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Carl Houseman #4
Code Sixty-One: A Novel
With his dead-on depictions of the rural crime beat in such critically acclaimed novels as Eleven Days, Known Dead, and The Big Thaw, Donald Harstad proved himself to be a master of the police procedural and a keen observer of the intrigues and eccentricities of the American heartland. In Code Sixty-one, Harstad furthers his talents, bringing his offbeat, Fargoesque style to a gripping tale about modern-day vampires.
Investigating the apparent suicide of a colleague’s niece, Iowa Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman uncovers a group that has transformed the dark fantasies of vampire legend into grisly reality: they ritualistically drink small amounts of one another’s blood. As Houseman and his partner, Hester Gorse, are drawn deeper into this alternate, alien world, they come to the chilling conclusion that the dead young woman may have been the victim of a twenty-first-century Dracula. Their prime suspect, Dan Peal, is a sinister and commanding presence within the group, but without proof to substantiate such a heinous theory, the trail is in danger of running cold. When their suspicions are bolstered by the report of a card-carrying vampire-hunter who is also pursuing Peal, Houseman and Gorse suddenly find themselves scrambling to track the vampire before he kills again.
A spellbinding journey into the dark recesses of the modern-day heartland, Code Sixty-one unfolds with relentless speed and precision. Veteran police officer and author Donald Harstad continues to craft his work from the fabric of personal experience and insider know-how, cutting to the quick of well-imagined fiction, rattling nerves along the way.
From the Hardcover edition.
Investigating the apparent suicide of a colleague’s niece, Iowa Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman uncovers a group that has transformed the dark fantasies of vampire legend into grisly reality: they ritualistically drink small amounts of one another’s blood. As Houseman and his partner, Hester Gorse, are drawn deeper into this alternate, alien world, they come to the chilling conclusion that the dead young woman may have been the victim of a twenty-first-century Dracula. Their prime suspect, Dan Peal, is a sinister and commanding presence within the group, but without proof to substantiate such a heinous theory, the trail is in danger of running cold. When their suspicions are bolstered by the report of a card-carrying vampire-hunter who is also pursuing Peal, Houseman and Gorse suddenly find themselves scrambling to track the vampire before he kills again.
A spellbinding journey into the dark recesses of the modern-day heartland, Code Sixty-one unfolds with relentless speed and precision. Veteran police officer and author Donald Harstad continues to craft his work from the fabric of personal experience and insider know-how, cutting to the quick of well-imagined fiction, rattling nerves along the way.
From the Hardcover edition.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published May 21, 2002
17 people are currently reading
239 people want to read
About the author
Donald Harstad
14 books105 followersDonald Harstad is a twenty-six-year veteran of the Clayton County Sheriff's Department in northeastern Iowa, and the author of the acclaimed novels Eleven Days and Known Dead. A former deputy sheriff, Harstad lives with his wife, Mary, in Elkader, Iowa. (From Random House website.)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
August 25, 2020
CODE 61 by Donald Harstad is fourth book in the Carl Houseman police procedural/crime thriller series. It is mostly set in the fictional county of Nation in rural northeast Iowa with a few scenes set in Wisconsin. Carl is a deputy sheriff for the county and is called to investigate the likely suicide of a colleague’s niece. What follows is an investigation that includes the dark side of those that believe in vampires.
Carl and his colleague Hester Gorse are great main characters. They work well together and the author’s experience as a deputy sheriff in Iowa showed through. The characters felt real and had depth. Their goals were clear and their motivations were well-drawn. The secondary characters were an odd assortment that reacted to events in a plausible manner based on the story line. The plot twists were believable and not always what was expected. There seemed to be a little too much time spent on police communication codes and this detracted a little from the pace of book. Carl’s wit and keen observations were a highlight of the book.
Overall, this was a good novel that isn’t your normal modern day police procedural. Would I read another book by this author? Absolutely!
Carl and his colleague Hester Gorse are great main characters. They work well together and the author’s experience as a deputy sheriff in Iowa showed through. The characters felt real and had depth. Their goals were clear and their motivations were well-drawn. The secondary characters were an odd assortment that reacted to events in a plausible manner based on the story line. The plot twists were believable and not always what was expected. There seemed to be a little too much time spent on police communication codes and this detracted a little from the pace of book. Carl’s wit and keen observations were a highlight of the book.
Overall, this was a good novel that isn’t your normal modern day police procedural. Would I read another book by this author? Absolutely!
