Synopses & Reviews
A murderer is stalking and scalping white men in Seattle. While this so-called Indian Killer terrorizes the city, its Native American population is thrown into turmoil. John Smith, an Indian adopted as a newborn baby into a white family, is increasingly dissatisfied with his life and dreams of the existence he might have led on the reservation he is gently descending into madness. In his search for connection he meets Marie, a strident young student at the local university who is isolated from her tribe; she is highly educated, but not in her own traditions. Marie is particularly enraged with people such as Jack Wilson, a local ex-cop and now a popular mystery writer who passes himself off as part Indian in a desperate attempt at acceptance. Jack is determined to write about the brutal killings in his next novel, a novel that he believes will truly reveal what it is like to be Indian. With each new murder, the city is gripped by fear, and hate crimes perpetrated by white men against the Native American community grow increasingly violent. As the murderer searches for his latest victim, and the Indian population of Seattle is filled with a strange combination of fear and relief, Indian Killer builds to an unexpected and terrifying climax.
Review
"Alexie's tale is septic with what clearly seems to be his own unappeasable fury." John Skow, Time
Review
"[Alexie's] vigorous prose, his haunted, surprising characters and his mediative exploration of the sources of human identity transform into a resonant tragedy what might have been a melodrama in less assured hands." Richard E. Nicholls, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Both a splendidly constructed and wonderfully readable thriller and a haunting, challenging articulation of the plight and the pride of contemporary Native Americans." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Both a splendidly constructed and wonderfully readable thriller and a haunting, challenging articulation of the plight and the pride of contemporary Native Americans." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
A serial killer is stalking Seattle taking the scalps of white males. Dubbed the "Indian Killer" by the local populace, the murderer's action have thrown the city's Native American community into turmoil. As retaliatory hate crimes against Native Americans escalate, John Smith a Native American raised by a white family must confront the violence in the streets as well as in his own heart.
About the Author
Sherman Alexie is the author of Reservation Blues, Indian Killer, The Toughest Indian in the World, and Ten Little Indians. He wrote and directed The Business of Fancydancing and also wrote the award-winning screenplay for Smoke Signals, a film based on his short-story collection The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.