May need to read the first novel first

I didn't know that this was the second novel and that the characters were introduced in another story. I think that this would have helped me like this novel more. I found that the characters stories weren't connected enough. Instead it felt like separate stories about different people who just happened to live in the same town. I don't think the missing Rauri Paar was enough of a connecting link for everyones story. Maybe that was the point of the story? To discuss each persons life and how living in the Laurentian Divide impacts that. It was an interesting read, but I will give away the book, and don't know if I would recommend it to anyone unless they read the first one or unless this type of story was something they liked.