Rating: 
Summary: Hillerman out of his element
Review: Malcolm Thomas Mathias (Moon) finds out that his brother who died in a plane crash left behind a child in the Cambodia- Vietnam region toward the end of the war. The story is about the struggle in the retrieval of the child. This book has all the Hillerman attributes with the exception of location and culture. There is probably a different reader target that can relate to this book. Once again George Guidall makes a good reader. The problem comes with expectations more than content. The characters are different and the environment is different. The writing style is the same familiar style.
Rating: 
Summary: Coming of Age Issues Revisited
Review: Moon Mathias's younger brother died in South Vietnam in a helicopter crash. It seemed that his brother Ricky had a daughter. Arrangements were made to send the child from Vietnam to the Philippines. Moon's mother has traveled from Florida to California enroute to the Philippines when she has a heart attack at the airport. Moon is a journalist, the managing editor of a newspaper in Colorado, and as Ricky's only sibling he is called upon to journey in his mother's stead to the Far East. Arriving in Manila Moon learns that the child has not arrived and that things are heating up in Vietnam and Cambodia. In his meeting with the lawyer little is gained. In Manila a woman with a Dutch name finds him. She seeks him out under the impression that he plans to take over his brother's business and would be in a position to help her find her brother, a Lutheran missionary. Eventually Moon, the woman, and a Chinese man seeking the ashes of an ancestor travel to the vicinity of the child's mother's village and amazingly find the child and learn in convincing fashion of the death of the brother. Moon then decides to travel with the child to the United States and to return to Manila in order to be with the woman and to run his brother's business. What has been created in this excellent work is a sort of coming of age story of a middle-aged person. The past has been put to rest and the future beckons. The adventure aspects of the tale are very exciting.
Rating:
Summary: Coming of Age Issues Revisited
Review: Moon Mathias's younger brother died in South Vietnam in a helicopter crash. It seemed that his brother Ricky had a daughter. Arrangements were made to send the child from Vietnam to the Philippines. Moon's mother has traveled from Florida to California enroute to the Philippines when she has a heart attack at the airport. Moon is a journalist, the managing editor of a newspaper in Colorado, and as Ricky's only sibling he is called upon to journey in his mother's stead to the Far East. Arriving in Manila Moon learns that the child has not arrived and that things are heating up in Vietnam and Cambodia. In his meeting with the lawyer little is gained. In Manila a woman with a Dutch name finds him. She seeks him out under the impression that he plans to take over his brother's business and would be in a position to help her find her brother, a Lutheran missionary. Eventually Moon, the woman, and a Chinese man seeking the ashes of an ancestor travel to the vicinity of the child's mother's village and amazingly find the child and learn in convincing fashion of the death of the brother. Moon then decides to travel with the child to the United States and to return to Manila in order to be with the woman and to run his brother's business. What has been created in this excellent work is a sort of coming of age story of a middle-aged person. The past has been put to rest and the future beckons. The adventure aspects of the tale are very exciting.
Rating: 
Summary: Not one of his best
Review: Though I understand that Hillerman might want a break from his successful "Chee and Leaphorn" books, I too feel that he was a little out of his element on this one..
Rating:
Summary: A Niece-Finding Moon Trip
Review: Tony Hillerman has definitely given us his best change-up pitch with Finding Moon. We are not on the reservation. In fact, we travel back in time to the Vietnamese war as one simple man attempts to carry out his Mother's search for the missing niece of her dead, other son. The story recounts twenty-seven days, with a few skipped. Each one leads off with a quote from the news of the time about Vietnam. The story ends on May 2, 1975. The last press quote begins: "Saigon, South Vietnam, April 29 (UPI)- A helicopter shuttle service began evacuating Americans from the roof of the U.S. Embassy today while marine guards kept thousands of desperate Vietnamese from breaking through the gates." Moon has to meet many tough challenges, learn a lot about what he is really made of, and completes the hero's journey in fine fashion. You can see that there is also an element of the Phoenix rising from the ashes, as Moon seeks to preserve life at a time when life is very precarious as the South Vietnamese government falls. You will seldom find an adventure-based mystery that is as rich in characterization and heart-warming plot as this one. There are a lot of asides in the book about the Vietnam war, bureaucratic stalls in particular, and the nature of families that are worth the trip with Moon, as well. It may take you a few pages to get over looking for the Navajo reservation in this novel, but soon you'll never miss it. You'll have an irresistible experience in the process!
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