Cold Storage, Alaska (Straley) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Straley strikes the perfect balance of humor and pathos in this story about the McCahon brothers.
New York Times Book Review


[Straley] writes crime novels populated by perpetrators whose hearts are filled with more poetry than evil.
Wall Street Journal


An in-depth look at small-town life… If you think winter in St. Louis is uncomfortable, try winter in Cold Storage, Alaska.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch


Straley isn’t prolific, but when he does publish a book it’s a gem... The crime aspect of Cold Storage, Alaska is pretty casual. Straley’s mostly interested in his characters and how they interact on a personal level.... It’s always a pleasure to read Straley’s vivid studies of these folks—the slightly cracked, rugged and very funny characters of the Far North.
Seattle Times


[Cold Storage, Alaska] is part crime story, part screwball comedy, peopled with characters you long to spend more time with.
Daily Mail (UK)


Surprisingly moving.... Straley’s lean prose and snappy dialogue—not to mention the book’s few scenes of swift, hard-boiled violence—will likely remind many readers of Elmore Leonard’s classic crime novels.
Richmond Times-Dispatch


Kind, smart and deeply moving… Cold Storage, Alaska is certainly a wild mystery in the vein of Elmore Leonard's Get Shorty years or all of Carl Hiaasen, it is just as much an homage to small towns and the people who fill them. What elevates Straley above so much of the competition is how very much he cares about the people and places he writes about.
Alaska Dispatch


Straley reveals his characters with unflinching pride and doesn’t mock or belittle their unique take on life… His description of the human condition as played out by his band of characters ranges from pathetic to amazingly humorous… A joy to read.
Durango Herald


[A]fter serving seven years of a 10-year sentence for drug dealing... [Clive McCahon's] problems are far from over. Aspiring Hollywood screenwriter Jake Shoemaker, his violent partner in crime, wants the large sum that Clive has squirreled away, and Jake won’t take no for an answer.... While there’s little actual mystery, most readers will enjoy spending time with the eccentric residents of Cold Storage.
Publishers Weekly


The nature of small-town life is perfectly rendered here, as are the wonders of coastal Alaska. Not quite as madcap as Carl Hiassen..., Straley's latest adventure in America's last frontier should appeal to those authors' fans as well as those who appreciate an unusual location and set of characters in their mysteries. —Dan Forrest, Western Kentucky Univ. Libs., Bowling Green
Library Journal


A story of a town with nothing much to offer but rain, salmon fishing, drink and gossip--but that's plenty for Straley to work with. Cold Storage may be "a town that gloried in [its] bad habits... clinging to the side of the mountains with no roads, no cars, and virtually no sense of the outer world," but in Straley's hands, it is rich in character, music, humor and compassion.
Shelf Awareness


Straley, author of The Big Both Ways, has created a wonderfully evocative place in Cold Storage. His evocation of nature and human nature approaches the lyrical, and he seems guided by Faulkner’s dictum that the only thing truly worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself.
Booklist


The cast of eccentric characters, the sharp, witty dialogue, and the chaotic, frenzied pace of the narrative would do Preston Sturges proud. Readers looking for edge-of-your-seat suspense should look elsewhere, but those who like their crime with a healthy side of humor could hardly do better. Quirky, funny and compulsively readable.
Kirkus Reviews