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Category:
Historical Fiction
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN-10: 0595323057
Type: Fiction
Pages: 209
Copyright: July 30, 2004
Sometimes, vacations just don't turn out the way you hoped they would. An idyllic wilderness house boating get-a-way soon turns into a hellish nightmare...
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Book Description
Margaret and Thomas Hawkins are a typical harried big city couple in desperate need of a vacation.
She’s exhausted and dreams of a luxurious Caribbean cruise where ship attendants will pamper her. He dreams of remote unpopulated areas where he can leave the maddening city hordes behind and enjoy the grandeur of nature with his strange little dog, Big Mack.
They eventually compromise and rent a houseboat in the vast Canadian wilderness.
They are both enjoying their idyllic get-a-way until the worst storm in centuries descends directly upon them.
To their utter horror, Margaret and Tom soon discover that in the wilderness, there is absolutely nowhere to run—nowhere to hide.
Lightning bolts fill the northern sky; thunderclaps echo through the night; 60 mile per hour winds hurl deadly debris and uprooted trees in every direction; and their tiny houseboat is tossed about on the now turbulent lake waters like a flimsy matchstick.
Somehow, this violent northwoods storm also rips open a hole in time – hurling them 200 years into the past.
Suddenly, the Hawkins family is trapped in a terrifying foreign world; a world populated by French-Canadian fur trappers, Ojibwa Indian warriors, and a man-eating grizzly bear.
Sometimes, vacations just don’t turn out the way you hoped they would.
Excerpt
Prologue
Once in days no more remembered,
Ages nearer the beginning,
When the heavens were closer to us,
And the Gods were more familiar,
In the north-land lived a hunter…
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
From The Song of Hiawatha
Canadian Wilderness – May 1801
Spring had finally arrived and Mishe-Mowka was glad.
Her northwoods island home was bursting with new life, new sounds, new smells, and new colors. Tiny brown and white chickadees, boisterous red-winged black birds, and huge, raucous, coal black crows were singing, chirping, and merrily calling out in the branches of the giant pine trees above.
Inquisitive brown chipmunks and industrious red squirrels chattered happily and scampered all about the forest floor, also rejoicing in its yearly rebirth. Wildflowers of every shape, size, and color were bursting through the moist, sweet smelling soil.
With all the new life, hope, and natural wonder surrounding her, how could Mishe-Mowka not be happy at this moment in time?
Although she had spent the long cold northern winter safe and snug in her home, lovingly cuddled up with her two young children, she and they had all anxiously awaited this first foray of the season outdoors.
And, not one of them had been disappointed. The day was simply marvelous.
Mishe-Mowka’s love for her two young children was also boundless. She knew in her heart that her male child would one day grow to be a great hunter and provider. She also knew that her female offspring would one day mature into a gentle, loving parent, just as she was.
At this moment, Mishe-Mowka was lying comfortably and lazily in the tall green saw grass at the edge of the lakeshore. She had just eaten her fill of the succulent wild blueberries growing nearby.
Her hunger now almost completely sated, she was becoming very drowsy. It had, indeed, been a long bitter winter and the bright, warm, life-giving sun of this glorious spring day felt wonderful on her back.
Since her two beloved children were now safely playing in the nearby brush, she slowly closed her large dark eyes and decided to take a well-deserved nap.
Just as Mishe-Mowka drifted off to sleep, she heard a faint shrill cry in the distance. She intuitively roused herself fully awake.
As she listened intently, her ears fully erect, she suddenly heard it again.
She painfully realized that the muted sound was the terrified call of one of her own babies crying out in pain.
She scrambled to her feet and raced in the direction of the heart-wrenching wail...
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Christine
To escape the stress of big city life, Tom and Margie rent a houseboat in the wilds of northern Minnesota. Their blissful vacation of lovemaking, listening to the loons, and watching the deer at play is interrupted by a perfect storm that somehow transports them back in time circa 1800.
Bambi is gone, and now they must face nature red in tooth and claw.
This book was a pleasure to read. The author also provides a fascinating, detailed description of Ojibwa Indian culture.
I highly recommend Cemetery Island.
Mark Collins, Berwyn, IL
Now I'm near-completing his intriguing and informative book "Gold River Canyon", which has kept me up reading a few late nights!
SO...I think it's time I ordered this "Cemetery Island" and hope it arrives in the next few days!!
Yep, his words/stories have hypnotized me!!
Micke
The story was an easy read for both child and adult, I am sure both will be enraptured by Ed’s ability to capture all the nuance’s of time travel and being alive in the early years of our country. His knowledge of both the place where the book and story took place and his knowledge of the people met in the past are exemplary.
As a writer myself I approach some books with trepidation, especially if I were to start to catch mistakes in grammar or punctuation but this book had none of that. From the first page to the last, I found it enthralling and I am starting to re-read it in case I missed anything.
The characterizations were easy to follow as well, and it made one feel like they were there and a part of the husband and wife relationship. That relationship being so real, so normal, and down to earth in today’s society.
As well as the fear exhibited by the wife after their time travel, but I don’t want to further express any of the book, as I think YOU will want to read it in its entirety to fully grasp just how fun and interesting a read this book truly is.
I personally hope to see more from Mr. Kostro’s quill! He is a writer of compassion towards others as well as consideration towards the Natural world.
In Sincere Admiration, Ed Matlack
ISBN: 0-595-32305-7 Softcover, 5.5” x 8.5”, iUniverse
Ed Kostro has delivered a unique story of intrigue and mystery that I found fascinating. The fact that its setting is only a few miles from where I entertain myself on summer vacations could have something to do with this, but this novel also stands on its own merits. Ed’s conjuring abilities seem endless, his characters very memorable, and his use of “The Song of Hiawatha” as a guide to the story is a beautiful touch.
The story is of a couple taking a pontoon boat vacation with their Chihuahua on the wild waters and islands of Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota. A ferocious storm with a supernatural purple mist provides a portal to an eighteenth century primitive past, where they are stuck waiting for a complementary storm to bring them back to the present. In the meantime, adventure and discovery rage hand in hand for the couple and their dog.
Ed’s characters are likable. He even makes the villain of the story an object of empathy, in spite of her (the villain’s) misguided motives that lead to evil behavior toward his other characters.
This is a good yarn and well worth the read.
© 2004 R. Leland Waldrip
Exhilirating stuff...
Peter
Margaret Hawkins was beginning to think she might like this vacation cooked up by her adventuresome husband Tom. Then, all hell broke loose. Ed Kostra has produced a galvanizing tumult filled work in his Cemetery Island. The next book in this easily read Time Travel series is surely on the way, and what good news that is. Snappy colloquy, treacherous scenario and enigmatic abundantly portrayed, this is Cemetery Island.
For full review please check as Article on mj hollingshead page on AD site.
Carol
How long does it take my riverboatmail???
Your naturewrites are always soooooooo good Ed!!
Love through NATURE......lol.....Tinka