Rating: 
Summary: This book stinks
Review: I thought that the book was very boring and was really uninteresting. It started out o.k. I guess but after that it just started to drag on and wasn't interesting at all. I wouldn't recommend this book if you are looking for an exciting mystery, this isn't the book for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable mystery, well-paced, with good characters
Review: Acting Lieutenant Jim Chee believes he has an open and shut murder case when he catches a known poacher standing over the dying body of a fellow policeman. What he doesn't know is that his former boss, the now-retired Joe Leaphorn, has been hired by an elderly woman to locate her missing niece, a specialist in infectious diseases who went missing on the same day and in the same area as the murder. Are the two instances related? Does this have anything to do with the death, from bubonic plague, of an Indian man? As leads narrow and evidence (or lack of it) accumulates, Chee and Leaphorn come together once again to solve another baffling case. Hillerman's greatest attribute seems to be his ability to make the Southwest come alive. As much as the characters, the terrain and landscape seem to dictate the tone and feel of the story. The Navajo reservation, with its sacred mountains and endless skies, provides most of the backdrop for the tale. After producing numerous books featuring the Chee and Leaphorn characters, Hillerman writes them as if they were his oldest friends, with a familiarity and ease that make the reader instantly get a sense of who they are and how they think and feel. Chee and Leaphorn go back a long way, and their relationship is as much father-son as anything else. The supporting characters are better than one would expect, though their development is minimal. Some of them seem to have been around for other books, so long-time readers may be more familiar with them than newcomers, but Hillerman works hard to make sure that the reader becomes acquainted with each one. Most interesting are the relationships between Chee and Leaphorn and their would-be or past love interests, who crop up in the story. Violence is minimal, as is rough language. No sexual content to speak of. Hillerman's familiarity with Navajo and Hopi traditions make for some good background material, and do help explain the motivations and beliefs of many of the characters-and play a part in the eventual resolution. The book unfolds at a leisurely pace, with occasional bursts of energy. There are a few plot holes, and the ultimate fate of the culprit is left hanging (though there is some irony in what does happen to him/her).
Rating:
Summary: You can see the Hillerman pattern
Review: Because this is my first access to Tony Hillerman I can tell you of the worth of this story without having to compare to earlier works. This was a recording Preformed by George Guidall. I was going for the story. That is why I buy book. However I understand that many people buy Hillerman for the ambiance. I found enough supporting information to make this story stand alone with out having to have a broad background from earlier books. I found the mystery well designed and the characters well rounded. I have traveled in the locations mentioned in the book. However I only recognize a few of the place names. Probably if I was more familiar with the people of that regain I would have picked up on other things implied and described. I did however recognize the SanFransisco Mountains and Shiprock. The big recognition shocker was the reference to the Navaho Taco. Last time I was at Mesa Verde they were five dollars. Too bad that the story was narrated by George Guidall. (He has played leading roles on Broadway,) as he does not have a western accent. He distracted from the story. Better still I would have sounded better if the narrator had really been an Indian. This book stands alone yet makes you want to start the series.
Rating: 
Summary: After reading "the Blessing Way" I couldn't wait to read
Review: another Hillerman novel. This was an interesting story, but didn't provide the typical "Hillerman" narrative about the traditions of the native Indians. But, if you're a true fan, you'll probably enjoy it and hope for another like the first.
Rating:
Summary: Read the early ones!
Review: Read the early ones -- "Blessing Way" and so forth. They are wonderful -- funny, suspenseful, warm, and very visual -- with interesting depictions of Navajo life. The later ones attempt to deal with Big Issues and have somehow lost most of the warmth, humor, team interaction amongst the police -- and the local and cultural color. ...and this is definitely not one to read when eating!
Rating: 
Summary: Hillerman needs to visit Northern Arizona
Review: Having been a resident of Flagstaff, and happening to live there when this book came out, I was sorely disappointed to read Hillerman's erroneous descriptions of the area. There is no bistro east of Flagstaff. The only thing east of Flagstaff before Winslow is the Winona Texaco and Meteor Crater and a lot of juniper bushes and dirt. And the route that Leaphorn and his lady friend, the "professor," take from Cameron to Tuba City in one chapter is impossible to take because it does not exist! Any road atlas would confirm this. I now wonder how many of his other books have as many glaring errors as this one. This was a real letdown.
Rating: 
Summary: Possibly the best
Review: Not only the mystery was interesting, but the characters of Chee and Leaphorn really came alive. Am looking forward to the next one to pickup the story on these two men.
Rating:
Summary: First Time Reader
Review: I enjoyed this Tony Hillerman novel. I really enjoyed the information about Native Americans. I think I would like to read other Hillerman novels and his non-fiction works.
Rating:
Summary: First Eagle
Review: I can't agree with those who sound disappointed in this book by Hillerman. I think it may have been a little more difficult to compeletly understand because following the technical description about the difference between the bubonic plague, the hantavirus, and the three varieties of viruses that generate these plagues took perhaps more effort than in some of his previous books. It was an excellent mystery, but perhaps some were also disappointed in the fact that it took less understanding of the navajo ways and myth than his other books, and relied instead on more understanding of the biological and medical nature of the two plagues and the ways of white society. All in all, as mysteries go, I'd rate this a top notch one. I don't think it would be fair to penalize his writing because it isn't exactly like his other excellent books.
Rating:
Summary: Another Great Hillerman Book
Review: After reading this (or any other Hillerman book), you will want to read them all. Everything I have read of Hillerman's (including non-fiction) has been well worth reading. If you like this, you would probably also enjoy Judith A. Jance's "Hour of the Hunter" and her Joanna Brady books. Also, check out the Glynis Tryon novels by Miriam Grace Monfredo.
| 
