Though Not Dead

The residents of Alaska’s largest national park are stunned by the death of one of their oldest members, eighty-seven-year-old Sam Dementieff…even investigator Kate Shugak. Sam, a lifelong resident, was dubbed the “father” of all of the Park rats even though he had no children of his own. Kate, his niece, is surprised to discover that in his will he’s left her everything, including a letter instructing her simply to, “find my father.” In the three days after Kate begins her search through Sam’s background, she gets threatened and worse. Kate struggles to fulfill Sam’s last wish without losing her own life to the people who are following her every move. Long-lost family secrets and fatal consequences are interwoven with the epic history of an unforgiving land.
"The black death didn’t get to Alaska until November. When it did, it cut down almost everyone in its path. The territorial governor imposed a quarantine and restricted travel into the Interior, stationing U.S. Marshals at all ports, trailheads, and river mouths to interdict travel between communities. He issued a special directive urging Alaska Natives to stay at home and avoid public gatherings. Theaters closed, churches canceled services, schools were let out, but because of the inescapably communal nature of traditional life, Natives were infected and died disproportionately. In Brevig Mission, only eight of eighty people survived. In some villages there were no survivors at all. When the influenza pandemic passed late the following spring, those left alive were too weak to hunt for food, and even more died of starvation."