Rating: 
Summary: Better than most other mysteries, but not Hillerman's best.
Review:
I'd been waiting for the new Leaphorn and Chee novel for a long time. This is NOT my favorite in the series; however, it
is still a thinking person's novel that happens to evolve
around a murder mystery and the conflicts between the cultures
of the American West.
The strength of the novel is the development of the two central
characters, Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police and Joe
Leaphorn, his former boss-now retired. There are, however, a
few too many obvious plot devices for this reader to rate this
as highly as some of the other Hillerman novels. I'd picked out the probable guilty party relatively early on--in both the
main plot and one of the sub-plots. And the scene in which
Chee is shot seems formulaic--the sort of formulaic touch of violence
that I have come to associate with certain other novelists.
(E.g., In a Dick Francis novel, you know the protagonist
is going to be shot or beaten up at least once--with sort of
noble, non-life-threatening consequences, usually with a semi-heroic
endeavor a few pages later. Chee's shooting is not quite that formulaic, but it's as close to that as I've seen in a Hillerman
novel.)
The relationship between Anglo and Navajo cultures is not handled as deftly
as in some of the earlier novels. For example, Chee's half-Anglo
half-Navajo love interest seems a less well-developed character
than she has in some of the other novels. And one key similarity
between Leaphorn, Chee, and one of the Anglo characters struck me
as under-developed, thereby making part of the ending seem less
than satisfying.
The book also appears to be the
least well-edited of Hillerman's--one character's
name replaces another at a key point, and certain phrases of speech
are repeated exactly a couple of times.
But because of the characters of Chee and Leaphorn, I was willing
to overlook all this and enjoy the novel. Both are terrific fictional characters. I was sorry to see the
book end--I wanted to stay with Chee and observe the next chapters
in his life.
In short, if you have not read Hillerman before,
start with one of his earlier Chee and Leaphorn novels.
After you have become interested in these two characters,
come back to this novel for the latest chapter in their story. If you are already a Hillerman fan, fear not, the characters are strong
enough to make this a solid, above-average read.
Rating: 
Summary: An easy read for Hillerman fans
Review: After all this time Hillerman's characters seem
like long lost friends and this tale was a nice
visit with them. The formula seems to show in
this work, with the dialog more spare, I think, than some of Hillerman's other works. He goes light on the tribal custom and desert atmospherics that make some of the preceding books so enjoyable. I recommend waiting for the paperback.
Rating:
Summary: Two navajo tribal police that try to solve an old case.
Review: Although this is the first Hillerman book I have read, I was very shocked by the way the book began thoughout its development to the way it ended. The story its self is excellent with a ouitstanding plot. What could be more interesting then two Navajo Tribal Police (one an active policeman and one retired) try to solve a missing person case that is eleven years old. The plot was well developed but often two choppy to follow. I mean the Hillerman went from one extreme to the other. I really enjoyed the development of Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, both were realy ture to their characters. Chee the younger of the two is caught up with his people and his girlfriend (Janet Pete) and Leaphorn is the older one with the experience and smarts. Although I found the book to be a little confusing, I really couldn't put it down once I began to read. I was to excited to find out the answer to the case. The book was really good to the ending when I really counldn't figure out who the culprit was. Once again, this is the first Hillerman book I ever read so I can't compare to other books of his but I would recommend this book to others. Overall I enjoyed The Fallen Man and I will continue to read Tony Hillerman.
Rating:
Summary: Aggravating editing errors and logic problems disappoint!
Review: Beginning around page 201 (describing the action when Chee is shot) Chee is in his pickup truck, then it's his police car, truck, police car. Very aggravating! Then in the same pages Hillerman makes the classic error for a crime writer (and a western writer)-- he confuses a revolver with an automatic. There's also an obvious logic problem with the man left to die up on Shiprock -- a shout can be heard a long way in quiet country, and Shiprock isn't that isolated. Also, Hillerman has a recurring problem with his exaggerated distances -- it's only about 100 miles at most from Canyon de Chelly to Shiprock, not 300. Still, if you need some good southwest escapism on the subway, Fallen Man will get you there.
Rating: 
Summary: compelling mystery, sense of place, environmental bent
Review: Fallen Man is a real page turner that invites thoughts about man's place in nature and our society's use and misuse of our natural world, the source of our economy. The contrast between the way our society interacts with nature and the way that Native American culture viewed and treated the earth is marked and thought provoking. The characters are interesting and fun to spend time with. The sense of place is strong. I will be giving this book to my father ( a resident of the Southwest) for a Father's Day gift.
Rating:
Summary: The four corners at its best!
Review: I am always struck with the descriptive beauty Hillerman manages to bring to his narratives, and this edition upholds his tradition. The scene involving the oncoming storm was so real I felt a chill enter my room. Again Hillerman kept me guessing until the very end as to what the motive was, and whodunit. My only disappointment was that Hillerman didn't finish the book. After so much detail on rustling, all we get in the end is a small paragraph on the perp being caught. Come on Tony you can do better, or is this just a teaser for the next one?
Rating:
Summary: I wait patiently each year for a new Hillerman book!
Review: I cannot get enough of Chee and Leaphorn.
Tony Hillerman cannot write fast enough for this reader.
I try to slowly read his books, but I read faster and faster as the climax builds, and then I am without a Hillerman book until another year!
Rating: 
Summary: Torturous
Review: I don't know how I was able to refrain myself from tossing this book into my fireplace. It was full of inconsistencies and thoroughly boring. One star is being generous.
Rating:
Summary: It's good but it's not the best
Review: I found this book confusing
Rating:
Summary: A Charlie Chan, Number One Son relationship?
Review: I look forward to the next Jim Chee/Joe Leaphorn novel like a five-year old looks forward to Christmas. Jim Chee is studying to be a shaman, and in the early novels, LISTENING WOMAN, THE SKINWALKERS, we get to look over his shoulders and learn about the various Navajo rituals, the most interesting of which is the skinwalker ceremony. You see, the Navajo believe in ghosts. They believe that the living can be inhabited by the spirit of the dead. Many of the old timers go so far as to burn down their hogans when there's a death. Logically then, according to a Navajo, anyone who, say, commits a murder or molests a child must have been inhabited by this evil spirit, hence the name skinwalkers.
Almost as interesting as the rituals is the vast scope of the reservation. In THE FALLEN MAN a man has been murdered on sacred Ship Rock, seventeen hundred feet above the desert floor. To make matters worse, he isn't found for another eleven years.
Joe Leaphorn, newly retired and at a loss for something to occupy his time, connects the skeletal bones to another murder, that of an old canyon guide, shot down by a sniper. Jim Chee, an acting lieutenant in this one, has a father/son relationship with Leaphorn. Chee wants to look good in Leaphorn's eyes, but he always seems to mess up somehow. Leaphorn is Charlie Chan to Chee's Number One Son. Leaphorn is taciturn, Chee more volatile. Leaphorn mourns his dead wife; Chee has more woman trouble than a gynecologist.
I know Tony Hillerman is getting older (he's in his seventies now, I guess), but I wish he'd find a little bit more time to write. I've been reduced to reading some of the Hillerman clones and they just don't measure up.
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