alvin Thompson is a civil engineer who traded his transit for a laptop and now writes mysteries full time. His first book, Fiddle Game was short-listed for a Debut Dagger Award. The second in the series about bail bondsman and former bookie Herman Jackson, Frag Box, was a finalist in the Minnesota Book Awards. Big Wheat is his first stand-alone historical mystery.
Library of Congress Authorities:
Thompson, Richard A. (Richard Alvin), 1942-
Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Library of Congress Authorities:
Thompson, Richard A. (Richard Alvin), 1942-
Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
December 21, 2013
World War I is done and Charlie Krueger’s older brother is never coming home. Charlie, his sister and their mother must cope with an increasingly abusive drunken father and husband. The summer of 1919 wanes and vast acreages of the Middle West prairies are thick with ripening grain. Up the long reaches from the banks of the Platte and the Missouri come the contract threshing machines. Most are followed by raffish rootless men called bindlestiffs, who supplement a farmer’s friends and relatives on the threshing crews. The crews are often peopled by men of questionable backgrounds. Those crews are occasionally eyed with suspicion by local sheriffs who rarely chase criminals beyond their county boundaries.
When Charlie Krueger has a final confrontation with his father, he leaves behind a sorrowful mother and sister and the local girl he thought he’d love forever. He becomes a bindlestiff, traveling from farm to farm, learning the threshing business and nurturing his love for machines.
The machines are new, complicated and prone to breakdowns. Charlie hooks up with a marvelously conceived traveling machine repair crew that becomes his new family. But lurking in the background is a killer, a killer who believes Charlie saw his latest brutal deed. He seeks to find and murder Charlie. Meanwhile, the sheriff of Charlie’s home county has developed leads which point him toward Charlie as a murderer.
This then is the roiling plot which moves the story forward. Carefully constructed and set against the vast reaches of the plains states, the novel evokes a time and place and the attitudes of the people and the land in a powerful and moving way. Readers will smell the dust, drip sweat and shrivel under the burning sun right along with the threshing crews. They’ll feel a clutch in the night as the sheriff and the murderer draw closer and they’ll empathize with the casual corruption and the surmounting goodness of the characters the author has created.
A fine, exciting and unusual well-written novel I am pleased to recommend to all readers of crime fiction. Winner of the 2011 prestigious Minnesota Book Award for Genre Fiction.
October 3, 2018
Five stars just because I enjoyed it so much!! Can’t think of one thing I didn’t like, except that maybe I was finished too soon. Often, if I’m lucky, a good story leaves me wanting more. I’m not very qualified to offer literary criticism, so this may be the highest praise I have for a book.
January 18, 2011
This is a wonderful book. It has the evil banker, the corrupt sheriff, the camaraderie of outcasts, a manic killer, and a nice little love story and the vast plains of North Dakota and Montana. I love historical novels that portray an era with lots of detail. That this book was also a mystery was just an added bonus.
I have always loved going to annual thresher shows here in the Midwest, watching men (rarely women) lovingly fire up huge boilers on old tractors that would be used to power monster threshing machines. A substantial amount of manual labor was still required to collect the cut wheat from the reapers, haul it to the thresher, fork it on to the belts, bag up the grain, and then burn the huge piles of straw chaff.
Burning became part of an economic problem as farmers, during the boom years, abandoned livestock and other crops for King Wheat. As they planted fence row to fence row they had little use for wheat’s by-products and this led to fields cleared of stubble or any kind of ground cover. (I recommend the The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan for a sobering account of effects of this detrimental process.)
Charlie runs away from his alcoholic father’s farm where he has been maltreated. He becomes a “bindlestiff,” one of the men who followed the thresher machines with his belongings in a “bindle” or backpack which included a bedroll and whatever other meager belongings the migrant worker might have. On his way to locate the threshers (usually just by walking toward the smoke from straw fires in the distance), he passes a strange sight, an odd looking man pitching straw from a pile on to the ground. Thinking nothing of it, he continues on. The reader knows he has witnessed the burial of Mabel, another of a serial killer’s victims.
