Synopses & Reviews
Navajo crimebusters Leaphom and Chee are back together on a case, and at odds with the FBI over a backcountry manhunt in this latest thrilling addition to Tony Hillerman's best-selling series.
In 1998 three heavily armed "survivalists" came out of the Four Corners canyons in a stolen truck. They murdered a policeman, had a shootout with pursuers, and then vanished -- eluding a manhunt that eventually involved hundreds of officers from more than twenty federal and state agencies. The crime and the bungled FBI investigation left behind a web of mysteries: Why did one of the bandits kill himself? How did the others escape? Why has no one in this impoverished area claimed the huge reward the government still offers? Most puzzling of all, what crime were they en route to commit when Officer Dale Claxton stopped them -- and paid for his bravery with his life?
Tony Hillerman assigns these real puzzles to his fictional Navajo Tribal Police officers -- Sergeant Jim Chee and retired Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn. The time is now, and the memory of the mishandled manhunt of 1998 is still painfully fresh. Three men stage a predawn raid on the Ute tribe's gambling casino. They kill one policeman, wound another, and disappear in the maze of canyons on the Utah-Arizona border. The FBI takes over the investigation, and agents swarm in with their helicopters, their high-tech equipment, and a theory of the crime that makes a wounded deputy sheriff a suspect. This development calls Chee in from his vacation, and a request for a favor draws in Leaphorn. Chee finds a fatal flaw in the federal theory, and Leaphorn sees an intriguing pattern connecting this crime with the exploits of a legendary Ute hero-bandit.
Tightly plotted and beautifully written, Hunting Badger proves once again that Tony Hillerman is a master storyteller.
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Complex, engrossing...On their own, (Leaphorn and Chee) are compeling; as a duo they ‘re the best since Lennon and McCartney.” Washington Post Book World
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“Hillerman soars.” Boston Globe
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“His best.” Rocky Mountain News
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“Tony Hillerman is a wonderful storyteller....Surrendering to Hillermans strong narrative voice and supple storytelling techniques, we come to see that ancieant cultures and modern sciences are simply different mythologies for the same reality.” New York Times Book Review
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“Irrestible.” Los Angeles Times
Synopsis
Navajo crimebusters Leaphorn and Chee in a novel set on the vast Navajo Reservation sprawling across Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, and played out against the unhappy memories of an actual 1998 manhunt that produced canyon country legends of FBI bungling, but no arrest.
Synopsis
The fourteenth novel featuring Leaphorn and Chee by New York Times bestselling author Tony Hillerman, now reissued in the Premium Plus format.
Three men raid the gambling casino run by the Ute nation and then disappear into the maze of canyons on the Utah-Arizona border. When the FBI, with its helicopters and high-tech equipment, focuses on a wounded deputy sheriff as a possible suspect, Navajo Tribal Police Sergeant Jim Chee and his longtime colleague, retired Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, launch an investigation of their own. Chee sees a dangerous flaw in the federal theory; Leaphorn sees intriguing connections to the exploits of a legendary Ute bandit-hero. And together, they find themselves caught up in the most perplexing--and deadly--criminal manhunt of their lives.
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.