February 18, 2011
I really enjoy a book about Iowa that doesn't paint all of us as stupid. Our two main characters Deputy Sheriff houseman and Hester Gorse his colleague are smart, observant and know how to work the system. They have confronted some pretty strange groups over the years. This time is a house full of vampire lovers, who are visited regularly by Dan the vampire Man. One side trip takes the investigators to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. I am going to put that on my travel list, too! Thanks Donald Harstad for making our MidWest interesting.
November 22, 2017
It's vampires this time. Each book brings Carl Houseman, Nation County, Iowa Deputy and his occasional partner DCI Agent Hester Gorse into contact with an odd American subculture. Book 1 was satanists, 2 and 3 were the militia movement, 4 is the blood drinking fetishist community. Or at least one member of it.
It all starts when a frightened woman reports to the police that she saw someone outside her window. On the second floor. Houseman discounts the supernatural but is sure that she saw *something*. Then A young woman turns up drained of blood, with a huge throat wound. She and her housemates are all a little unusual, for various reasons, and Houseman is sure they are covering something up. And that turns out to be a man with a blood fetish who has managed to convince at least one of the group that he is a real Vampire.
This is more of a psychological investigation than the previous books. Once again, Harstad is reasonably sympathetic to the characters he creates who just don't quite fit in. There are definite issues with thos group of young people but they are still portrayed as three dimensional human beings. Because of this the tension is more of a slow burn than the action pieces of the previous books. It works well, and the whole thing is a nice change of pace.
It all starts when a frightened woman reports to the police that she saw someone outside her window. On the second floor. Houseman discounts the supernatural but is sure that she saw *something*. Then A young woman turns up drained of blood, with a huge throat wound. She and her housemates are all a little unusual, for various reasons, and Houseman is sure they are covering something up. And that turns out to be a man with a blood fetish who has managed to convince at least one of the group that he is a real Vampire.
This is more of a psychological investigation than the previous books. Once again, Harstad is reasonably sympathetic to the characters he creates who just don't quite fit in. There are definite issues with thos group of young people but they are still portrayed as three dimensional human beings. Because of this the tension is more of a slow burn than the action pieces of the previous books. It works well, and the whole thing is a nice change of pace.
June 25, 2017
Cover blurb on my Fourth Estate (London) edition: "An isolated house, a bloodthirsty murderer and a wall of silence"- OK, sounds decent enough for my pulp dose this month! But whoops, this turns out to be a hardcore police procedural, not my favorite sub genre. Well, the author is a 26 year veteran of an Iowa sheriff's department, (which I would have known if I had actually looked at the inside back cover before snagging it, oops) and the focus is on...procedure, naturally! The investigation lasts one week, and seemingly every single solitary development and action is described in fine detail, at a very placid pace. But wait! While I admit I'm probably not the biggest fan of this type of detailed procedural, I did appreciate the slightly self-deprecating, kind of subtle, low-key wit of the deputy sheriff's first-person narrative. For that alone, I read on to the end, mildly amused.
May 6, 2014
Le côté très réaliste du récit en temps réel d une enquête policière dans l Amérique profonde n est pas inintéressant. Un certain sens du suspense donne envie de poursuivre la lecture jusqu au bout. Mais l intrigue est trop pauvre au final pour laisser un souvenir au delà du divertissement momentané.
August 8, 2024
Intrigante thriller da leggere tutto d’un fiato
June 23, 2020
New spin on an old story
Not often you read a fascinating story putting a new twist on an old theme, but this one does that. Predators and almost willing victims are as old as human history, but Harstad has added new elements to the tale. Parts, you can tell, are dated due to today's technologies, but the suspense and urgency ring true. Once I started, I did not want to put it down, just like the previous 3 books of his I've read. Now, the hunt to find the rest of his works.....
Not often you read a fascinating story putting a new twist on an old theme, but this one does that. Predators and almost willing victims are as old as human history, but Harstad has added new elements to the tale. Parts, you can tell, are dated due to today's technologies, but the suspense and urgency ring true. Once I started, I did not want to put it down, just like the previous 3 books of his I've read. Now, the hunt to find the rest of his works.....
September 15, 2012
Vampires in Iowa!! Can't be anything better than that. Houseman and the gang are back in form. I really enjoy this series.
March 29, 2024
I’m usually not a fan of “vampire” related books, so because this was just a good old plain murder mystery I enjoyed it.