During a spectacular contest that pitted “a Garr-Scott 18-50 double-simple steam engine pulling a six-bottom John Deere plow against a Reeves undermounted complex 15-45 (said to be highly underrated) pulling an eight-bottom plow of Reeves manufacture, made for the specific tractor,” --I love that kind of detail-- Mabel’s body is disinterred (the new plows cut deeper than the older ones.) The coincidence of Charlie running away and Mabel’s death are too much for Tom Hollander, the local sheriff, who sets out to find him by following the thresher crews as they move across the plains of Wyoming and Montana. Charlie is taken in by Avery, an itinerant machinist who leads a group called the Ark, which follows the crews fixing machines and providing sanctuary for social outcasts. Charlie discovers he has a true talent for braising, fixing, and running the huge machines.
Meanwhile, the Windmill Man, meanders throughout the area,indiscriminately killing and assuming identities, a veritable psychopath, assuming he is is doing God’s work. ”The search and the season wore on. People worked, made money, ate bountiful meals, nursed aching muscles, made babies, incurred horrible injuries, went to church, loved the land sowed, reaped, and harvested. And here and there, one at a time, a few people disappeared.”
I loved passages like the following that displayed an intimate knowledge (or lots of research) into the idiosyncrasies of individual brands of machines that make me long for the thresher shows every year where old men will talk lovingly of these huge monster smoke-belching machines. “The Gaar is know for getting very last kernel out of the wheat. That’s why they have the rooster for their label You know, no dropped kernels left for the hungry bird? But that also means it’s sort of like a cow. Every now and then, you have to stop and just let it chew.”
An excellent combination of history, sociology, and mystery. I received this book as an advanced reader copy. That it was was free affected my opinion not a whit.
I have always loved going to annual thresher shows here in the Midwest, watching men (rarely women) lovingly fire up huge boilers on old tractors that would be used to power monster threshing machines. A substantial amount of manual labor was still required to collect the cut wheat from the reapers, haul it to the thresher, fork it on to the belts, bag up the grain, and then burn the huge piles of straw chaff.
Burning became part of an economic problem as farmers, during the boom years, abandoned livestock and other crops for King Wheat. As they planted fence row to fence row they had little use for wheat’s by-products and this led to fields cleared of stubble or any kind of ground cover. (I recommend the The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan for a sobering account of effects of this detrimental process.)
Charlie runs away from his alcoholic father’s farm where he has been maltreated. He becomes a “bindlestiff,” one of the men who followed the thresher machines with his belongings in a “bindle” or backpack which included a bedroll and whatever other meager belongings the migrant worker might have. On his way to locate the threshers (usually just by walking toward the smoke from straw fires in the distance), he passes a strange sight, an odd looking man pitching straw from a pile on to the ground. Thinking nothing of it, he continues on. The reader knows he has witnessed the burial of Mabel, another of a serial killer’s victims.
During a spectacular contest that pitted “a Garr-Scott 18-50 double-simple steam engine pulling a six-bottom John Deere plow against a Reeves undermounted complex 15-45 (said to be highly underrated) pulling an eight-bottom plow of Reeves manufacture, made for the specific tractor,” --I love that kind of detail-- Mabel’s body is disinterred (the new plows cut deeper than the older ones.) The coincidence of Charlie running away and Mabel’s death are too much for Tom Hollander, the local sheriff, who sets out to find him by following the thresher crews as they move across the plains of Wyoming and Montana. Charlie is taken in by Avery, an itinerant machinist who leads a group called the Ark, which follows the crews fixing machines and providing sanctuary for social outcasts. Charlie discovers he has a true talent for braising, fixing, and running the huge machines.
Meanwhile, the Windmill Man, meanders throughout the area,indiscriminately killing and assuming identities, a veritable psychopath, assuming he is is doing God’s work. ”The search and the season wore on. People worked, made money, ate bountiful meals, nursed aching muscles, made babies, incurred horrible injuries, went to church, loved the land sowed, reaped, and harvested. And here and there, one at a time, a few people disappeared.”
