The Dream Stalker

Rating:
Summary: Predictable Politically Correct Environmental Party Line
Review: I enjoyed the first two novels in this series, but not this one. Her attorney protagonist became a shrill, irrational, self righteous zealot with no facts to support her breathless polemics. (All it would take is an unspecified "natural disaster" and then The Terrible Thing would happen!). The contrived "factual" rationalization for her position was as predictible as it was silly. This is a novel long on overly emotional protagonists drenched in self absorbed angst and prolix, confession prone bad guys, but short on rational plot development. It makes one long for Laconic Joe Leaphorn from Hillerman's novels. If you like the manufactured emotional trapeze of a soap opera, you will like this book.

Rating:
Summary: Predictable Politically Correct Environmental Party Line
Review: I enjoyed the first two novels in this series, but not this one. Her attorney protagonist became a shrill, irrational, self righteous zealot with no facts to support her breathless polemics. (All it would take is an unspecified "natural disaster" and then The Terrible Thing would happen!). The contrived "factual" rationalization for her position was as predictible as it was silly. This is a novel long on overly emotional protagonists drenched in self absorbed angst and prolix, confession prone bad guys, but short on rational plot development. It makes one long for Laconic Joe Leaphorn from Hillerman's novels. If you like the manufactured emotional trapeze of a soap opera, you will like this book.

Rating:
Summary: Short on Science
Review: I have bought Ms. Coel's other mysteries partly because her protagonists and mysteries are interesting, and partly because they are set in my home state. In this particular story, however, science was murdered in addition to a drunken cowboy, a tribal chairman, and odd assorted other unfortunates. Irritating careless errors certainly decreased my enjoyment of the book and detracted from the storyline. For instance, Ms. Coel has lightning flashes that follow closely after claps of thunder, "underground lakes" that are filled up with water pumped into oil wells to increase production, and "one to the minus six" being "much less" than "one in ten million"...(one to the minus six equals one). I found myself hunting for the next mistake instead of enjoying the mystery. Better luck next time, I hope.

Rating:
Summary: Short on Science
Review: I have bought Ms. Coel's other mysteries partly because her protagonists and mysteries are interesting, and partly because they are set in my home state. In this particular story, however, science was murdered in addition to a drunken cowboy, a tribal chairman, and odd assorted other unfortunates. Irritating careless errors certainly decreased my enjoyment of the book and detracted from the storyline. For instance, Ms. Coel has lightning flashes that follow closely after claps of thunder, "underground lakes" that are filled up with water pumped into oil wells to increase production, and "one to the minus six" being "much less" than "one in ten million"...(one to the minus six equals one). I found myself hunting for the next mistake instead of enjoying the mystery. Better luck next time, I hope.

Rating:
Summary: Third book of the series
Review: The attraction that Father John O'Malley and Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden feel for each other deepens in this third book of the series. Father John receives an anonymous phone call late at night, requesting a meeting with him. When he goes to the meeting place, he finds an unidentified body whom he is sure is the caller. Meanwhile Vicky is working to oppose a transaction which would allow a ranch to be turned over to a company which will use it for a nuclear storage site. More people die, and Father John is afraid that Vicky will be next. There are abductions, car chases, and other scarey moments while the Jesuit priest and the Arapaho attorney pursue the murderer. There are also the usual glimpses into the Arapaho culture which always enrich Margaret Coel's books. This is another good entry to this series.

Rating:
Summary: Third book of the series
Review: The attraction that Father John O'Malley and Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden feel for each other deepens in this third book of the series. Father John receives an anonymous phone call late at night, requesting a meeting with him. When he goes to the meeting place, he finds an unidentified body whom he is sure is the caller. Meanwhile Vicky is working to oppose a transaction which would allow a ranch to be turned over to a company which will use it for a nuclear storage site. More people die, and Father John is afraid that Vicky will be next. There are abductions, car chases, and other scarey moments while the Jesuit priest and the Arapaho attorney pursue the murderer. There are also the usual glimpses into the Arapaho culture which always enrich Margaret Coel's books. This is another good entry to this series.