Susan Froetschel’s novel Alaska Gray is set on the Alaskan island of Sitka. Jane McBride comes to Alaska, hoping to get away from some difficult situations in her past, and looking forward to her new role as Finance Director of a corporation owned by the local indigenous people. She is surprised, however, when she arrives to find that the position is no longer available and that there are a number of people involved with the corporation who want her gone. She decides to stay and finds a role teaching business at the local college. She soon makes friends but there are people around her that of whom she is very wary.
This story is told through Jane’s eyes as she realises that there is something very wrong on the island and with the corporation. She begins, with the help of a few local people, to investigate what is happening for herself. When a body is found she realises that she is not sure who she can trust and is also not sure if she will be the next victim.
This is an interesting novel because it is set in a place and culture very different from my own. The author writes of the island with real love and great descriptive powers – you almost fall in love with the place yourself and you understand why Jane decides to stay. The atmosphere created is a sinister one – you cannot be sure who is corrupt and who is not.
I enjoyed this suspense novel a lot. I thought that it was well done and that Jane was an engaging main character
Anne Is Reading 