I loved passages like the following that displayed an intimate knowledge (or lots of research) into the idiosyncrasies of individual brands of machines that make me long for the thresher shows every year where old men will talk lovingly of these huge monster smoke-belching machines. “The Gaar is know for getting very last kernel out of the wheat. That’s why they have the rooster for their label You know, no dropped kernels left for the hungry bird? But that also means it’s sort of like a cow. Every now and then, you have to stop and just let it chew.”
An excellent combination of history, sociology, and mystery. I received this book as an advanced reader copy. That it was was free affected my opinion not a whit.
October 27, 2011
Take a historical mystery, add a serial killer, then set the book on the American prairies in 1919. That’s what Richard Thompson has done in this superb novel. Not only is his research jaw-dropping, the book is a real page-turner.
Epic timing helps, too. Farmers have been jubilant about the skyrocketing price of wheat during World War One. Now things are winding down and it’s harvest time again. On a small North Dakota farm, Charlie Krueger leaves his family after a row with his drunken father. His brother is among the war dead, his pregnant girlfriend has jilted him, and as he leaves at dusk to seek his fortune, he sees a stranger kicking straw over a field. Unbeknownst to him, he has interrupted a serial killer, the enigmatic and ruthless Windmill Man, whose vow is to soak the land in blood.
An amateur engineer fascinated with new technology, Charlie is lucky enough to meet up with a traveling company which fixes farm machinery, the majestic steam engines in particular. The goliaths can produce bushels of wheat berries by the minute, but they often break down. And the mechanics who repair them are gods of the prairies. As his trek continues from county to county, the Windmill Man follows, and so does a sheriff. Charlie is in big trouble, mistaken for the killer himself.
Not only is this one of the best historicals I've ever read, in a period which cries out for recognition, but it reminded me from page one of Frank Norris. A writer of the naturalist school which included Zola, Norris completed two books in his great wheat trilogy. The first was the Octopus, which chronicled the wheat farmer's plight in California at the turn of the century. The second was The Pit, which took that wheat to Chicago, where fortunes were made in speculation. The last, The Wolf, which was never written due to Norris's untimely death, was to follow the wheat to Russia. Big Wheat has the same vision of the plight of Everyman, but with a modern style and an updated plot.
The love interest is another coup. Thompson could turn his hand to writing romance if he preferred. For the sweet and naïve Charlie, only the right partner will do. Scenes ring as true as church bells.
Thompson has dotted his i’s and crossed all his Model T’s. The ubiquitous black Ford appears in all its glory, ready to ride the rough roads unyielding to macadam. A Reo appears, and next, Charlie’s skewing through fields on an Indian motorcycle, or falling asleep exhausted in the bowels of a combine. No reader will forget the Windmill Man, as fully nuanced as Hannibal Lecter. The members of the convoy known as the Ark make a fine canvas.
If Big Wheat doesn't win one or more of the major historical mystery awards in 2012, count me very very surprised.
Epic timing helps, too. Farmers have been jubilant about the skyrocketing price of wheat during World War One. Now things are winding down and it’s harvest time again. On a small North Dakota farm, Charlie Krueger leaves his family after a row with his drunken father. His brother is among the war dead, his pregnant girlfriend has jilted him, and as he leaves at dusk to seek his fortune, he sees a stranger kicking straw over a field. Unbeknownst to him, he has interrupted a serial killer, the enigmatic and ruthless Windmill Man, whose vow is to soak the land in blood.
An amateur engineer fascinated with new technology, Charlie is lucky enough to meet up with a traveling company which fixes farm machinery, the majestic steam engines in particular. The goliaths can produce bushels of wheat berries by the minute, but they often break down. And the mechanics who repair them are gods of the prairies. As his trek continues from county to county, the Windmill Man follows, and so does a sheriff. Charlie is in big trouble, mistaken for the killer himself.
