Against a backdrop of traditional Cree mythology, Johnson’s novel creates a tangled murder chronicle and harrowing tale of four Cree brothers, bound to each other through family and tradition, separated from each other by their chosen life paths. As one brother kills, another reinforces the principle of a circle of life, as one capitulates to weakness, another conquers his demons. Driving the action is a manhunt for the killer of conservation officers; but at the heart of the story there is reparation through cultural wisdom and the restoration of traditional beliefs.
Authentic and well-paced, Back Track crosscuts through the cultural ruts, economic conventions, and stereotypes of Cree families living in northern Saskatchewan.
About the Author
HAROLD R. JOHNSON was the author of six works of fiction and five works of non-fiction. Born in northern Saskatchewan to a Swedish father and a Cree mother, Harold was a member of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation. He enlisted in the Canadian Navy and worked as a logger, trapper, and miner before going to university as an adult, eventually graduating from Harvard Law School. It was there where, in addition to his studies, he wrote his first novel, Billy Tinker, which was published by Thistledown Press in 2001. His novel Corvus (2011) won the Saskatchewan Book Award for Fiction and was longlisted for Canada Reads in 2019. Harold managed a private practice for several years before becoming a Crown prosecutor, but had retired from the practice of law to write full time.
