The BookViral Review
Percy Hope’s come a long way since the summer of 1898 when he first set foot in the goldfields of the Alaskan wilderness and Neil Perry Gordon’s final release in his ‘Goldfield Trilogy’ builds on the strength of previously released novels Hope City and Cape Nome.
Good U.S. Historical Fiction these days may be too few and far between, but Denali is up there with the best of them and is at its core, a story well-told and built upon the solid foundation of Gordon’s superbly capable writing.
Artfully exciting and compulsively readable Gordon’s narrative has an easy swing to it and his dialogue is pitch-perfect with his enticing plot eschewing the genre’s typical myth-making for something a little more off the beaten path with its supernatural twist.
In common with Gordon’s previous releases in his ‘Goldfield Trilogy’ Denali is an intimate character piece; it has moments of wittiness but also shocking tragedy; it delves into larger themes like the impact of greed and corruption, and yet it offers the hope of redemption.
One of Gordon’s many strengths as an author is an uncanny ability to find a character’s backbone and communicate it and Percy Hope hits all the right notes: honesty, dignity, loyalty – and much of Denali’s simple power is owed to the grounded nature of Percy’s character.
Returning in Denali are Liam and Peggy and the emotional insight Gordon brings to the latter in particular brings his narrative up an extra notch in a contemplative plot that’s delivered with nail-biting drama. And as all the pieces fall in their places Gordon rewards his readers with an assured, thought-provoking window into a past whose legacy is still being felt to this day.
A standout read that should play well to under-served U.S. Historical Fiction genre fans Denali is an unreservedly recommended five-star read.
