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This first novel is 2008's rather less well known retelling of the story of Hamlet (cough - Edgar Sawtelle - cough, cough). A boy goes on a hunting trip with his dad. His dad ends up shot to death. Suicide or murder? An uncle is the prime suspect.

Lin Enger has written a taut thriller that roams the bleak landscape of Minnesota in winter as well as the emotional interior landscape of a boy struggling with the truth of his father's death. But despite the great writing, the fact that the story is so predictable works against the book. Knowing the inevitable outcome left me feeling unsatisfied throughout much of Enger's tale and some of the Hamlet parallels seemed forced or phony. Worth a read but not a classic. I'll look forward to Enger's next book.