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Mars Bahr #4
Alone at Night
Tired of the politics, publicity and endless nights that go with major homicides, Detective Mars Bahr and his partner Nettie Frisch have moved to the Cold Case Unit, which covers the Minneapolis Police Department's oldest unsolved cases. One of their first assignments is tackling the murders of rural convenience store employees, which leads them to a sixteen-year-old missing persons case.
In 1986, seventeen-year-old Andrea Bergstad was working alone at night at a rural Minnesota gas station when she vanished without a trace. On the store's fuzzy security videotape, one minute she's there, talking on the phone to her best friend, and the next she's gone. Now, sixteen years later, Mars goes back to Redstone, Minnesota, to try to put together the pieces of this baffling case.
In Redstone, Mars meets retired sheriff Sig Sampson, off the job for several years but haunted by the Bergstad case like it was yesterday. Sig Sampson is the only person who can help Mars do what needs to be done in order to solve His memory is the only thing that can take this cold case and make it hot.
Mars and Sig dive into the investigation, and Mars soon begins to think that their hard work will get them somewhere. But his concern over the details distracts him from the greater issues in the case, and before he knows it, the lives of the two most important people in Mars' life are at risk.
As with her most recent acclaimed novel, The Last Witness, KJ Erickson delivers a fast-paced, engaging, and surprising thriller.
In 1986, seventeen-year-old Andrea Bergstad was working alone at night at a rural Minnesota gas station when she vanished without a trace. On the store's fuzzy security videotape, one minute she's there, talking on the phone to her best friend, and the next she's gone. Now, sixteen years later, Mars goes back to Redstone, Minnesota, to try to put together the pieces of this baffling case.
In Redstone, Mars meets retired sheriff Sig Sampson, off the job for several years but haunted by the Bergstad case like it was yesterday. Sig Sampson is the only person who can help Mars do what needs to be done in order to solve His memory is the only thing that can take this cold case and make it hot.
Mars and Sig dive into the investigation, and Mars soon begins to think that their hard work will get them somewhere. But his concern over the details distracts him from the greater issues in the case, and before he knows it, the lives of the two most important people in Mars' life are at risk.
As with her most recent acclaimed novel, The Last Witness, KJ Erickson delivers a fast-paced, engaging, and surprising thriller.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 1, 2009
#4 (and as far as I can tell, the last) in the Mars Bahr police procedural series set in Minneapolis. This book tells a case that Mars & Nettie are working on as part of the Cold Case Unit, this one investigating three unsolved convenience store abductions from years previously. The one that intrigues and haunts Mars is the one where a body was never found, having occurred 19 years previously when a seventeen-year-old student named Andrea Bergstad disappeared from the isolated, rural One Stop where she was about to finish her shift. There were precious few clues even back then, and Mars heads back to Redstone Township to talk with the then-sheriff, Sig Sampson, to get a better feel for the case.
Of course digging in the past can often dredge up things that someone doesn't want brought to light, and it's not long before Mars believes there is a present-day tie to the case that might be dangerous for anyone looking to discover what really happened to Andrea.
This was an excellent entry in the series, although I have mixed feelings about the ending. I wonder whether the author knew this would be the last book--though with several things not resolved, I can't help but think not. It always saddens me when a series that I started out being slightly ambivalent about begins to blossom and then just drops off the face of the earth just as I'm getting truly addicted to it. I keep hoping there will be more.
Of course digging in the past can often dredge up things that someone doesn't want brought to light, and it's not long before Mars believes there is a present-day tie to the case that might be dangerous for anyone looking to discover what really happened to Andrea.
This was an excellent entry in the series, although I have mixed feelings about the ending. I wonder whether the author knew this would be the last book--though with several things not resolved, I can't help but think not. It always saddens me when a series that I started out being slightly ambivalent about begins to blossom and then just drops off the face of the earth just as I'm getting truly addicted to it. I keep hoping there will be more.
August 24, 2007
ALONE AT NIGHT (Police Procedural, Minneapolis, Cont/1984) – Ok
Erickson, KJ – 4th book
St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005- Paperback
In 1984, Chief of Police Sigvald "Sig" Sampson handled the case of a beautiful young clerk who disappeared from a convenience store where she worked alone at night. That case was never solved. Now, in 2003, Marshall "Mars" Bahr has reopened the case.
