Synopses & Reviews
Officer Bernadette Manuelito found the dead man slumped over in the cab of a blue pickup abandoned in a dry gulch off a dirt road, with a rich ex-con's phone number in his pocket . . . and a tobacco tin nearby filled with tracer gold. It's her initial mishandling of the scene that spells trouble for her supervisor, Sergeant Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police, but it's the echoes of a long-ago crime that call the legendary former Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn out of retirement. Years earlier, Leaphorn followed the trail of a beautiful, young, and missing wife to a dead end, and his failure has haunted him ever since. But ghosts never sleep in these high, lonely Southwestern and later a man dressed in cedar-bark clothing, carrying a stone-tipped spear. The Wild Man vanishes into the forest, but the dog reappears and leads Andy to ... the Wild Man's lair, at the mouth of a cave.
It's fear that drives Andy into the cave and to the adventure of a lifetime. What's at stake are the discoveries Andy's father died trying to find, the answers to the most exciting puzzle in American archeology -- who were the first Americans?
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“Gale force hit!” People
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“Hillerman repeatedly shines in this masterfully complex new novel.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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“Tony Hillerman is a wonderful storyteller.” New York Times Book Review
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“Hillerman has become a national literary and cultural sensation.” Los Angeles Times
Synopsis
Legendary detectives Leaphorn and Chee are pulled into mysteries old and new in this haunting tale of obsessive greed, lost love, and murder from the "national literary and cultural sensation" (Los Angeles Times)--New York Times bestselling author Tony Hillerman.
"Tony Hillerman's novels are like no others. His insightful portrayal of the vast Navajo Reservation, the spirit-haunted people who inhabit it and the clash between ancient traditions and modern civilization that has shaped its present and will determine its future has produced a body of work unique in mystery fiction."--San Diego Union-Tribune
To Officer Bernie Manuelito the man curled on the truck seat was just another drunk--which got Bernie in trouble for mishandling a murder scene--which got Sgt. Jim Chee in trouble with the FBI--which drew ex-Lieutenent Joe Leaphorn out of retirement into an old crime he longed to forget. Legends of the area's lost gold mines join the mountains and canyons of the Navajo Reservation as elements of Hillerman's plot, but this tale turns on an obsessive love and memories of a missing woman's voice wailing in the darkness.
About the Author
Tony Hillerman (1925-2008), an Albuquerque, New Mexico, resident since 1963, was the author of 29 books, including the popular 18-book mystery series featuring Navajo police officers Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, two non-series novels, two childrens books, and nonfiction works. He had received every major honor for mystery fiction; awards ranging from the Navajo Tribal Council's commendation to France 's esteemed Grand prix de litterature policiere. Western Writers of America honored him with the Wister Award for Lifetime achievement in 2008. He served as president of the prestigious Mystery Writers of America, and was honored with that groups Edgar Award and as one of mystery fictions Grand Masters. In 2001, his memoir, Seldom Disappointed, won both the Anthony and Agatha Awards for best nonfiction.