A River Out of Eden : A Novel

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Summary: This book is great for any mystery/thriller lover. Superior
Review: "A River Out Of Eden" sounds like it might be a very pastoral and peaceful novel about a beautiful river. Yes, the river is beautiful, and the country it flows through is likewise pastoral -- and the river is very real. It is the mighty Columbia. Hockenberry has done a great deal of research of the region. Many issues make up this fascinating novel about the Chinook native peoples, the dams on the river, white supremacists, a plutonium researche at Hanford, excessively heavy rain that treatens the strength of the dams. When people begin to show up dead by a strange but familiar harpoon, Francine Smoholla, a marine biologist who happens to be part Chinook Indian decides to do some investigating. This is a real page turner, well worth your time.

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Summary: Don't waste yout money!
Review: A third grader would have done better research. The geography, history, politics, and understanding of the Northwest was so bad I thought at first it was written to be a farce. As I read further I realized this guy was serious. Unfortunately a good plot was populated with shallow characters who are caricatures of what New Yorkers must think of Indians, survivalists, farmers, and government workers. All are insulted. If the author had even bothered to get a map it would have helped considerably. He had locations in the wrong states, government agency responsibilities so screwed up it is laughable. He twisted history so badly it even contradicts itself in the book.

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Summary: An Easterner View of the Northwest
Review: Don't buy A River Out Of Eden. Thankfully, I borrowed the book so I am not guilty of supporting Hockenberry's poorly researched Easterner view of us backwards NorthWesterners. The geography is wrong, the history of the Columbia / Snake River dams is inaccurate, the hierarchy of Northwest Power System and Salmon Recovery Program is totally incorrect and the plot muddled. It is clear that Hockenberry is making a political statement, but even at that he could have taken time to research his subject matter and included a plot.

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Summary: An Easterner View of the Northwest
Review: I enjoyed the overlay of a fiction story on top of an interesting history of the river and its people.

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Summary: Disappointing (SPOILER ALERT!)...
Review: I really expected to like this book. I like John Hockenberry's work on NPR, and the subject matter is near and dear to my heart. But the novel just doesn't work very well. I think the author tries to weave 3 or 4 ideas too many into the plot, and the story and characters suffer as a result. The characters end of being cartoony, their motivations end up being very sketchy and unconvincing, and by the end I just didn't really care what happened. And as another reviewer points out, Mr Hockenberry glosses over an aftermath of immense contamination and suffering.
The only reason I'm giving it 2 stars is that his writing style and descriptions of scenery are good. Alas, that's not enough.

Rating:
Summary: A complex yet brilliant work
Review: Perhaps her plight is that of most Americans as her heritage (as a half- Chinook Indian) battles with her professional life working as a Corps of Engineer marine biologist on the Columbia River. Francine Smohalla cares about both of her worlds even if the divergence leaves her with inner turmoil. She knows the dams built by the Corps have destroyed the life of her people and she realizes that her people want to destroy the dams.

However, Francine was not expecting a serial killer to emerge who goes one step further by eliminating those individuals working for the Corps and associated organizations. The evidence accompanying the first corpse discovered by Francine points towards a Chinook Indian as the culprit. As other events add to the heated dispute and the death count grows, Francine worries that her beloved Chinook father is the killer and she begins to investigate.

A RIVER OUT OF EDEN is an exciting amateur sleuth thriller that showcases the Pacific Northwest dispute between environment and heritage vs. technology. The story line is fast-paced, enjoyable, and filled with critical details that brings the area and the dispute to life. Although John Hockeberry has too many sub-plots filled with the range of issues diverting the reader at times from his central theme, the author writes a strong tale. Sub-genre readers will find this novel provides insight into a very complex debate inside an entertaining mystery.

Harriet Klausner

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Summary: This river has run a little dry
Review: The Northwest part of america is one of the most magnificent areas that this great country has to offer. It is rich in it's natural beauty, it's history and cultural makeup. It is an area that is ripe in subject matter in which to write a book, I use the wonderful story of "snow falling on ceders" as my example. So I was looking forward to "A river out of Eden", containing the ingredients of salmon fish, northwest indians and the ever volatile battle between history and the future. I was sure of an enticing story. I am afraid to say though that I was presented with a story line that took over 200 pages to solidify. A cast of characters that always seemed to stop short of their potential. And their interaction with each other could have been a bit more detailed. I always felt that the story shifted too quickly and left parts underdeveloped. I needed to know more about Francine's father and less about her mother, more about Duke and less about his father, more about the history of the Chinook and their transformation and less about how to be profanic towards blacks. The story has great potential but I don't feel it ever reached it. I commend Mr. Hockenberry on this attempt, but found the results disappointing.

