Rating: 
Summary: (Based on a) True Story
Review: Hey readers out there. I just looked this book up because the November 24 edition of the Los Angeles Times ran the true amazing story of this incident. I guess now I'll have to read the book. When I do I'll come back with my review. You can get the LA Times on-line.
Rating:
Summary: Just what You would expect from Chee and Leaphorn
Review: I started reading Tony Hillerman 2 years ago because of a review I read here at Amazon.com. "Fallen Man" was highly praised for painting vivid word pictures of the Four Corners countryside. When I started I had never heard of the Navajo Tribal Police and did not know an area call "four corners" existed outside of the center intersection of Bowling Green, OH. What a delightful surprise the Hillerman book turned out to be and continues to be. In these days of fast action and superficial characters and violence for violence sake, The Chee and Leaphorn stories are a welcome change. Why? The pictures of the Arizona/New Mexico countryside that Hillerman enables my imagination to conjure up are mind boggling. Having never been to the area I could only picture in my head the sunsets over the mountains, the cold snow swirling across the lonely roads, the storms raising across the plains. These pictures forced me to visit the area last summer - and I was not disappointed. The Indian traditions are deeply related in detail. Why the Navajos live like they do, act like they act and their views on the rest of us non-indians were truly amazing revelations. Finally the relationship of Chee and Leaphorn of the Navojo Tribal Police. After reading most of the books I feel like Chee is a brother or classmate and Leaphorn is my older wise uncle. Some why am I telling you all this in a review of this book? Because Hillerman continues the process in Hunting Badger. Nothing flashy, no pulse stopping ending, just a story about Chee and Leaphorn and Chee's perhaps new love interest - Sgt Manuelito and some criminals set in one of the most beautiful parts of the United States. More traditions, more scenery and more insight into the two main characters. Another good NTP yarn.
Rating: 
Summary: The climax is missing
Review: The book seemed to be building toward an exciting climax. The story had been so predictable, surely there would be a surprising twist at the end as well. But no. No exciting climax, no surprise ending. I put the book down and made a wry face. What could Tony Hillerman have been thinking, I wondered. Was he trying to rush the book into print in time for the holiday book-buying crowds? Was he just looking for an excuse to poke fun at the FBI? Even Chee's romantic entanglements seemed a bit dull this time. Definitely not one of Hillerman's best.
Rating:
Summary: Chee and Leaphorn make a good team!
Review: I've read all of Hillerman's series showcasing Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. I've not been disappointed in any of the stories, including the latest. Hillerman's characters are now so familiar to me that I fall right into their 'Navajo Time' rhythm and feel at home in their part of the world. To me, the plots/crimes are almost secondary to learning about the wise Leaphorn and the hungry for knowledge Chee. I'll continue to read Hillerman for as long as he writes. With characters like these, he will never run out of good plot lines. P.S. I like the new love interest in Chee's life. Janet Peete was never right for him.... Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Comfortable (but average) story
Review: When the Amazon box containing a copy of "Hunting Badger" arrived the day after the publisher released it, I knew I was in for a good read. Tony Hillerman didn't disappoint me. But he also didn't thrill me. Having read all his previous mysteries, I'd conclude that "Hunting Badger" would place somewhere near the bottom of the pile if I were to rank them according to my enjoyment. This novel felt a bit "flat". No real tension, no true mystery, no exploration of the Navajo culture that has become his trademark. No offense, but even Jim Chee's cat didn't stick around for the entire tale.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Hillerman hit
Review: Hillerman has written another great book. I read it in just a couple of sittings and it was hard to put down. Chee is back where he belongs as a sargeant and Leaphorn is, well, Leaphorn. It seemed a well thought out story with Hillerman's usual great writing. Some plot twists but I did get the "right" bad guy before the end of the story. He is building the relationships in the book, Chee and Bernie and Joe and Louisa. To me, this is a good thing. Note to Tony, let them both be happy with someone. Chee has had enough girl friends and it has been too long for Leaphorn since he lost his wife. My opinion is that this book deserves 5 stars. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent as usual