Not only is this one of the best historicals I've ever read, in a period which cries out for recognition, but it reminded me from page one of Frank Norris. A writer of the naturalist school which included Zola, Norris completed two books in his great wheat trilogy. The first was the Octopus, which chronicled the wheat farmer's plight in California at the turn of the century. The second was The Pit, which took that wheat to Chicago, where fortunes were made in speculation. The last, The Wolf, which was never written due to Norris's untimely death, was to follow the wheat to Russia. Big Wheat has the same vision of the plight of Everyman, but with a modern style and an updated plot.
The love interest is another coup. Thompson could turn his hand to writing romance if he preferred. For the sweet and naïve Charlie, only the right partner will do. Scenes ring as true as church bells.
Thompson has dotted his i’s and crossed all his Model T’s. The ubiquitous black Ford appears in all its glory, ready to ride the rough roads unyielding to macadam. A Reo appears, and next, Charlie’s skewing through fields on an Indian motorcycle, or falling asleep exhausted in the bowels of a combine. No reader will forget the Windmill Man, as fully nuanced as Hannibal Lecter. The members of the convoy known as the Ark make a fine canvas.
If Big Wheat doesn't win one or more of the major historical mystery awards in 2012, count me very very surprised.
January 31, 2020
Big Wheat struck a special chord for me. First, it is a 'coming-of-age' story based after WWI in the prairie lands of the MidWest. Second, it emphasizes the self-reliance, loss, toughness and resiliency of the people that inhabit the prairie lands in these times. Third, Mr. Thompson uses past and then-present farm machinery employed to bring in the harvest in detailed descriptions of the machines and then uses the need for the repair and maintenance of these machines to impel the plot forward. Lastly, I really grew fond of many of the characters Mr. Thompson developed. I enjoyed this book so much that I am now halfway through his second of three books of the Herman Jackson series (Fiddle Game, Frag Box and Lowertown) after completing the other two. This series is based in St. Paul and falls in the 'noir' category, which makes for fun, quick enjoyable reads with snappy dialogue, but for my money, I would save my highest recommendation for the stand alone Big Wheat-there's a reason it was a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award.
July 6, 2011
Setting was promising, but the characters were hollow and unrealistic, as was the plot.
February 19, 2025
My Profile Pic Ain't My Profile Pic For Nuthin'
Excellent writing style for the "pre-teen" market. If it's not on the CRT reading list, it will be soon. This hack just screams "Give me a movie contract!"
DNF at 18%. I bailed after 10 pages of Our Hero's groveling and apologizing to an (extremely articulate, sober, wise, kindly, and literally man-bites-dog) Indian for his White Privilege. Charlie was 100 years ahead of his time. Of course, since even before the time of Mark Twain, all you city-slickers have been falling for this horseshit. But not me. Like Mark, I've lived it. I KNOW it's horseshit.
A Plainsman might hold his tongue about this topic -- we too like to stay out of Hate Jail -- but he sure as hell won't propound this BS unless he's lookin' for a movie contract for a movie to sell to candyass Easterners that never saw a real Indian in their lives.
But even this isn't what's making me bail. I'm bailing because I've heard all this before. And so have you. This crap is more hackneyed than even the Rag-tag Band of Misfits theme. Even more than the Hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold.
Sure, it's fiction, I like fiction, but I hate liars and cowards. This guy is both.
Excellent writing style for the "pre-teen" market. If it's not on the CRT reading list, it will be soon. This hack just screams "Give me a movie contract!"
DNF at 18%. I bailed after 10 pages of Our Hero's groveling and apologizing to an (extremely articulate, sober, wise, kindly, and literally man-bites-dog) Indian for his White Privilege. Charlie was 100 years ahead of his time. Of course, since even before the time of Mark Twain, all you city-slickers have been falling for this horseshit. But not me. Like Mark, I've lived it. I KNOW it's horseshit.
A Plainsman might hold his tongue about this topic -- we too like to stay out of Hate Jail -- but he sure as hell won't propound this BS unless he's lookin' for a movie contract for a movie to sell to candyass Easterners that never saw a real Indian in their lives.