I like Harstad’s writing style and am enjoying the way he’s developing the characters throughout the series. While I do enjoy the main character (Deputy Carl Houseman) and his sometimes humorous and self-deprecating descriptions of himself (because he’s so relatable), I think Sally the Dispatcher is my favorite and I’m enjoying how he’s developing her character throughout the series. Finally, we have an author who isn’t painting Iowans as backward, small-town country bumpkins!!! (And yes I realize that the county he works for and the town he lives in are completely fictional, but he does make reference to real Iowa towns as well.)
It’s amazing to me that I hadn’t stumbled across his books before now, considering I worked part-time in a bookstore (in Iowa) when his first one was released and crime books have long been a favorite genre! I look forward to reading what appears to be only two more in the Deputy Houseman series.
I like Harstad’s writing style and am enjoying the way he’s developing the characters throughout the series. While I do enjoy the main character (Deputy Carl Houseman) and his sometimes humorous and self-deprecating descriptions of himself (because he’s so relatable), I think Sally the Dispatcher is my favorite and I’m enjoying how he’s developing her character throughout the series. Finally, we have an author who isn’t painting Iowans as backward, small-town country bumpkins!!! (And yes I realize that the county he works for and the town he lives in are completely fictional, but he does make reference to real Iowa towns as well.)
It’s amazing to me that I hadn’t stumbled across his books before now, considering I worked part-time in a bookstore (in Iowa) when his first one was released and crime books have long been a favorite genre! I look forward to reading what appears to be only two more in the Deputy Houseman series.
April 17, 2019
Investigating the apparent suicide of a colleague’s niece, Iowa Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman is startled to uncover a group that transforms the dark fantasies of vampire legend into grisly reality: they ritualistically drink small amounts of one another’s blood. As Carl is drawn deeper into this unnerving world, it becomes clear that the dead woman may have been the victim of a twenty-first-century Dracula.
The prime suspect, Dan Peale, is a sinister presence within the group--a man some say drinks blood and never, ever dies. It’s an outlandish, heinous theory, but then suspicions are bolstered by rumors of a card-carrying vampire hunter who is also pursuing Peale. All too soon, Houseman finds himself scrambling to track a vampire--before he kills again.
The prime suspect, Dan Peale, is a sinister presence within the group--a man some say drinks blood and never, ever dies. It’s an outlandish, heinous theory, but then suspicions are bolstered by rumors of a card-carrying vampire hunter who is also pursuing Peale. All too soon, Houseman finds himself scrambling to track a vampire--before he kills again.
October 24, 2017
I loved the first three Harstad books several years ago and really liked them. However in the intervening years my tolerance for bad language has disappeared or Harstad has followed the new fashion of adding vulgarity. I didn't get beyond page 20 before dumping the book.
February 12, 2018
Enjoyable
I really enjoy the Carl Houseman series, if you’re from Iowa the location of fictional Nation county may drive you a little
Nuts, but he’s a likable character and the books. Are enable reads.
I really enjoy the Carl Houseman series, if you’re from Iowa the location of fictional Nation county may drive you a little
Nuts, but he’s a likable character and the books. Are enable reads.
September 29, 2020
Former Deputy Sheriff Donald Harstad always delivers the goods when it comes to authentic rural police procedurals. But I really love it when he drops his down to earth midwestern cops into weird situations like he does in this book: a vampire sex cult in north east Iowa.
January 31, 2021
Deputy Carl Houseman is the chief investigator for his rural Iowa department, so he has to deal with the blood, sex, and murder suspects when the sheriff's niece is a victim and staked through the heart as a vampire at the funeral home.
August 4, 2021
Una lettura avvincente, ricca di descrizioni e linguaggio specifico per niente scontati. La storia è interessante e il protagonista coinvolge. Verso i capitoli centrali la storia sembra rallentare leggermente per poi ripartire più interessante di prima. Veramente bello!
November 13, 2018
This book was a little out there for a Donald Harstad book. Still excellent procedurally but not what one has come to expect for Deputy Carl to handle.
May 15, 2020
I’ve enjoyed this series but this one is my least favorite. I still like Carl Houseman the main character. But this one ventured too far in the weird for me. Vampires and sex games.
May 22, 2020
Fun, Drama and Great Read
I'm sad that this is the end of the series. I'll buy the next book Dan writes immediately. Read the first book and you will end up reading them all.
I'm sad that this is the end of the series. I'll buy the next book Dan writes immediately. Read the first book and you will end up reading them all.
April 20, 2021
As he was a an actual policeman, there was alot of tactical information which went on abit. But I enjoyed the story towards the end.
June 1, 2022
Не ми допадна, за мен беше пълна загуба на време, но за любителите на вампири може и да не е така.
