Rating: 
Summary: Enthralling, suspenseful
Review: A book that got me wrapped up in the characters, making me jump at the slightest movement around me, turning and making sure that the mysterious visitor is not beside me. Just had to keep reading till the wee hours of the morning, neglecting my tearing eyes. A well written book full of the rich culture of the Anazazi.
Rating: 
Summary: syrupy
Review: A sappy story about the stereotypically noble Anasazis, who speak woodenly, call each other things like "child" and "nephew", and are amazingly naive about the violent murders taking place among them. Those are the prehistoric characters, who never seem to have any thoughts or even glimmers of an idea. The modern characters, in the parallel plot, are no more real and are only marginally less simplistic. This impresses as a formulaic presentation cranked out as part of a financially successful series.
Rating:
Summary: A Suspenseful Glance At History
Review: A woman screams in the night as her attacker uses what could only be called inhuman force. Where are we?...Central Park in modern New York? No, we're in prehistoric New Mexico with members of the Anasazi in the Gear's latest contribution to Native American fiction, "The Visitant".This book accomplishes two things. One, it presents an excitong detailed murder mystery that leaves you guessing untill the last page. Second, it paints a picture of Native Americans that is less idyllic than most. Essentially, we see a group of prehistoric peoples who suffer from grief and tragedy, just like us. The Gear's accomplish this with copius research and an understanding of the timeless complexity of the human soul...whether it be in 1256 A.D. or present day. The amount of names can become confusing so just make sure you pay attention because you will be rewarded with the final ghostly laughter that made me look over my shoulder. Overall: I can't wait until the next book in the series comes out.
Rating:
Summary: Good? More like great!
Review: After reading many books on the Anasazi, I became more and more interested in them. When I seen this book I bought it instantly. And was I glad I did. It is a great book with a good story telling about a series of murders in ancient time. A very good read, and I look forward to the sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Agree with the two other reviewers who assigned it one star. In addition, I grew weary of the constant, unrelenting use of "long black hair", "huge brown eyes", etc etc. ad nauseum, constant repetition of overused adjectives. Having established in the first few pages that the Anasazi had brown or black eyes, black hair, which they often wore long, it was boring to read the same descriptions over and over again, page after page. Authors did the same in "Summoning God". Where are editors when you need them??
Rating: 
Summary: Spellbound
Review: All of these books keeps the reader of the edge of their seats. I could hardly wait to get to the next page. This is a very good series.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: As an avid Gear fan I must say this book is in no way a disappointment. A wonderful and interesting depiction of life in Anasazi times, I am grateful to all the research done on these books as I'm convinced they lend much to the story. I also enjoyed how the authors used characters from other books as well as using a story from one of the "people" books as part of the Anasazi history. Being a Canadian I also enjoyed Maureen Cole and her uniquely Canadian views...I espically liked the mention of Tim Hortons...I found the Gear's research of "the eastern canadian" to be quite accurate. :)
Rating:
Summary: archaeologists love to read about themselves!
Review: Being an archaeologist it is entertaining to read fictional books about ourselves, which is just what this book presents us with.
It is a tale of ancient murder that is paralled by a modern excavation of the site. Some may be disappointed by the modern chapters of the book; and I can see why, many of the jokes are directed at archaeologists themselves and most likely would not make much sense or have the same impact on those not working in the field.
Archaeologically this book is right on target, the methodology used to excavate as well as the depiction of the Anasazi way of life in the post-Chacoan era is right on target, which should be expected due to the fact that the Gears are archaeologists themselves.
I highly reccommend this novel to both the neophyte to the field as well as the expericenced field archaeologist. It is provacative and an accurate depection of life in chaco canyon after the fall of the great houses.
Rating:
Summary: Egads
Review: Being an avid fan of Anasazi culture as well as of mysteries, I bought this book in the hopes that it would shed some light on that fascinating ancient culture. The horrendous, meaningless back cover copy and equally bland title tipped me right off that it very much would be a "mass market" book--i.e., hastily written for a quick buck and to spawn endless sequels. Unfortunately, I was correct. While the Gears clearly know their archeological stuff and did painstaking research into the "Dawn of the Age of the Katsinas," someone ought to put them out of our misery before letting them actually write another book. Or, more easily done, perhaps a *good* editor could get hold of their next books before they see print and attempt to salvage their mangled prose, cardboard characters, and ridiculously overblown descriptions. Writers like this are the ones who are butchering the English language and inadvertently teaching their readers how *not* to write. Not only the Gears are to blame for this mess: their editor and copyeditor at Tor Books should have caught at least half the mistakes in this shoddily produced work. Any halfway decent editor should have reined in the commas wildly scattered like seeds, words like "forth" meant for "fourth," blatant typos such as "archaeoloical," and outrageously over-the-top descriptions of scenery and actions. A good editor should also have insisted that each character have a distinct voice, whereas these characters all sounded alike; each character should have a distinct name so a tired or confused reader does not mix up them up (Dusty and Dale, Maureen and Maggie/Magpie); character development should have occurred more slowly or more realistically (Dusty hates Maureen with an irrational passion at the start of the novel, which in itself is never really explained to the reader, but then he seems much more at ease with her at the end, with no solid reason given for this switch in the intervening 480 pages); useless "filler" chatter between characters, particularly the modern ones, should have been sliced from this already unwieldy book--if dialogue does not illuminate the character or progress the plot, it is irrelevant and should be excised. I also agree with a previous reviewer that the war chief Browser seemed very wishy-washy and weak. If this is what Anasazi war chiefs were truly like, the authors should have explained that to their mostly layperson audience. However, the female warriors and matrons were spot on--many ancient cultures appreciated and accepted women far more than our more "enlightened" world today. My advice to prospective readers is to forge ahead at your peril. I learned more about Anasazi beliefs and cultural ways, which was really quite interesting. The writing, however, is enough to make me wish an ancient Southwestern witch would spell away the Gears' books forevermore.
Rating:
Summary: Not Enough--Too Much
Review: How to explain my reaction to this book. Well, I wasn't hooked until I was well over 250 pages into it. This is not good for a mystery lover and avid reader. I anticipated a tale as fascinating as The Eye of Horus. The similarities were there--modern day archealogists and anthropologists working to solve the mystery of the Anasazi mass burial site while the story is consecutively being revealed. Unfortunately, the story itself is not compelling, nor the characters. The conclusion lacked...let me think...oh, what is the word I'm looking for...A CONCLUSION. Yes, I know this is just a bridge to the next book, but I don't think I'll be reading it anytime soon.
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