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26th out of 55 books
—
39 voters
Finding Moon
Tony Hillerman's bestselling Navajo mysteries have thrilled millions of readers with their taut, intricate plotting, sensitive, subtle characterizations and lyrical evocations of landscapes and cultures. Now he departs his trademark terrain and applies his talents to a story he has wanted to tell for decades about an ordinary man thrust into total chaos. Until the telephon...more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
July 9th 1996
by HarperTorch
(first published September 22nd 1995)
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319 pages of excellent storytelling, without sex or excess violence. The main character is a small-town newspaper worker from Colorado who is suddenly thrust into the final days of the Vietnam war by his dead brother. Moon Mathias is a Vietnam veteran who has his life back in order, or so he thinks, until a telephone call that lets him know his brother, who was running a charter helicopter service in Vietnam, is dead. Things go from bad-to-worse for Moon. He finds out his brother has a child tha...more
Not a typical Hillerman story, but a great read nonetheless! A departure from Hillerman's Jim Chee/Joe Leaphorn series, this one is set mostly in the Phillipines and Vietnam/Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The story concerns a man on the search for his dead brother's child, who is in danger of being killed by the Khmer Rouge for not being full-blooded Vietnamese. Moon is tasked with tracking the child down through the wilds of the war. I don't know much about this part of the world, so it was a...more
I didn't even realize that Tony Hillerman wrote novels that didn't involve the Navajo Tribal Police. But since I'm planning a trip to New Mexico this summer, I decided to run by the library and get another Tony Hillerman book that would transport me to the sacred lands of the Navajo. To my surprise, this book takes place in Southeast Asia during the last days of American military involvement in that area while American personnel are in the chaos of leaving. Moon Mathias's brother was killed in V...more
Apr 28, 2010
Gill
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people interested in the history of Vietnam.
Shelves:
other-places,
other-times
I think this was a book Mark wanted to read, but I picked it up and started reading. The format is to have each chapter headed by a date and news summary which concerns what was happening in Cambodia, South Vietnam and Thailand in 1975.
The action begins in the USA, moves to the Philippines and then to South Vietnam and Cambodia.
I kept wondering how the book could end as there didn't seem to be enough pages left to reach a conclusion, but the author managed it cleverly, and I enjoyed the refere...more
The action begins in the USA, moves to the Philippines and then to South Vietnam and Cambodia.
I kept wondering how the book could end as there didn't seem to be enough pages left to reach a conclusion, but the author managed it cleverly, and I enjoyed the refere...more
Surprised by the South Asian location, instead of the American desert, but still enjoyed Hillerman's storytelling.
Moon Mathias has an assignment that turns to three needles in a giant dangerous haystack. He must find his baby niece, an urn containing bones (or is it drugs?) and the would be martyr brother of the beautiful and sophisticated folk art buyer that wants Moon to continue his late brothers work. He really doesn't want any of these assignments but he feels obligated to live up to the my...more
Moon Mathias has an assignment that turns to three needles in a giant dangerous haystack. He must find his baby niece, an urn containing bones (or is it drugs?) and the would be martyr brother of the beautiful and sophisticated folk art buyer that wants Moon to continue his late brothers work. He really doesn't want any of these assignments but he feels obligated to live up to the my...more
Hillerman is engaging as he always is. When I selected this book, I didn't realize it wasn't a Jim Chee book. It wasn't a mystery, either. But it is a well-written story of a family caught between continents at the end of the Vietnam war.
Hillerman is a little lame when it comes to romance, but I prefer it that way. When other authors include all that overly dramatic stuff it sounds forced. It seems like Hillerman knows it's an editor's requirement, but he doesn't want to do any more than the mi...more
Hillerman is a little lame when it comes to romance, but I prefer it that way. When other authors include all that overly dramatic stuff it sounds forced. It seems like Hillerman knows it's an editor's requirement, but he doesn't want to do any more than the mi...more
Dec 19, 2011
Jim Fitzgerald
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
someone interested in mysteries, native american culture
Hillerman is a good story teller and does a great job of weaving the Navaho culture into his stories. Tony involves you with his characters and you are able to vicariously be present in the settings of his story.
I finally finished reading Fining Moon Christmas day 2010. I have read it in short segments but it was easy to pick up from where I had put it down.
I have read several of Tony Hillerman's novels. I first found one of his book at a used bookstore somewhere in Michigan when I was working....more
I finally finished reading Fining Moon Christmas day 2010. I have read it in short segments but it was easy to pick up from where I had put it down.
I have read several of Tony Hillerman's novels. I first found one of his book at a used bookstore somewhere in Michigan when I was working....more
This was the only one of my friend and mentor Tony's books I hadn't read. I wish I'd found the time to read it while he was still living. I didn't even know Tony had served in Viet Nam. Finding Moon is loosely based on his experiences there, and Moon is loosely based on Tony. It's an exciting, suspenseful read, and one of those great books you won't want to put down until you've finished it. I highly recommend it.