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Summary: Intricate, brainy novel on complexities of human beliefs.
Review: This first novel of Hockenberry is promoted as a thriller or a mystery. I think both of those designations do not do justice to this book. This book demands that the reader think, and it is hardly light and banal reading. As another reviewer has stated, the author uses 'stream of conciousness' which was very difficult for me to understand at first. There are so many characters involved with such different backgrounds, values, and belief systems...that at first it was extremely difficult to follow. However, this is one of those books that the reader must stick with and ultimately not only is it worth it, but after closing the book when finished, the mind is racing and wondering "Is this a real possibility?"

Hockenberry has the background as a journalist to acquire information about subjects that many writers do not have the ability to do. He takes full advantage of this to weave a story with a basis in reality that is shocking in its telling. Like most people, I know a little bit about all the topics he raises: the rights of Native Americans, our historical past concerning nuclear arms and nuclear energy, the prejudices that exists against people and their beliefs, the all too real tendency of corporations and government to discard their loyal workers after years of grueling and thankless work, and the environmental impact of our country's energy needs. This book greatly expanded my understanding of many of these topics, and piqued my interest in both the Northwest and the Native Americans from that area (I immediately went to the web to look up the dams on the Columbia River). To me this is a sign of a great book and a good writer. When people are moved to find out more about subject matters because the author has made it so interesting, then the author has more then succeeded.

I hope that Hockenberry continues to write, and continues to provide us with books that make us stop and think. Definitely worth the time and the money... Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

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Summary: Waters of Forgiveness
Review: This was a very well written first novel. The stream of consciousness technique used by Hockenberry may be more difficult to grasp for readers who do not like to think too much. This novel demands deep thought, and awakens us to look closely at issues most of us prefer to ignore. Bigotry, Alcoholism, Suicide, Spirituality, and Greed all swirl in the reader's mind much like the water of the river. The flow of thought addresses all of these issues, but leaves no answers. Hockenberry is asking us to each find our own answers, and find our own paths just like the river that he writes about.

I particularly liked the fact that some common misconceptions about Native Americans were addressed. Today, many people are angry that Native Americans have what they think are special rights. I hear people complain about the money they lose at casinos owned by tribes, yet they choose to go there and spend their money. These same people complain about reservation land, because they have no understanding of what it is about. Reservation land was placed under trust status in order to protect it in 1934 under the Wheeler-Howard Act. When land was first alloted to individual tribal memebers, much of it was lost. Trust status exempted it from taxation, and it could not be sold or leased without prior approval from the BIA. Native Americans were declared citizens in 1924, but they had restrictive voting rights and were denied state welfare and social benefits until 1968, when a special Indian Rights Section was included in the Civil Rights Bill, which guaranteed equal citizenship rights for American Indians. This same bill also gave legal jurisdiction over reservations to the to the tribes.

Too many people associate "Indians" with alcoholism, ignorance, and poverty. Hockenberry takes us past these misconceptions, showing both the good and the ugly. He also explains clearly what it means to be of mixed blood, as many Native Americans are today. Often they feel they must choose between being white and being Indian, as they are not allowed to be both. Truly being a Native American, means understanding their culture, history, and spirituality. Ancestry is not enough alone; it must be respected and learned.

In this story, both the salmon and the characters struggle to find their way, just as those before them did. The thoughtful reader will question their own thoughts and actions in the past and think of the relevance of their decisions in life both in the past and in the future.

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Summary: I regret to report that this novel is just awful
Review: To paraphrase David Holihan, this piece just stinks. Someone should have fed it to the turtles. I've noticed that people seem to find negative reviews "not helpful." I'm not sure why that is, but I'm begging you--trust me on this one. If you read the editorial review from Publishers Weekly on this page, they're right on. Plot elements that aren't patently absurd are either trite or spectacularly convenient. Character development is non-existent. What we learn of the one-dimensional,caricature-of-stereotype characters is told to us in the narrative, rather than demonstrated in action or dialogue. Let's see, there's a drunken Native American, a Native American who owns a casino, a Native American who runs around in a breechclout making enigmatic remarks about setting the salmon free (while killing forestry employees), and a Native American who falls in love with a white supremacist (despite the fact he's about to contaminate the entire Pacific Northwest with a nuclear explosion. By the way - after this occurs, the damage and devastation is dismissed in about two sentences. The story is sadly deficient. The only reason I finished the book was so that I warn others away from it with a good conscience. Honestly, pick something else... please.