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Rating: 
Summary: Much weaker than usual effort
Review: Having greatly enjoyed Heywood's first two Wood Cop mysteries, I looked forward to reading this next one. But I was disappointed by the quality of the writing and the story. The book is thicker and the story is longer and more confusing than in his first two books. What Heywood really, really needed for this book was a ruthless editor. The story line is terribly convoluted, with many happenings that simply didn't make sense to me, and various strands which were not brought together at the end. Through much of the story I really didn't know where we were in the mystery; I couldn't keep track of all that was going on. And there were too many other happenings in a warden's life that were distracting from the main story. I never could figure out what Trapper Jet had to do with the story. And there wasn't much writing about being in the woods, about woods skills and real natural resources information as he did in the first two books. One part I liked was chapter 37 about Service's visit to the Ojibway elder Santinaw; that took us back into the brush. Nor could I understand why, if Siquin Soong's White Moon Trading Co. was subject to a federal investigation for drug trafficking and smuggling, Grady Service or Maridly Nantz wouldn't have warned the Michigan Governor candidate Lorelei Timms, who counted Soong as a major supporter. My God, if a major supporter were the center of a federal investigation, wouldn't I want to know that? And finally, the book seemed somewhat more coarse with respect to sexual exploits, with people hopping in and out of bed with each other. This wasn't integral to the story, but it appeared to be more prominent than in the first two books. Overall, his latest work just plain needed some ruthless editing.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing third Woods Cop entry
Review: Having greatly enjoyed Heywood's first two Wood Cop mysteries, I looked forward to reading this next one. But I was disappointed by the quality of the writing and the story. The book is thicker and the story is longer and more confusing than in his first two books. What Heywood really, really needed for this book was a ruthless editor. The story line is terribly convoluted, with many happenings that simply didn't make sense to me, and various strands which were not brought together at the end. Through much of the story I really didn't know where we were in the mystery; I couldn't keep track of all that was going on. And there were too many other happenings in a warden's life that were distracting from the main story. I never could figure out what Trapper Jet had to do with the story. And there wasn't much writing about being in the woods, about woods skills and real natural resources information as he did in the first two books. One part I liked was chapter 37 about Service's visit to the Ojibway elder Santinaw; that took us back into the brush. Nor could I understand why, if Siquin Soong's White Moon Trading Co. was subject to a federal investigation for drug trafficking and smuggling, Grady Service or Maridly Nantz wouldn't have warned the Michigan Governor candidate Lorelei Timms, who counted Soong as a major supporter. My God, if a major supporter were the center of a federal investigation, wouldn't I want to know that? And finally, the book seemed somewhat more coarse with respect to sexual exploits, with people hopping in and out of bed with each other. This wasn't integral to the story, but it appeared to be more prominent than in the first two books. Overall, his latest work just plain needed some ruthless editing.
Rating:
Summary: Much weaker than usual effort
Review: I am a huge Heywood fan and was excited about the latest Woods Cop mystery. However, I was very disappointed with this novel. As others have mentioned there was a lot in the book that simply did not make sense. Also, it was hard to follow the plot since Heywood insisted in bringing in a cast of thousands who added very little to the story. Also, the ending was not satisfactory. It was as if the plot was not moving along but the page count was too high so Heywood used a Deus ex machina to end the story, still with little conclusion.
Rating: 
Summary: Chasing A Blond Moon
Review: Joseph takes you through the U.P. on the wildest trip yet, his writing gets you into the book on page one. Reading the first two books in the woods cop series helps you to fall back into the pace of these cops and what Hell they go through to get the job done. Grady is doing what is in his heart. Not always by "the book" his love for the U.P. of Michigan and the wild life that needs a good hearted guy watching over them and protecting them from the not so nice guys. Great read thanks Joseph for another wonderful book.
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