aboriginal-people, action, archaeologist, conspiracy, crime-thriller, criminal-acts, cultural-anthropology, cultural-differences, cultural-heritage, due-diligence, Hawai-i, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, history-and-culture, indigenous-people, integrity, interagency, international-crime-and-mystery, international-tensions, intrigue, investigations, law-enforcement, political-corruption, political-intrigue, politicians, politics, procedural, prosecutor, PTSD, survivor's-guilt, suspense, suspicion, threats, thriller, torture, unputdownable*****

Who were the victims REALLY? Who imported the assassins? Why is the police chief impeding the investigation? What's the truth about the mayor? Is the big money man at the root of all this? Why are the CIA and DIA sniffing around and ALSO impeding the investigation? Thanks be that the prosecutor is on the side of justice AND Kane. Fantastic read!
Francis G. Kearney is a great narrator for police novels and especially this series! ( )

In the discovery of this novel, I learned that it is Book 2 of the "Koa Kane Hawaiian Mystery" series. I usually read a series in order but for my 50 States Fiction Challenge (USA settings from sea-to-shining-sea) the storyline of "Off the Grid" sounded more intriguing to me. ["Death of a Messenger" is Book 1.]

This mystery provided the perfect complements for an armchair traveler to Hawaii with a sprinkling of Hawaiian phrases, a smattering of history, fascinating information about orchids, true-to-life political campaigning, corruption, and the all too familiar resistance to cooperation between law enforcement agencies, and the power and destruction of Kīlauea, an active shield volcano. I was engrossed with the intrigue, characterizations, details, and setting.

It was a great selection for the setting of Hawaii. I look forward to reading Book 1 and then will continue reading the series in order. ( )

In the Hawaiian mystery novel Off The Grid, an abandoned rural area in the shadow of a volcano makes a perfect place for quietly living secretive, off-the-grid lives. When two people are killed, in unrelated but almost simultaneous murders, detective Koa Kane investigates, and ends up uncovering secrets that span continents and decades.

The author brings the off-grid, undocumented Hawaiian perma-camps to life. When I was in Waianae, I saw a lot of people camping permanently on the beach. (I have a lot of feelings about Hawaiians living on their native land, living the same natural lifestyle as their ancestors, but it’s illegal now because colonizers claimed the islands and stuck up No Camping signs. In the novel, certain residents pay cash for anything needed and squat in the jungle.

I also loved the incompetent medical examiner, a fairly minor but way too realistic character. Haven’t we all had a colleague who was completely unhelpful and almost entirely useless, but somehow just barely good enough to keep their job? Aaaah, I really felt for poor Koa here.

Unfortunately, I found the women characters slightly flat. Beautiful, successful, loving girlfriend Nalani is a bit too perfect to be relatable, while another character is a fairly one-note Rejected Ugly Woman. I hope this is just a function of how many characters Koa meets in this investigation, and that future Koa Kane novels will develop women characters further. (Also, an attractive, stylish, well-groomed woman nursing a secret crush would be more of revelation than discovering that the woman described as aging poorly, wearing too much makeup, unattractive in so many ways, etc., is desperately lonely and loveless.)

Overall, it’s a well-plotted mystery with a wide cast of characters and far-reaching connections, with just enough departmental politics to keep Koa feeling like a real person doing a real job.

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Koa Kane Hawaiian Mystery book #2

This mystery is a sequel to “Death of a Messenger” featuring Chief Det. Koa Kane of the Hilo police department. In this follow up story Koa will investigate the gruesome murder of two off the grid couple. The woman died after her car collided with a truck and blew up and her partner’s mutilated body found not long after in the backcountry. Who are they, who murdered them, and why?

What an exciting read this turned out to be. It starts with a bag and Koa soon finds himself up to his ears in blackmail schemes, international espionage and political shenanigans. Everyone want to block the investigation CIA,MIA, Koa’s boss, politicians, military, even the Chinese you name it all the acronyms in the US show up to put a spoke in the wheel…as Koa meticulously tracks the complicated case his instincts point him in the right direction….and of course reading how he worked to solve the mystery is action packed, thrilling and entertaining to read. I must add even with all the government secrets we find Hawaiian vibes… think orchids and beautiful sceneries….

This mystery has many characters some are good and some not so but Koa although not perfect definitely stands out. His past haunts him. Koa has horrific flashbacks to his Mogadishu time in the military and to boot, a closet full of skeletons to content with.

The suspense is well maintained throughout. We have lots of drama, adventure and action including one surprise after the other. This is one well-concocted police procedural.

I loved passing time with “Off the Grid” next….book #3 “Fire and Vengeance”

I would like to thank Oceanview Publishing and Edelweiss for the opportunity to read this book ( )