Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing but confusing
Review: "Skull Mantra" offers an interesting look at the shamanic origins of Tibetan Buddhism. If one is open to a departure from what we believe Buddhism is, to how it may actually operate in the Tibetan society, this book shows how otherwise learned men in the spiritual sense, can operate in worlds that allow for a physical manifestation of spirit demons in the modern world. While the book kept my interest, it was not an easy read. Many Chinese and Tibetan terms had to be integrated with a very elaborate plot. The author does not make things easy for the reader. When the protagonist has an insight into what might be happening, the author only informs the reader after a number of pages and other plot manipulations. I did love, however, the ease with which the Tibetan characters could view events on many planes and levels without any of the contradictions that a Westerner may have had. The two American characters seemed superficial and simplistic compared to the workmanlike attitude of the various Asian characters. People accepted their positions matter-of-factly, concentrating their energies on a more spiritual practice that most Americans would find incomprehensible. The cultural attitudes dealing with death in a country where it is difficult to simply bury the dead (the earth is, after all, often frozen and rocky ) are particularly foreign to the Westerner., much like Joel's reaction to the process in Northern Exposure! Interesting setting, fascinating culture, and unfortunately one that may be doomed to death by the destruction of not only the spirit but the land as well! If you like Tony Hillerman or stan Jones, you'll like this if you keep with it!
Rating: 
Summary: A must not read
Review: A must read?!?! I think not!! I gave up after just twelve pages. Yes, it was THAT DULL.
Rating: 
Summary: Rightfully Praised
Review: After coming across some of the negative reviews I felt compelled to write. Having gone through about 1200 or so mysteries/thrillers in my short life, I have probably earned the right to an opinion by now. I don't want to sound elitist, but after a careful appraisal and discussion of this book with others, if you didn't find it at least somewhat engrossing then either a) you're reading the wrong genre, or b) you're not paying enough attention to what you're reading. For a first novel, The Skull Mantra is excellent. Shan is every bit as complex and sympathetic a character as Arkady Renko, Marcus Didius Falco, Ian Rutledge, and Smilla Jasperson (both Gorky Park and Smilla's Sense of Snow are cited on my version of The Skull Mantra as comparable debut novels). Yes, there are some coincidences, but one thing life has taught me is that truth really is stranger than fiction, and when authors forget that, and try to edit their storylines to make things seem more plausible, things can really get dull. The pace is very good, and the dialogue is witty even while being minimalist; there is very little artificial "narration through dialogue" one often encounters while reading fiction in exotic locales. Actually, this may be another reason some reviewers found it confusing. If anything, I personally found Pattison's style more engaging and thought-provoking. The boldness with which Pattison touches on China's exploitation of Tibet is laudable, and his willingness to play with Tibetan and Chinese spiritualism as plot elements only adds to the unpredictability and entertainment. All in all, I found this to be an excellent first novel. Though I haven't yet read any of the sequels, they are now on my "Must Read" list.
Rating:
Summary: Rightfully Praised
Review: After coming across some of the negative reviews I felt compelled to write. Having gone through about 1200 or so mysteries/thrillers in my short life, I have probably earned the right to an opinion by now. I don't want to sound elitist, but after a careful appraisal and discussion of this book with others, if you didn't find it at least somewhat engrossing then either a) you're reading the wrong genre, or b) you're not paying enough attention to what you're reading. For a first novel, The Skull Mantra is excellent. Shan is every bit as complex and sympathetic a character as Arkady Renko, Marcus Didius Falco, Ian Rutledge, and Smilla Jasperson (both Gorky Park and Smilla's Sense of Snow are cited on my version of The Skull Mantra as comparable debut novels). Yes, there are some coincidences, but one thing life has taught me is that truth really is stranger than fiction, and when authors forget that, and try to edit their storylines to make things seem more plausible, things can really get dull. The pace is very good, and the dialogue is witty even while being minimalist; there is very little artificial "narration through dialogue" one often encounters while reading fiction in exotic locales. Actually, this may be another reason some reviewers found it confusing. If anything, I personally found Pattison's style more engaging and thought-provoking. The boldness with which Pattison touches on China's exploitation of Tibet is laudable, and his willingness to play with Tibetan and Chinese spiritualism as plot elements only adds to the unpredictability and entertainment. All in all, I found this to be an excellent first novel. Though I haven't yet read any of the sequels, they are now on my "Must Read" list.
Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking mystery
Review: As a mystery lover, I tend to pigeon-hole myself into the realm of the British mystery. This book, however, is as far from British mystery as can be.... and yet I loved it. Perhaps a new genre can be started by Eliot Pattison - the educational mystery. This book is rich in Tibet and Bhuddist lore, rites, and beliefs. The main character is an imprisoned former investigator who has been called upon to investigate the discovery of a headless corpse. What follows is brilliant story-telling and an amazing exploration of philosophy and religion. The characters are full and fleshed out - avoiding any sort of attachment or being unable to sympathize with the characters is practically impossible. I was very pleased to hear that Pattison is publishing another book featuring the continuing journey of Inspector Shan Tao Yin. An excellent read and incredibly thought provoking and educational.
Rating:
Summary: a sense of place
Review: As a novel, Eliot Pattison's "The Skull Mantra" ranks with "Havana Bay" and "Smilla's sense of Snow." Like them, it is a beautifully written (the best of the three) rendering of an environment beyond the experience of most readers: in this case a penal labor brigade in Tibet filled mainly by monks and administered by Chinese military and political hacks and opportunists. Like them, the book's central character is an immensely interesting, honorable person who has been exiled or marginalized by powerful people. In Pattison's novel, this person is a former investigator of governmental corruption, himself Chinese, who is serving time for being too good at his former job.How he comes to be responsible against all odds for investigating the murder of several Chinese bureaucrats, and how he comes to discover much about the human spirit while doing so, makes a marvelous book. The sense of place and time in "The Skull Mantra" lingers long after Inspector Shan does his job, as do many of the secondary characters in it.
Rating:
Summary: Awful!
Review: As a Tibetan Buddhist and a lover of mysteries, I have to say that this is one of the worst books I have forced myself to read. There are a multitude of mistakes about Buddhist thought and especially Tibetan Buddhism. I would hate to think that anyone who read this would think they knew something about Tibetan Buddhism from this book! The characters are wooden, the plot convoluted and confusing, the pace painfully slow. Avoid this book at all costs!
Rating:
Summary: Transporting
Review: Don't be put off by descriptions of the book's setting - prison camp, torture, etc. It's not a grim polemic against Chinese repression in Tibet. It is a wonderfully written story which you won't be able to put down once you get past the first chapter.
Rating: 
Summary: Driven by Unseen Forces
Review: Eliot Pattison's "The Skull Mantra" functions well on a multitude of levels. The plot is intricate, but tightly worked, so that the apparent loose threads are in time gathered up into a satisfying final knot. His characters, rather than being at all cardboardish, exist in a complex tension between the part they are called upon to play in the new socialist Tibet, and their private (and often agonized) personal motivations. While the plot is driven by worldly motives of ambition, power, fear and greed, the unseen spiritual world of Tantric reality is uneasily ever-present and exerting its subtle force upon the course of events. The book, in its depiction of the sufferings of the Tibetan people, is often quite gruelling. Yet we gradually become more and more aware of the parallel sufferings of their Han oppressors and the sense of loss which they too must labour under in the inhuman aftermath of The Great Helmsman's dream. This is a book to be savoured!
Rating:
Summary: Exotic Locale That Never Skimps on the Mystery
Review: Eliot Pattison's The Skull Mantra is a masterful first novel. It first catches the reader's attention with its exotic premise of a Chinese prisoner in a Tibetan prison camp asked to solve a murder (body found without its head) by the Communist Chinese officials who have imprisoned him. He is the perfect character to help the reader journey through this novel as he is between worlds himself as a student of Tibetan spirituality through his experience in the camp and as a former official in the Communist government which now persecutes him. One of the joys of this novel is how many of the character, particulary this prisoner and his two marvelously drawn assistants, will grow and change through contact with each other. It creates a very palpable emotional wallop by the end of the book. But mystery fans need not fear that all of this rich cultural tapestry overshadows the mystery. The author is very skilled at teasing the mystery and tension out of the situation. There are clues a-plenty and nothing is ever quite what it seems and the story moves easily from moody chills to action thrills without breaking a sweat. An impressive job that makes this reader anxious to read further mysterys by this talented author.
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