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Title: The Stolen Gods by Jake Page ISBN: 0-8263-2860-1 Publisher: University of New Mexico Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3 (2 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A realistic look at a Native American issue
Comment: Unlike Tony Hillerman, Page presents a modern detective story based on very genuine Native American issues without pretending to portray the habits and thoughts of Indian police officers.
In so doing, he's come up with a good story.
Page is astute enough to recognize the three of the four distinct cultures of New Mexico -- Native American, Spanish and Anglo (he ignores the Mexicans) -- which co-exist in sometimes uneasy tension but rarely overlap. He is masterful in depicting the pretentious twittery of Santa Fe, mostly an Anglo veneer over the Spanish poverty which existed until the Santa Fe - Taos axis of a "friendly, familiar, foreign and close" culture was discovered by Anglo artists and wealthy tourists after the arrival of the Santa Fe railway in the 1880s.
His story also covers the Hopi Rez, and briefly the Tucson area -- I've lived in this region for 35 years. His descriptions of people and placing are authentic, he offers a charming but unvarnished authenticity. Strangely, he keeps referring to Interstate highways as "Route 40" instead of the more familiar "I-40" -- but, that's a minor quibble. He avoids the "Drunktown" description of Gallup, the self-proclaimed "Indian Capital of the World," calling it the "Degradation Capital of the Indian World" which is well-deserved.
But the emphasis is solving a murder, linked to the theft of sacred Indian icons, by an Anglo law enforcement officer. There are plenty of villains, including an archaeologist, a conniving Spanish woman, a fading member of Santa Fe's cultural elite, a former Bureau of Indian Affairs teacher and an alcoholic Hopi youth. In this plot, he nicely sums up the inter-twined villainy that produces the trade in looted archaeological and religious gems.
In this case, it was Hopi religious items. He could just as easily have written about the theft of ancient Spanish "santos" from abandoned churches; it's not just thousand-year-old items that form this lucrative trade, it's almost anything left unguarded in the vastness of the mostly empty New Mexico rural landscape. There is a bitter truth to the saying that Southwestern ranchers "would steal a hot stove, then come back for the smoke." Santos ? I personally know of an entire abandoned church that was stolen.
Page's villains are the usual range of exploiters and opportunists, and he deals in a straight forward fashion with theft and repatriation of Native American artifacts without getting bogged down in contentious debates or moralizing. It's a real issue, as sensitive to Native Americans as would be the case of a Catholic priest stealing holy objects from Vatican altars to finance his weaknesses and sins.
How real is it ? How about a police officer who alledgedly killed a Native American jewelry buyer and used the proceeds to open a business ? Or an archaeologist "given" a small fortune in ancient pots from various digs ? Proof ? Sometimes, it's almost impossible.
Page's strong point is that he writes from an Anglo point of view, a contrast to Oklahoma native Tony Hillerman who tries to portray Navajo police officers on a personal basis. Hillerman is good, sometimes very good; but, he is loved and hated by Navajos -- loved for the positive attention he brings to the Navajo Nation, hated for his sometimes shallow portrayals of The People.
Some writers are reasonably good at portraying Navajo habits and attitudes; generally speaking, Hillerman doesn't capture some of the more subtle nuances of Navajo humor, opinions and attitudes. Page avoids this weakness with a focus on Anglo characters -- though I take strong issue with his near-worshipful depiction of a dedicated FBI agent (I suppose there must be some somewhere).
All in all, it's an interesting and well-presented book. It deals with a sensitive issue in a realistic manner and neatly wraps up a plausible plot; for Hillerman's treatment of the same topic, read "Talking God" or "A Thief of Time."
Rating: 2
Summary: NOT Tony Hillerman
Comment: I have read every word Tony Hillerman has written because he has the ability to develop characters and tell his story without the use of obscene and/or foul language. I am reading "Stolen Gods" for a class on mystery writing and find the subject and plot development to be very interesting, however, the liberal sprinkling of obscenities is so distasteful to me that I am finding it difficult to continue reading. I look forward to other reviews to learn how this book is rated by other readers. Thanks Amazon!
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Title: The Knotted Strings by Jake Page ISBN: 0826328628 Publisher: University of New Mexico Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Lethal Partner by Jake Page ISBN: 0826328636 Publisher: University of New Mexico Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Cavern by Jake Page ISBN: 0826322271 Publisher: University of New Mexico Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Under the Color of the Law by Michael McGarrity ISBN: 0451410440 Publisher: Onyx Books Pub. Date: 02 July, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Big Gamble by Michael McGarrity ISBN: 0451410998 Publisher: Onyx Books Pub. Date: 05 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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