Rating: 
Summary: "Jaws of the Forest"; a novel of nail-biting suspense
Review: Diana Jackman, wife and mother, carries a haunting secret that troubles her marriage and eventually endangers her life. She has a recurring dream of chasing a wounded deer through winter woods. In time the dream takes on such great detail and intensity of feeling that it turns from dream to premonition. Her increasingly obsessed state of mind and her threatened relationship with her children, moves her to seek answers in the mystery of her native Indian past and the wisdom that she suspects lies buried somewhere in the wilderness. Setting out with bow and arrow, and a rusty but reliable sense of tracking knowledge learned from the Shamans, she resolves to embark on a quest to find her soul. Little does she know that in deciding to join a hunting party on an isolated estate in the Canadian woods, she would discover the answers to her life by coming face to face with a death stalking serial killer. In the final "hunt" she begins to suspect that the wounded deer in her dream may be herself. "Purification Ceremony" is a taut thriller that combines page-turning action and suspense with breath-taking atmosphere. It could easily have been called "Jaws of the Forest" as the beauty of a winter wood is turned into a bloody run for life. I recommend it highly both for heart-pounding action, as well as for a deeper message for the soul that promises to linger on in the reader's mind and heart even if the rest of the story is forgotten
Rating:
Summary: Totally awesome suspense !
Review: Enough said by other people, though I wish to mention this is a very good book which took me only 2 days to finish. Very well written suspense. It's even good to read for non-americans, like me (Dutch).
Rating: 
Summary: Numbing amounts of deer hunting, cookie-cutter people
Review: Gosh, I usually love adventure/suspense reads, but this one just couldn't grab my interest. If the author had put half the effort into characterization that he put into describing the act of hunting a deer, it might have been worth something. All the characters were cookie-cutters except for Diana Jackman and she was so screwed up I thought for a while she was the killer (coulda been a nice twist, parts of her behavior seemed very manic depressive to me). By the time Diana confronts the killer, I didn't even care. Also, I thought it was pretty stupid that the killer is targeting evil deer hunters up north in Canada, when we get about 250,000 deer hunters each fall in Michigan-- they'd have made a hell of a lot more logical target. So the killer stalks some rich hunters way north somewhere white and cold. So it's got an Indian, peyote flavor to it. Go back to the 70's if you still think that's neat. Or better yet, save your money.
Rating: 
Summary: A rewarding, almost spiritual ending to a powerful thriller
Review: Half way through this strong and terrifying novel I thought what a great movie. A rival for Dickie's
"Deliverance". But, as I read on, I came to the realization that the spirit and heart of the character and that of the protagonist and Gaia herself could not be brought forth but by the written word. I had to bring something to this novel and thank God I was able to do so. There is terror and there is high tension. Both the mind and the spirit are in for a ride. Ah, and the ending is truly one of great fulfillment and peace.
Rating: 
Summary: Who is this guy?
Review: I always get suspicious when white people try to write books about Indian characters. It hits home even more when the charcaters are Mi'kmaq (I note that this fact seems to have escaped many of the people that reviewed this book -- they refer to the main character as an "Indian" or "Native American" and never refer to her by her actual nation -- as if all aboriginal peoples of North and South America are the same). While I admire the fact that he did some research into Mi'kmaw spirituality (he seems to sort of understand the moral ambiguity of killing, which is a start), and actually uses some mi'kmaw words, I get the impression that he never spoke to any Mi'kmaq people and relied on books written by other white people to enter into the Mi'kmaw world. I also think that he uses the Mi'kmaq as a convienent tribe in which to place his main character -- he obviously wanted a story that had an Indian woman as a main character, and for some reason made her Mi'kmaw -- perhaps because outside of the Northeast and Maritime Canada no one has heard of them. This shows little regard for the nation, as he takes his character out of the context of the Northeast, thereby revealing his ignorance of contemporary Mi'kmaq culture and the geography of our homeland.
As for his villain, I get the impression that Sullivan has read too much of a certain author that wrote about a Yaqui medicine man who introduced a white dude to 'shrooms and peyote. I wonder if Sullivan himself has ever participated in a peyote ceremony. He's probably used it as a drug to get hallucinations, which is not the same at all and an abuse of a powerful plant.The storyline itself isn't all that bad, nor particularly good, although it is entertaining, if one likes gory quasi-mystical adventures involving Indians (or Native Americans to you PC folks).
Rating:
Summary: Who is this guy?
Review: I always get suspicious when white people try to write books about Indian characters. It hits home even more when the charcaters are Mi'kmaq (I note that this fact seems to have escaped many of the people that reviewed this book -- they refer to the main character as an "Indian" or "Native American" and never refer to her by her actual nation -- as if all aboriginal peoples of North and South America are the same). While I admire the fact that he did some research into Mi'kmaw spirituality (he seems to sort of understand the moral ambiguity of killing, which is a start), and actually uses some mi'kmaw words, I get the impression that he never spoke to any Mi'kmaq people and relied on books written by other white people to enter into the Mi'kmaw world. I also think that he uses the Mi'kmaq as a convienent tribe in which to place his main character -- he obviously wanted a story that had an Indian woman as a main character, and for some reason made her Mi'kmaw -- perhaps because outside of the Northeast and Maritime Canada no one has heard of them. This shows little regard for the nation, as he takes his character out of the context of the Northeast, thereby revealing his ignorance of contemporary Mi'kmaq culture and the geography of our homeland.
As for his villain, I get the impression that Sullivan has read too much of a certain author that wrote about a Yaqui medicine man who introduced a white dude to 'shrooms and peyote. I wonder if Sullivan himself has ever participated in a peyote ceremony. He's probably used it as a drug to get hallucinations, which is not the same at all and an abuse of a powerful plant. The storyline itself isn't all that bad, nor particularly good, although it is entertaining, if one likes gory quasi-mystical adventures involving Indians (or Native Americans to you PC folks).
Rating:
Summary: Curious about the feathers changing as the book went along.
Review: I am curious about the fact that the feather found in Patterson's mouth was a Red Tailed Hawk, but when referenced later in the book it became a raven feather. The feather found in Grover's mouth was an Owl feather, but was later referred to as a raven....did I miss something????? Also, I thought Pawlett was not scalped but when Little Crow got to Ryan's hideout his scalp was there... I loved the book and the story, but am afraid I missed something......
Rating:
Summary: Very good book.
Review: I bought this book without knowing about the author. I am glad I did. The plot is very interesting and except for the last part where I thought it got a little hokey with the killer being able to get everyone else for all that time and then just become human/normal. But it was a good book and I was interested the whole time. It also helped some parts were based in Maine where I am from. All in all I wouldnt tell someone not to buy it. But read it and make your own judgements.
Rating: 
Summary: not too bad
Review: I didn't like the beginnig at all. But I loved the rest of the book. Just great!!
Rating:
Summary: Different and very good thriller
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. READ IT! Recommended!
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