But even this isn't what's making me bail. I'm bailing because I've heard all this before. And so have you. This crap is more hackneyed than even the Rag-tag Band of Misfits theme. Even more than the Hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold.
Sure, it's fiction, I like fiction, but I hate liars and cowards. This guy is both.
December 12, 2025
Big Wheat is set in North Dakota during the wheat harvest of 1919. Charlie Krueger leaves home to get away from his abusive father, planning to pick up work along the way. He knows all about hard work and about how to fix farm machinery. Unfortunately, he has very bad timing as his ex-girlfriend goes missing the same day he leaves, making him the most likely suspect in her disappearance. The law is looking for him. If that's not bad enough, his paths also cross with a demented serial killer who then sets his sights on Charlie. Oh and there's a love story mixed in there too. I enjoyed reading about farm life during that era and I immediately thought how my late father would have liked all the details about farm machinery. However, the actual murder mystery wasn't so believable.
January 9, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. Set at the turn of the industrial revolution, it had interesting characters and plot twists. The reason I learned about this book was from sitting next to the author's wife on a plane years ago, telling her I enjoy dabble in writing and then she told me about her husband and this book. Neat to pick up something I probably wouldn't have read otherwise. Really enjoyed it!
May 7, 2019
I liked the idea of this thriller. Fast reading, sex, violence, a guy book. I can't explain why I felt a little let down by the end. Maybe the sex toward the end slowed things down. Maybe it was the explaining away too easily the deaths, or maybe just the greed so many people Charlie meets exhibit. Three stars is a fair rating.
June 26, 2019
If you want to know how a wheat thresher works and follow a serial killer, this one is for you. I liked it but don't know I would say it's a favorite I would recommend. I read it on the recommendation of a camper that stopped in at our little community library.
February 19, 2011
Excellent writing that captures your interest right from the start. Fascinating characters to keep the plot rolling along. It is a love story to an era that has been left behind in time and is lost from the memories of most. An era where young men could hit the road and make an honest living in their search of a new life without being considered homeless or drifters. It was a time when greed allowed men to farm a single crop and not think about the consequences that will soon rear its ugly head during the Depression. A time when threshing parties were the highlight of the year when farmers actually got to visit with their neighbors. This is the world of the American Prairies in 1919.
Charlie Krueger, his life previously filled with disappointment, unrequited love and family anguish, sets out to find work. The Windmill Man, whose mindset is biblical in that he believes that blood sacrifices are required for good harvests. It is the chance almost meeting of the two in the beginning of the novel that sets the stage for the story. Many of the mechanical details are right over my head but my lack of mechanical understanding does not take away from the story. It is a lush story that allows the reader to feel the rural setting.
Highly recommend this wonderful historical novel as both a great mystery and an ode to a lost period of Americana.
Charlie Krueger, his life previously filled with disappointment, unrequited love and family anguish, sets out to find work. The Windmill Man, whose mindset is biblical in that he believes that blood sacrifices are required for good harvests. It is the chance almost meeting of the two in the beginning of the novel that sets the stage for the story. Many of the mechanical details are right over my head but my lack of mechanical understanding does not take away from the story. It is a lush story that allows the reader to feel the rural setting.
Highly recommend this wonderful historical novel as both a great mystery and an ode to a lost period of Americana.
February 8, 2011
In just 235 pages, the author combines a mystery, historical details about wheat farming, and insights on life in the Great Plains 90 years ago.
The story follows Charlie, a likeable and resourceful young man, who sets out to find work on a threshing crew after a blow-up with his abusive father. The people Charlie encounters tell a variety of stories through well-written dialog, and Charlie discovers he is wanted for murder of a woman he thought he loved. The ending seemed rushed, and the action isn't as well developed as the dialog, but that's a minor complaint compared to the uniqueness of the story.
I had never considered how much impact the invention of the steam engine had on farming methods, or that it was controversial in its day. Some of the social commentary is timeless, such as one farmer's lament about his neighbors: " They put up every square foot of land they have into wheat, and then they buy their food in town, in them new-fangled tin cans. Ed Henkie has already got a pile of empty cans behind his granery, so high that you can't see over it."