May 5, 2025
C'est vrai qu'il est captivant mais vraiment pas ouf je m'attendais à mieux. Plutôt déçu avec une histoire bâclé pour moi.
December 27, 2013
Disclaimer: I tend to assume that any literary or cinematographic work that involves vampires is not suited for adults. For me, vampires, zombies, witches, etc. belong in children's books. There has been one exception to my blanket disdain for the vampire genre: the movie "Let the Right One In", which is about vampires, but in a totally non-adolescent way.
Donald Harstad's "Code 61" involves vampires in rural Iowa, where Carl Houseman is the department's investigator and senior officer of the Nation County sheriff's office. The novel begins with a strange case of a young woman calling sheriff's deputies because "a white man with teeth" peeked at her through the window. Soon, Carl and his team are faced with two deaths with similar neck wounds, one of the victims being the sheriff's niece. The case soon becomes even more bizarre.
I rated Mr. Harstad's two first works, "Known Dead" and "Eleven Days " very highly (4 stars, both reviews are on Goodreads). The author spent 26 years as a deputy in a sheriff's department in Iowa, and in these two books he wrote about things he was familiar with. These books are pure police procedurals with strong emphasis on the procedure. The author does not mention the deputies' private lives at all, and the books read, basically, like police reports.
Unfortunately, in "Code 61" Mr. Harstad tries to add a "human interest" aspect, and it just does not work. Also, the plot has many weak moments; for instance, the deputies' pursuit of the bad guy resembles a bunch of nine-year-olds playing hide and seek, and the appearances of Mr. Chester conveniently further or stop the plot, when needed. The quality of dialogues in the conversation between Carl, Hester, and Harry is dismal. The silliness of the whole vampire shtick does not help. I had to force myself to read the final two chapters, which show the solution of the mystery.
Two stars.
Donald Harstad's "Code 61" involves vampires in rural Iowa, where Carl Houseman is the department's investigator and senior officer of the Nation County sheriff's office. The novel begins with a strange case of a young woman calling sheriff's deputies because "a white man with teeth" peeked at her through the window. Soon, Carl and his team are faced with two deaths with similar neck wounds, one of the victims being the sheriff's niece. The case soon becomes even more bizarre.
I rated Mr. Harstad's two first works, "Known Dead" and "Eleven Days " very highly (4 stars, both reviews are on Goodreads). The author spent 26 years as a deputy in a sheriff's department in Iowa, and in these two books he wrote about things he was familiar with. These books are pure police procedurals with strong emphasis on the procedure. The author does not mention the deputies' private lives at all, and the books read, basically, like police reports.
Unfortunately, in "Code 61" Mr. Harstad tries to add a "human interest" aspect, and it just does not work. Also, the plot has many weak moments; for instance, the deputies' pursuit of the bad guy resembles a bunch of nine-year-olds playing hide and seek, and the appearances of Mr. Chester conveniently further or stop the plot, when needed. The quality of dialogues in the conversation between Carl, Hester, and Harry is dismal. The silliness of the whole vampire shtick does not help. I had to force myself to read the final two chapters, which show the solution of the mystery.
Two stars.
May 30, 2014
My favorite Carl Houseman mystery. No federal agents, no terrorists or right-wing extremists, just heartland blood lust.
Quotes:
"We used the signal code sixty-one to indicate that all radio communication regarding a particular incident be circumspect, and terse. It meant we had either a sensitive matter, or a very serious one, or both. At any rate, it was designed to prevent those with police scanners from becoming well informed."
"The police radio in my car was ominously quiet. That was standard with the imposition of code sixty-one. Only officers can really know the spooky feeling that comes with that particular brand of silence. You know there's something really bad ..."
"You do that. Well, I do that. When I'm alone with a freshly dead person. Nerves, I guess. Spooked, or getting that way. That, and it always seems such an intrusion, especially when they're in such a vulnerable position. I always get self-conscious and kind of embarrassed. I have to look at parts of them they'd never let me see if they were alive. And I take photos, to boot. So I try to verbally reassure them."
"She pushed over a list. 'These are crime in Iowa and Wisconsin and Minnesota involving the 'ingestion of blood from unwilling victims.' Or so they say.'"
Quotes:
"We used the signal code sixty-one to indicate that all radio communication regarding a particular incident be circumspect, and terse. It meant we had either a sensitive matter, or a very serious one, or both. At any rate, it was designed to prevent those with police scanners from becoming well informed."