Review: One year has passed since Navaho Reservation police Sergeant Jim Cheer participated in a FBI-directed hunt of two cop killers. However, though numerous law enforcement organizations joined the search, the suspects were never caught. Jim hated the incident, as the rival police teams seemed to trip over one another in their efforts to be the hero. Jim's wishes to never work with the FBI ever again when he hears three commandos attacked and robbed a casino on the Ute Reservation. One cop is dead and another seriously injured. Evidence points to the culprits hiding in the same vicinity as that of last year's killers. Against his own desires, Jim, accompanied by retired officer Joe Leaphorn, joins the latest manhunt. HUNTING BADGER is the great Tony Hillerman at his awesome best. By interweaving Navaho and Ute myths and history into a modern day story line, Mr. Hillerman teaches and entertains his audience. Adding to the warm feeling emitted by the delicious plot is the return of cherished friends. Mr. Hillerman is a sure thing to provide enticing, pleasurable reading experiences and this latest triumph adds luster to his lofty reputation. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: A different kind of hero
Review: Once again, Tony Hillerman uses his excellent knowledge of the ways and beliefs of the Navajo and other southwestern Indian peoples to craft a mystery that is at once engaging and educational. His frequent digs at the lumbering "Federal Bureau of Incompetence" are softened by his revelations of the guys working in the agency, trying to do their job under constant oversight from the politicians and bureaucrats in Washington. But what really makes his work stand out is that his people, good and bad, come across as real people. If you've never read a Tony Hillerman book, this is one you will either love or hate, and if you hate it I pity you. If you're a Hillerman fan, then this is good, solid Hillerman, neither his best nor his least. But then I've never read one of his books I didn't like!
Rating:
Summary: Bernadette Manuelito #2
Review: As a preface to this review, let me toss a little of Joe Leaphorn's order into the universe of Tony Hillerman. First, there were three Joe Leaphorn novels, then three Jim Chee novels, then two pairs of three Leaphorn and Chee novels. Hunting Badger is the second of the Bernadette Manuelito novels. Whereas The First Eagle spends the majority of the time in the heads of its characters, Hunting Badger spends a mix of time between the internal landscape of the character's minds and the physical landscape of the Four Corners region. The crime: a ripoff at the casino on the Ute reservation. A manhunt ensues that involves all the usual law enforcement agencies, Chee, Leaphorn, Cowboy Dashee, Officer Bernie Manuelito, Professor Louisa Bourebonette [the mythology prof and Leaphorn's lady friend], and to my relief, the red rock canyons of Indian Country. To my delight, this novel involved some mining geology [my training in college]. I'm glad to see the southwestern landscape return as a major player in Hunting Badger, after sitting way in the background of The First Eagle. The First Eagle wasn't a bad book, but its lack of red rock made it a lesser Hillerman novel. As old characters continue to evolve and new characters come to the fore in Tony Hillerman's Navajo novels, I hope the physical landscape continues to provide the sturdy base that it always has.
Rating:
Summary: 'Hunting Badger'--Hillerman in top form!
Review: In "Hunting Badger," Tony Hillerman's continuation of the Lt. Joe Leaphorn
and Jim Chee mystery, the author once more captures, with vivid description,
riveting detail, exciting plot, and superb characterization, life on and about the
Navajo reservation. Leaphorn and Jim Chee team up once again to solve a crime in the Four Corners
canyons. Hillerman takes a real-life crime (In 1998 three "survivalists" steal a truck,
murder a policeman, and then disappear. The FBI and other law organizations fail
in their investigations.) and adapts it to his own fictional form. He does so,
upholding once more his reputation as one of the most exciting writers around. His
"police procedural" is in a unque--and original setting--in the middle of the Navajo
nation. "Hunting Badger" takes us in and around and through the ins and outs of that area
before finally climaxing in triumph for Leaphorn and Chee, not to mention
Hillerman. This is perhaps his most suspenseful book in some time. It's good to
read Hillerman when he's in top form and this edition fully lives up to his
reputation! (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)
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