As a child growing up in Starvation Lake in the 1980’s, Gus, like many of his friends, was mad about hockey. As he developed in the youth hockey league he decided his skill set pointed him in the direction of goalie. Together with his good friends Soupy Campbell and Teddy Boynton, under the tutelage of Coach Jack Blackburn, they are determined to win the state championship for their travel team, the River Rats.

Coach Blackburn is a tough taskmaster making the boys run drill after drill and learning many complicated maneuvers which he assures them will win them “the game.” As the years go by Blackburn recruits players from his native Canada whom he billets at his home. They do well enough in their last year of eligibility to make it to the finals only to lose because Gus fails to stop a goal.

Gus leaves Starvation Lake under a cloud and returns under one when his career takes a U-turn. During his absence Coach Blackburn has died in a strange accident. Blackburn and his friend Leo Redpath had been out snowmobiling and Blackburn’s snowmobile went through the ice. The exact circumstances were never determined. Was it an accident or something more sinister? 

The partial remains of a snowmobile are recovered from neighboring Walleye Lake. This machine looks remarkably like Coach Blackburn’s and shows evidence of what looks like a bullet hole at the front of the vehicle. Stories of mysterious underground tunnels connecting the two lakes circulate.

It appears that Gus has a story worth some merit for his small town paper but as he begins to question people who lived in Starvation Lake at the time of the accident, including Gus’s own mother, he meets with stony silence on all fronts. Everyone tells him to let sleeping dogs lie. Gus’s journalistic sense won’t let him follow this advice.

Although Starvation Lake is Bryan Gruley’s first novel, he has impressive linguistic credentials as the Chicago bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal. He knows how to write. In addition he is a Michigan native so his knowledge of the terrain and some of local legends is first hand, which lend credence to the story.

 The characterization in the novel is well done. The flaws and foibles of both major and minor characters ring true. No one is either all bad or all good. It is easy to empathize with Gus and his mother as well as most of the staff at the Pilot.

The story is bigger than just a mystery story with a hockey backdrop. Social issues are addressed although no clear cut answer is presented or even hinted at, leaving the reader with a bit more to chew on after the last page is turned. As in many small towns, there is unity and solidarity in support of the local sports team, but the question of the importance of winning, especially when the players are children, gives additional pause for thought. As the banner at the Starvation Lake rink reads “To win the game is great, to play the game is greater, to love the game is the greatest.”

There is a fair amount of interesting information about responsible journalism to be had as Gus proceeds in his quest for unraveling the murder. What can be attributed as fact, what obligation does a journalist have to his source, and how does the interaction between various levels of journalists, editors, senior editors etc, work?

Starvation Lake is an admirable first effort by Bryan Gruley. Even though I know nothing about hockey and have little interest in the sport, my interest was easily sustained. Technical points of the game and strategies are explained with a rank amateur in mind. The problems of winning versus learning and enjoying the game are easily extrapolated to any sport in which children participate.

I look forward to other outstanding novels by Mr. Gruley.

--Andy Plonka