"The police radio in my car was ominously quiet. That was standard with the imposition of code sixty-one. Only officers can really know the spooky feeling that comes with that particular brand of silence. You know there's something really bad ..."
"You do that. Well, I do that. When I'm alone with a freshly dead person. Nerves, I guess. Spooked, or getting that way. That, and it always seems such an intrusion, especially when they're in such a vulnerable position. I always get self-conscious and kind of embarrassed. I have to look at parts of them they'd never let me see if they were alive. And I take photos, to boot. So I try to verbally reassure them."
"She pushed over a list. 'These are crime in Iowa and Wisconsin and Minnesota involving the 'ingestion of blood from unwilling victims.' Or so they say.'"
October 24, 2012
c2002: FWFTB: mansion, Mississippi, neck, residents, Sheriff. The reasons I selected this book were really profound - it takes place in Iowa. (Go Hawks!). It was also recommended as a good example of a modern crime novel. It is very procedural with straight-to-the-point dialogue. I know this is a 3rd outing for Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman so perhaps that is why I felt that I really didn't get to know him to well whilst the characterisation of the FBI Special Agent Hester Gorse did develop really well. The plot was unusual and was so un-hyped that it felt, to me, that it was based on a real case. I hope not though!! So, all in all, I agree with the blurb by Arena - "Harstad's first-hand experience ensures his storytelling always rings true. The only small niggle was that on P314, Harry mentions Royal Daulton"). Not just once either. I am sure this is supposed to be Royal Doulton - perhaps this was just a joke? Oh dear. " "Harry nudged me in the ribs. "You get to investigate them? I wanna work in Iowa." Me too please!!
September 10, 2007
Harstaad, Donald – Code Sixty-One –VG
Carl Houseman, primary detective for the Nation County Sheriff's Department, is called out to the apparent suicide of his boss's niece. After a careful crime scene investigation and a thorough autopsy, it is clear that Edie Younger could not have cut her own throat. The wound is very similar to that of a young man found dead in nearby Wisconsin. To complicate matters, the dead man's girlfriend had reported seeing a vampire-like creature outside her window. As Houseman and Iowa State Special Agent Hester Gorse grapple with people who actually believe that one of them is a real vampire, the story becomes a picture-perfect police procedural.
House of young people, one of whom is killed by a “vampire.” Harstaad writes wonderful police procedurals whose characters are very “real”; an obvious result of his many years’ of police experience.
Carl Houseman, primary detective for the Nation County Sheriff's Department, is called out to the apparent suicide of his boss's niece. After a careful crime scene investigation and a thorough autopsy, it is clear that Edie Younger could not have cut her own throat. The wound is very similar to that of a young man found dead in nearby Wisconsin. To complicate matters, the dead man's girlfriend had reported seeing a vampire-like creature outside her window. As Houseman and Iowa State Special Agent Hester Gorse grapple with people who actually believe that one of them is a real vampire, the story becomes a picture-perfect police procedural.
House of young people, one of whom is killed by a “vampire.” Harstaad writes wonderful police procedurals whose characters are very “real”; an obvious result of his many years’ of police experience.
June 4, 2015
What at first appears to be a suicide may just turn out to be murder. And could vampires exist in rural Iowa? This has really been a great series for a mystery fan like myself. While not full of twists and turns throughout the plot like some, these are more of a straight police procedural type. If that makes any sense at all. Basically we follow a senior officer with a rural sheriff's department as he works a case from the beginning to the conclusion. I do kind of dread reading the next in the series as I see it was published in 2003 and I do not see any volumes in the series after that. I guess all good things have to end some where.
October 20, 2012
My favourite of the series so far. Thought it was going to get a bit silly with the vampire theme but far from it. Love the style of writing & a real page turner despite what some might consider a slow moving plot. The characters and writing just carry me along. I'm only sad that there's only 1 more book in this series to read and he hasn't had any of his further books published as far as I can tell. More please!
September 26, 2016
I did not really enjoy this book, because it was just really confusing to me and I did not understand what was going in some of the time. It also didn't really catch my interest. I started reading it thinking that is would be a book about zombies or something, but it was about vampires and stuff. I didn't finish all of the book, I got to page like 52 and if I wasn't interested there I figured I wouldn't get very interested at all going on in the book.
January 9, 2009
Without a doubt, one of the most exciting crime/mystery/police books I've ever read. Wow--the story moves quickly, is full of unexpected twists, and details of police procedures. Donald Harstad is a retired sheriff and the details ring true in his novels.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews