Rating: 
Summary: Marvelous addition to an already superb series
Review: Contrary to a number of reviewers, I found Hillerman's newest novel one to be one of the most enjoyable in this great series. There is lean, spare prose here but no lack of detail or sense of mood. Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn are characters we have come to know well, and it is fascinating to see Leaphorn attempt to adjust to life outside the police force, to see Chee come to grips with his new administrative responsibilities. They both, in their separate ways, must deal with getting older as well as new and past relationships. I found their complex interactions with the women in their lives to be very compelling reading: Chee's turmoil over his precarious relationship with Janet Peete, Joe Leaphorn's new attachment to a very fascinating, independent woman while at the same time continuing to mourn his late wife. I have read and reread all of Hillerman's works with great pleasure, and "The First Eagle" stands in the company of the very best in this impressive series.
Rating: 
Summary: The excellent, continuing story of the 4 corners region.
Review: Once again, Tony Hillerman has captures his audience as his characters try to make sense out of confusion. Caught in life's personal turmoil, Chee and Leaphorn struggle for answers to unasked questions while trying to solve a crime. Mr Hillerman educates us about the complexities of life, relationships and science in the seemingly remote 4 Corners region where struggle for a simple existence seems to conflict with the need to understand complex problems. Good twists and turns.
Rating: 
Summary: To little too fast.
Review: I am sorry to say it but Hillerman tried to put something together with bits and pieces and they just don't hold together. Relationships are started, or restarted, and then the reader is given to little additional information to flesh out what the author is trying to convey. Where he realy missed the boat is not in developing the relationships between the Hopi and Navajo. Also much more about the Hopi and their culture would have made the book much more enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: As always, Hillerman is the best!!!
Review: This book was impossible to put down. It is yet another example of how subjects thoroughly researched can be of interest to more than just the author. Thank you, Mr. Hillerman.
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been better
Review: Every Hillerman book for me is an opportunity to revisit my friendship with Jim Chee, and Lt. Leaphorn, or in this case both of them together again. Having spent some time in the four corners area of Arizona, I look forward to his description of not only the culture, but also the natural environment. The fact that he combines these with a good detective yarn, is icing on the cake. Unfortunately "The First Eagle" is not up to his normally high standards. The interweaving of Chee and Leaphorn seems to be more of separate story lines rather than the meshing of each of these normal detective skills and styles. The addition of the female "relationship" characters in this story seems to be forced and their relationship to their "men" is undeveloped and uninspiring.The normally rich descriptions of the Hopi and Navaho cultures and environs are only lightly touched on. In the past Hillerman would have described in greater detail the religious implications to the Hopi of the Eagle, and not just brush it off as being "secrectative to the HOPI religion". The decriptions of the land are as slim as the book itself and lack the normal punch that Hillerman gives them. Unfortunately we say goodbye to Chee's Uncle only in passing. This shaman who has given Chee so much of his character and personality just slips away in the story line. The end of the mystery left me asking for more, more understanding of the motive, of why Officer Kinsman machosisms with Officer Benito and Catherine Pollard are even brought up in the first place. If it is to lead us on a red herring, the effect is lost when that story line is dropped halfway thru the book. Lets hope that Hillerman's next book rises to his normally exceptional standards.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent continuation of the Navaho/Hopi sagas.
Review: Hillerman has done it again! He combines a wonderful knowledge of Native American values and traditions with an ability to describe the country around Tuba City/Flag. I talked to two epidemeologists who have read the book and loved it -- since the unique "slant" of this book is about plague and such. Have a great read -- and we'll wait for the next release!
Rating:
Summary: Hillerman does it again.
Review: A wonderful book. Like all of Hillerman's books I read it in one sitting. If you are familar with the Nation you will find three geographic mistakes. Look for them its part of the fun in reading the book.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to par with past Chee and Leaphorn stories.
Review: I felt a bit cheated. Details missing. A rather boring story. I'm hoping that the pressure put upon Mr. Hillerman by his fans to produce more and more Chee and Leaphorn will not result in more loss of quality. Chee must get on with his life and find someone else. Leaphorn deserves a lovelife and he and the new lady could become topnotch private investigators!
Rating:
Summary: I eagerly anticipated this book and was disappointed.
Review: This book was not up to the standards I have come to expect in Tony Hillerman's Chee and Leaphorn series. The plot was convoluted and yet uninteresting and formulaic. Chee and Leaphorn in previous books had appealing personal characteristics. In this book, all the characters were ho-hum.
Rating:
Summary: Another good story but errors get in the way.
Review: As with Mr. Hillerman's other Leaphorn/Chee books, I enjoyed the story, his references to Navajo culture and his trademark descriptions of the weather patterns over Navajo/Hopi country. I was disappointed, though, at the number of both factual errors and errors of continuity. After catching the first couple of mistakes, I found myself paying more attention to looking for them than to following the plot, I'm sorry to say. Most factual errors involved what he had his biologists doing and saying, which I imagine wouldn't matter to most readers, but there were some others that will jump out at anyone familiar with the area. Just one example: He has Joe Leaphorn and his friend looking through the windshield at the San Francisco Peaks, which are actually south of Cameron, Arizona, while driving north from Cameron to Tuba City. This won't keep me from reading anything and everything Hillerman gets into print, but I do hope he gets more competent help in copy editing next time. This book strikes me as being a rush job on the publisher's part.
| 
