A sequel to Suomalaiset: People of the Marsh Munger's Latest Finnish Epic is a Triumph: (The) research that went into Sukulaiset and its prequel is mind-boggling. In the hands of a less talented writer, the book might come across as a...dry history lesson...(But) Munger has a gift for couching history in everyday details and writing natural-sounding, engaging dialog...How a busy district court judge finds time to write tomes like Sukulaiset...is a mystery. But it's a good thing for Duluth, Finnish people, and lovers of history. --Maureen Maloney, Budgeteer News (8/24/2014). As he did in Suomalaiset, Munger not only provides illuminating historical background, he also brings us into the minds and hearts of the central characters. And that cast of characters is compelling, to say the least...(W)e also get page turning tension as the book s protagonists endure incredible hardship or tangle with inner demons or fall in (or out of) love or discover their own surprising strengths and weaknesses...Munger, who is not of Finnish ancestry, does a masterful job of capturing the essence of the Finnish character. It is also quite clear that he invested prodigious research into Finnish and Estonian history... A preeminent contemporary writer, E.L. Doctorow, might just as well have been describing Munger s latest book when he said, "The historian can tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like". --Davis Helberg, New World Finn (Oct/Nov 2014) In beautiful winter Finnish forests and on the centuries-old streets of Estonian towns the magnificent story of love and rivalry, war and peace, separation and reunion unfolds. The characters are often based on real people, and that is why a reader follows their lives with a heart trembling and with full immersion into their dramas and tragedies. This rich, detailed and easy-to-read historical fiction is a perfect book both for those who are interested in the history of Finland, Estonia, and the Finnish-American migrant diaspora from the 1930s to the 1940s, and for those who are curious to learn something about this history. Although Mark Munger is neither a Finn nor Estonian himself, he writes about Finland and Estonia with both skill, knowledge and understanding. The novel is not only a story of the Finnish and Estonian characters battles and hardships, but also of their feelings, strengths and weaknesses which they discover and rediscover during the hard times. An inspiring book... --Roman Kushnir, Migration Magazine (01/2015) Mark Munger is a life-long resident of Northeastern Minnesota. Mark, his wife, René live on the banks of the wild and scenic Cloquet River north of Duluth. When not writing fiction, Mark enjoys hunting, fishing, skiing, and reading good books.