Bad Medicine (Ella Clah)

Rating:
Summary: cardboard characters and repetitious writing
Review: Having read that Ella Clah was a counterpart to Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, I started this book with great expectations. These were destroyed when I discovered that the book bore little resemblance to reality. Protagonist Ella, unlike most policemen, seems able to interrupt whatever work she's doing to jump in her car and drive to 'nearby' towns at a moment's notice. She always arrives ready and eager to tackle yet another emergency. Of course, the Four Corners region is huge, and travel between towns would have her driving incredible distances. The reader can't help but know that Ella possesses some sort of sixth sense because, in the first 70 pages, Ella feels 'uneasy' at least 70 times. Each colleague, (again mentioned repeatedly), gives great respect to her famous hunches. When an author repeates himself, it's usually because he doesn't have much to say. And neither does Ella!

Rating:
Summary: Terrific work in the tradition of Tony Hillerman
Review: Navaho tribal investigator Ella Clah is isolated form the Navahocommunity she is sworn to protect because of her FBI training and herfamily heritage of being vessels of powerful magic. Ella herself is torn between the traditional beliefs of her people and the scientific method employed in the Anglo world. When the Anglo miners form the Brotherhood, a group that preaches hatred and violence, several Navaho retaliate by forming a counter-group, spouting the same violent intolerance.

Both groups operate in secrecy, but when one of the miners is murdered, the escalated tension between the two groups is noticed by the police. Ella, who is in charge of the investigation, concludes that some powerful person, working behind the scenes, is manipulating events to further drive a schism between he two communities. Before the reservation explodes into more deaths, Ella must learn who the enemy is and why he has brought evil to the peaceful area.

This is the third book in the Ella Clah series and it is by far the best one to date, an amazing accomplishment since the first two novels were quite good. Readers feel a real connection to the heroine's angst as she struggles with an inner turmoil caused by having her feet straddle two worlds. It should not surprise fans of the terrific Thurlo twosome that this novel has a haunting quality reminiscent of Tony Hillerman and Louise Eldrich.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Not Hillerman, but not bad
Review: Readers who follow the jacket blurb and go into Bad Medicine expecting a Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee mystery will be sorely disappointed.

First, the Thurlos don't have nearly the lyrical voice of Hillerman. You have much less of a feel for time and space and terrain in the Ella Clah books.

Second, the Thurlos spend much more time on external circumstances than on their characters' internal struggles. Even Ella's constant conflict over being a cop and not having time enough for her family seems forced.

Third, the Thurlos give far more play to the supernatural than Hillerman. Progressive though Clah is, her family and her enemies are not. If you're not willing to suspend disbelief, this book won't work for you.

That said, it's not a bad book. I enjoyed reading it, and found it a faster read than all but the most recent Hillerman (i.e. Hunting Badger). The characters are not as deep, but the action is paced well enough to keep the story interesting.