About the Book

When Jake Lorenz retreats to his family’s cabin in the North Minnesota woods for the winter, he’s looking for peace, quiet, and time to reflect on the loss of his wife and his job. But instead, he finds destruction and death—a gruesome murder scene on his very doorstep. The more he discovers about the death, the deeper he is drawn into a shadowy struggle for land, wealth, and power. There are forceful men who don’t want him to search any further: the corrupt tribal council that controls the nearby Ojibwe casino, the secretive and antisocial plutocrat who owns half the peninsula, and the ruthless Indian Mafia, to name a few. But to save the community he loves, which is set in this harsh and lovely wilderness, Jake must battle personal demons and the deadly forces of man and nature to learn the truth.

With origins dating back two hundred years and outcomes that could appear in tomorrow’s newspaper, In the Absence of Honor whisks readers through a tale of conspiracy, fraud, deception, and betrayal—that reverberate from a small northern community and Indian reservation to powerful forces in Washington, DC.

Donna Lynch, Department of the Interior agent assigned to the investigation, felt her jaw drop as she and her team absorbed the atmosphere of the old lodge. With the hand-laid hardwood floors, open-beam ceiling construction, and authentic period furniture, you could almost smell the bacon and see the flapjack stacks steaming on tin plates in the rustic kitchen. The reality that this breathtaking structure may have actually been part of an original American Fur Trading Company post would be integral to her investigation.

The claim of a sacred Indian burial ground by the Chippewa Lake tribal council would jeopardize Alex Minor’s family ownership of this lodge and his land on the Arrowhead Peninsula. Is it possible that an Ojibwe village of historical significance was just now being discovered? “I won’t lose this investigation,” Alex said.

Donna’s instinct of fraud and conspiracy was embattled with the current evidence and historical facts presented. Both sides had major ties to the land and neither was prepared to give up. “Motives are another thing entirely,” Donna insisted. But there had already been a murder and rape—just how violent would this investigation become?