The story follows Charlie, a likeable and resourceful young man, who sets out to find work on a threshing crew after a blow-up with his abusive father. The people Charlie encounters tell a variety of stories through well-written dialog, and Charlie discovers he is wanted for murder of a woman he thought he loved. The ending seemed rushed, and the action isn't as well developed as the dialog, but that's a minor complaint compared to the uniqueness of the story.
I had never considered how much impact the invention of the steam engine had on farming methods, or that it was controversial in its day. Some of the social commentary is timeless, such as one farmer's lament about his neighbors: " They put up every square foot of land they have into wheat, and then they buy their food in town, in them new-fangled tin cans. Ed Henkie has already got a pile of empty cans behind his granery, so high that you can't see over it."
March 11, 2011
Big Wheat is an uncomplicated story of good versus evil. The young, innocent protagonist must face the hard realities of growing up quickly and finding his way in an ugly world. Fortunately, on his journey he meets kind, stouthearted people who give him the courage to persevere.
The most intriguing character is the serial killer, whose misguided calling to preserve the land is the basis of the plot. Another interesting element is the setting. Mechanized farm methods of the rural Great Plains during and following World War I gave truth to the claim of "bread basket of the world". The massive wheat harvests, made possible by steam engines and threshing machines, are described with detail and affection by the author. These giant machines could bring wealth to the landowners, but also breed greed and eventual environmental degradation.
What I liked most was the historical setting of book and an exciting stand-off at the end.
The most intriguing character is the serial killer, whose misguided calling to preserve the land is the basis of the plot. Another interesting element is the setting. Mechanized farm methods of the rural Great Plains during and following World War I gave truth to the claim of "bread basket of the world". The massive wheat harvests, made possible by steam engines and threshing machines, are described with detail and affection by the author. These giant machines could bring wealth to the landowners, but also breed greed and eventual environmental degradation.
What I liked most was the historical setting of book and an exciting stand-off at the end.
March 8, 2011
In 1919, my Dad was about the same age as the book’s main character, Charlie Krueger. Having grown up not too far from Eastern North Dakota, and having heard of steam engines, threshing crews, and motorcycles in the past, I found the setting for this story authentic and interesting. This is a coming of age story for Charlie Krueger, if he can manage to escape the murderer who wants to shut him up. At first the crime part of the story seems simplistic, but it develops in interesting ways as more nasty people are added to the mix. There are also good, if unconventional, people who befriend Charlie. It is amusing to visualize large, slow moving machines trying to get away and hide on the flat, open prairies of North Dakota. Then there is the final chase scene that goes on for hours along the straight, flat roads in the dark, in the snow. There is a reason and there is a resolution.
August 7, 2025
2025-August-07 ReRead: I needed a book, saw this one was available from the library. I knew I had read it before but couldn't remember anything so I figured why not? I chose not to read my review from 2016 so as not to spoil anything. Just so you know, my 2016 review was spot on.
2016-july-7 Original review: I just really liked this book. It's been a long time since I've read about farming in the early 2oth Century and I forgot how much I like it. I know, I know, you probably think that it is really dry and boring but the author kept me engaged and he threw in a murder and serial killer and it was downright a delightful read.
2016-july-7 Original review: I just really liked this book. It's been a long time since I've read about farming in the early 2oth Century and I forgot how much I like it. I know, I know, you probably think that it is really dry and boring but the author kept me engaged and he threw in a murder and serial killer and it was downright a delightful read.
April 20, 2023
It took me a few chapters to warm up to Mr. Thompson's writing style, or maybe it took him a few chapters to warm up. :) Either way, I did end up enjoying this story very much. Because I lived in North Dakota for a time, I really enjoyed the setting for this book, North Dakota in 1919. The geography, weather, and people Mr. Thompson describes were very believable. And it's not really a mystery - we know who is doing what from the beginning - but is full of suspense and action. An interesting read.