*** This starts out really well and I didn't even mind the dual time periods as Erickson quickly tied the events of the past into the present. The characters of Marshall "Mars" Bahr--okay, I'll admit I'm a little tired of cute names for protagonists--and Nettie Frisch are interesting, although I did feel there was a lack of development without having read the previous books. Bahr's son, Chris, supposedly 11, reads more like 16 to me. The plot started out well, but rather this being a suspenseful police procedural, it degraded into involving Viet Nam at one end and Osama bin Laden at the other. I kept feeling as though the author was trying to integrate political views rather than focus on a mystery. There was only one suspenseful scene toward the end, and its outcome was projected and predictable. I'm afraid I just wasn't very impressed.
Erickson, KJ – 4th book
St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005- Paperback
In 1984, Chief of Police Sigvald "Sig" Sampson handled the case of a beautiful young clerk who disappeared from a convenience store where she worked alone at night. That case was never solved. Now, in 2003, Marshall "Mars" Bahr has reopened the case.
*** This starts out really well and I didn't even mind the dual time periods as Erickson quickly tied the events of the past into the present. The characters of Marshall "Mars" Bahr--okay, I'll admit I'm a little tired of cute names for protagonists--and Nettie Frisch are interesting, although I did feel there was a lack of development without having read the previous books. Bahr's son, Chris, supposedly 11, reads more like 16 to me. The plot started out well, but rather this being a suspenseful police procedural, it degraded into involving Viet Nam at one end and Osama bin Laden at the other. I kept feeling as though the author was trying to integrate political views rather than focus on a mystery. There was only one suspenseful scene toward the end, and its outcome was projected and predictable. I'm afraid I just wasn't very impressed.
February 10, 2013
A young woman went missing from a gas station where she worked with no leads until 19 years later. Cold case detectives found out that Andrea was pregnant with the senators baby and the green man was shooting at her, she got away but had a baby. The green man killed the mother after she gave her baby away to keep her safe. Tips came in and the daughter came to help the detectives catch him. Nettie, Mars partner saved the girls life but lost her own. Chris, Mars son found Gunner, a dog who saved the day. Green man died and the senator was put behind bars. I'm not a huge fan of police detective books but since i bought it i hadda read it.
August 31, 2013
This book was a decent read but I found it jumped around a little much for my taste. It introduced a lot of names that weren't necessarily characters but part of an investigation quickly so at the end when everything tied together I found that I could not figure out who a few people mentioned were. The story line and main characters were easy enough but some names left me at a loss. I would recommend this if you have time and definitely a quiet space so you can follow along easier. I do most of my reading with my kid talking next to me or in a noisy break room at work!
September 19, 2008
Erickson's characters are real and her plots are well done. Nothing glitzy - she just gets the job done. She doesn't get the attention that more sensational and popular detective fiction writers like PJ Tracy do(also using Minnesota settings) - she is just a good, solid, reliable writer whose characters one can connect with. The ending of this one is disturbing for series readers.
July 21, 2011
KJ Erickson is a Minnesota author and this is the first that I have read. An intriguing plot that brings to life a cold case involving the disappearance of a teenage clerk from a convenience store. I was engaged and liking it until the ending flirted with unbelievability...a bit too far fetched in my opinion. I still liked it and gave it a 3 star rating.
May 4, 2014
Having read this series, I wish there were others to follow, but because of the unsettling ending, It was not meant to be. Of course there are questions about many of the characters...... but Bahr was not into sharing feelings. He stared at the precipice, but could not go there. I very much enjoyed this series, tho the storyline did not match up to the others
June 14, 2015
Set in Minnesota, this cop pair are a cold case team exploring a 19 year old teen disappearance from a convenience store. The book begins with a flashback of the crime. Good excitement and lots of twists and turns and connections.
October 23, 2008
Convience store killings
December 4, 2007
Love this series, set in MN.
October 16, 2009
That I could read book with a dectective named Mars Bahr, if they were good, which they are.
July 26, 2012
Her books got better with each installment. I would like to read more from her.
August 16, 2015
Often wondered about people working convenience stores alone, especially at night. I wonder no more, it's as bad as I thought. The green man was beyond the pale though.....hope he was pure fantasy.
December 8, 2011
Best one in the series. To bad it's the last one.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews