This was my third Thomas King book read this year, after Green Grass Running Water, and Indians on Vacation. King is acclaimed as a master storyteller, and I can see why. There are common threads running through each of these books that show the common hand in all of them, but they are all so incredibly different too.

Sufferance is the latest novel by King. It is about Jeremiah Camp, a man who had earned the name The Forecaster by his ability to spot trends and predict the future for his corporate employer. But eventually, he leaves, returning to the reserve that he was born in, and stops talking. He bides his time replacing unnamed crosses at the residential’s school’s cemetery with engraved river stones, letting the community and the hustle and bustle of it pass him by, until the corporation returns for one last forecast. The richest of the rich around the world are dying, and they want to know why.

King makes strong use of a non-linear, braided storyline, like in all of his books. Jeremiah lets the present pass around him as he gets lost in history and memories. What was interesting about this book, is it felt like a thriller. There is a shady corporation, mysterious deaths, political wheeling and dealing, and even threats against Jeremiah himself, unless he completes the Forecast to find out what--or who-- is killing these billionaires.

Of all the Thomas King books I’ve read this year, I think Green Grass Running Water was my favourite as I found it a bit more light-hearted and fun than Sufferance, but if dark, dramatic, thrillers are your thing then definitely pick this up.