December 24, 2011
This was a fascinating look at this period of American history but it is also an interesting serial killer novel. The reading was outstanding. We follow Charlie Krueger, who despite the unfortunate last name (that really should have been changed before publication) was not the serial killer but he was a target and a suspect and the serial killer was at least two steps ahead of everyone. Meanwhile we follow the harvest and learn about the lives of the threshers and the bindlestiffs and the communities before automation and machines that took that community spirit and made it unnecessary.
January 28, 2011
Really enjoyed the descriptions of the harvest, threshing machines, and the people that traveled the country following the harvest. The social issues of the time--women voting and "the big war" were accurate and gave an isight to the midset of the time. Really enjoyed the main characters and how their love story blossomed. Not so big on the murder mystery part. While there were depraved people back then, the whole mystery part was rather flat. Overall, a good read.
June 14, 2011
The Great Plains during the post World War I boom years of “big wheat” provide an unusual setting for a mystery. The charm of this book is as much in its intricate descriptions of the steam driven machinery that made the big harvests possible as in the story, although the story became increasingly compelling as I read. For the complete review http://www.judithstarkston.com/review...
December 5, 2011
On the night when a young man (Charlie Krueger) decides to leave his abusive and strict father’s family farm and strike out on his own, a young woman he was once involved with is murdered, and now Charlie is under suspicion.
Set in 1919 on the farms of the Great Plains, this often violent tale is oddly alluring and filled with interesting and off-beat characters. An original voice in mystery writing.
Set in 1919 on the farms of the Great Plains, this often violent tale is oddly alluring and filled with interesting and off-beat characters. An original voice in mystery writing.
March 4, 2013
Minnesota Book Award finalist.
Not realizing he is observing a mass murderer bury his first "love", Charlie Krueger escapes his abusive father and sets forth on an adventure that will change his life. Along the way he enters an old forest grove, sacred to the Lakota, works hard as a bindlestiff on a threshing crew, and joins a traveling group of ragtag workers who become family. When his life and those he loves are threatened, he out thinks evil.
Not realizing he is observing a mass murderer bury his first "love", Charlie Krueger escapes his abusive father and sets forth on an adventure that will change his life. Along the way he enters an old forest grove, sacred to the Lakota, works hard as a bindlestiff on a threshing crew, and joins a traveling group of ragtag workers who become family. When his life and those he loves are threatened, he out thinks evil.
June 27, 2011
a fairly interesting period piece (1919 usa, very rural setting in north dakota, and has nice little bit about sioux) with lots of mechanics and manual labor. More of a crime/thriller than a mystery, but the accurate and balanced history of farming, labor, machinery, rural life, and capitalism is very refreshing.
July 5, 2011
An odd mashup of Water for Elephants and a serial killer novel, which succeeds in some aspects but fails in others. Thompson's research is clearly impeccable and Charlie's a strong protagonist, but the plot feels a bit been-there-done-that.
August 18, 2015
The mystery is "solved" through violence and coincidence in this story but that didn't ruin the book for me. I liked the main and supporting characters. The author obviously has a love for machinery - it came through strong and clear without being boring. The place and time were also very well written.
November 15, 2010
Big Wheat is quite a lot of book in just 250 pages! The story takes off right from page one and it provides enough twists and turns for any mystery lover.
Full review Here
Full review Here
March 25, 2011
If I had wanted to know how a threahing machine worked, I might have liked this better. It took place, the plains at the turn of the 20th century, but it had too much detail that might interest a (male)farmer. The character's weren't developed enough for my taste.
March 30, 2011
The book is short (around 230p). I have read similar stories where the author stretches what he has out to 600p for no reason. The concise story gives a flavor of the times and a sense of the characters without weighing the reader down with useless details and side-stories.
May 1, 2011
Nearly gave this a pass because of the focus on manual wheat harvesting, but the reviews were excellent. I'm glad I read it -- enjoyed the mystery, and learned a lot about a subject I didn't realize was so interesting.
September 11, 2011
It was not your typical murder mystery, but I enjoyed it all the same. No one knew the murders were happening, and the protagonist was likeable. I am looking forward to the book discussion next Saturday.
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