Welcome, readers of fine Canadian crime fiction!

“J.M Walsh character is very real and appealing, and I found myself routing for the resolution of his personal and financial woes with his ranch. Although the title gives away that the murder case he is working on will be left without resolution, it was fascinating and quite believable to follow the trail of how Walsh unveils the culprit. [You] hone in on a timely subject, the critical part journalism plays in our search for the truth, and [you] invent rather believable yet terrifying ways that corporations might go to subvert that truth. The book unfolds in a wonderful way. I highly recommend it.”

“My test for genre fiction is verisimilitude. Realistic characters, credible plots, and a strong sense of place are key ingredients. I thought you succeeded on all fronts. I certainly kept reading with few breaks. I guess my quibble about the ending was that it was too untidy, i.e. too much like real life. So, hoisted on my own petard of plausibility.”

“Your knowledge of Calgary, southwestern Alberta, and the Blackfoot is impressive for an Edmonton boy. Do you have some connection to the area? I used to spend a lot of time hiking, biking, skiing, and horseback riding in those environs, have written about ranching and the oil and gas industry there, and still have friends in and around Burmis, Cowley, Coleman, and Twin Butte, so I know the landscape and people pretty well. I don’t know as much about Indigenous people in southern Alberta, but I’ve had quite a few contacts with them further north and west. If Eden Valley was the model for your reserve, you made it a lot more prosperous than I remember. On the whole, the natural and human setting seemed on the mark, but I wonder if readers outside Alberta would benefit from a little more description of the geography and history. The ruthless, predatory oil company and security contractor stuff was somewhat over the top—seemed more likely in the U.S. than here—but not completely implausible. Your MacGuffin, the rock-eating microbe, also seemed like a stretch yet within the realm of remote possibility; some weird shit has been put into fracking holes, and the public only finds out about it months or years later, if ever.”