Karen Mabry Rice
http://karenmrice.weebly.com/
Author of Ghost Walk
Soon available fro...more
Karen Mabry Rice
http://karenmrice.weebly.com/
Author of Ghost Walk
Soon available fro...more
I had never read any Tony Hillerman novels, I don't typically, or ever really, read mysteries, but I'm interested in the southwest and the Navajo culture in particular. Ironically, I picked up one of Hillerman's only novels set outside the four corners area - this one is set in southeast Asia at the end of the Vietnam war. It's a fairly interesting but terribly predictable plot. Things come together so very perfectly in the last page and a half I had to laugh. I'm planning on reading some more T...more
This is the story of Moon Mathias, a Vietnam vet (Native American..this is Tony Hillerman :) who is trying to get his life together when he gets an unsettling call about his brother. He was a helicopter pilot in Nam and was killed. Moon finds out his brother has a child and he is tasked to go get the child and bring it back to the States. It was very suspenseful and fast moving, a typical Tony Hillerman story.
Hillerman is not at his best when he leaves his milieu of the U.S. Southwest. This predictable book finds his protagonist, a newspaper managing editor, searching for his recently deceased brother's baby daughter by a Cambodian woman. So he and a crew of people who have attached themselves to him have to cross the Mekong River delta into Cambodia just as South Vietnam is falling to the NVA in 1975 and Cambodia succumbs to its Khmer Rouge nightmare. It moves fairly glacially through three-quarters...more
Hillerman's mysteries are breezy reads with good plots. What I particularly like about them is the setting of the Four Corners, and his intimate knowledge of the Hopi and Navajo cultures. Reading these will give you a good feeling for the vast landscape of this area, and the characters are very endearing. Well, except for the bad guys, of course.
I was surprised by how much I liked this book. It is not one of Hillerman's mysteries, but is set mostly in Vietnam during the 'fall' of Saigon. It reads like a thriller, but has the humanity of well-drawn characters and connection to historical events that I remember from the news as a young teen.
This is probably the best of Tony Hillerman's fiction - much better than most of his Navajo Indian stories. In April 1975, at the time of the fall of Saigon, Moon Mathias learns that his recently deceased brother has a baby girl, still in Vietnam. Moon sets off on a journey to recover the girl, hoping that that the effort will prove impossible, thus reliving him of the need to proceed. Of course, Moon is a man of honor, who will make ever possible effort before quitting, and although things go f...more
My favorite Tony Hillerman book does not take place in the desert of the Navajo reservation, but rambles around through SE Asia on the main character's quest to find his niece amid the withdrawing US army, and the chaos that ensued at the end of the Vietnam war. Wonderfully written and original story.
I have always enjoyed Hillerman's novels which are usually set in the Navajo country of the Southwest. The setting for this novel is Viet Nam, Cambodia and the Philippines. It's just as entertaining as his others and you learn a little about the last few weeks of the Viet Nam War.
A departure from Hillerman's normal setting. It is set in Vietnam at the close of the war. It is interesting to see his style in so different a setting. I liked it. It reminded me of David Ball's departure from his normal style to write China Run - another good read.
This was an OK read. I much prefer Hillerman's Navajo stories. Here it was a realtively straighforward war story. It may have been somewhat autobiographical - it had that feel. But honestly, i would not have picked it up if it were not for the author.
It's the spring of 1975. Our war in Vietnam is coming to a bloody close and Moon gets a call to come see his Mother who has had a heart attack in Los Angeles -- far from her home. Moon finds himself dealing with his very ill mother and trying to carry out what might be her last wish to get his dead brother's child out of Vietnam. In the course of his adventure, Moon must face his personal demons and live up to his brother's expectations.
Tony Hillerman is ever a good story teller, and this is an...more
Tony Hillerman is ever a good story teller, and this is an...more
A little different than Hillerman's usual characters, Indian police officers in the southwest. This one takes us to Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Laos in 1975, while the US is pulling out of Viet Nam. Sent to retrieve the child he didn't know his brother had, our hero faces odds during a war-torn period. Pretty good.
I had resolved this year to read every book on the bookshelf including ones the previous ocuppier left behind. This is an inherited book,and I wasn't looking forward to it. I was pleasantly suprised to find it easy to read and quite entertaining, though predictable for the most part.
The late Tony Hillerman was a great mystery writer, incorporating unusual settings, quirky characters, and twisting plots. In each book of the Navajo Mysteries, the criminal mystery is woven thru a cultural mystery.
This is such a great book! It is a moving story about the journey of Moon Mathias to war-torn Southeast Asia, where he truly finds himself. A great read for Hillerman fans, even if it isn't a Leaphorn/Chee story.
This is a true adventure story. A man on a mission that takes him into foreign, dangerous territory that many remeber hearing and reading about in the late 1960's. One you can't put down.
Enjoyed the fast paced search, Tony never lets an opportunity to challenge the reader is it a person? the light the night sky? one is never sure until one finally finds oneself on page 354.
The settings were well written, but the story was rather predictable. I'm sure readers who enjoy thrillers with lots of adventure will enjoy this lots more than I did.
Tony Hillerman departed from the Navajo Nation setting and mystery genre to do a Southeast Asia adventure/drama piece. I have enjoyed his other novels much more.
A major departure for Hillerman, from the dry deserts of the reservation, to the waterfilled world of the Phillipines and Cambodia. A good plot and well written.
This was the last Hillerman book I read before Tony passed away in 2008.
I was born and raised in New Mexico, so this novel has a special meaning for me...
I was born and raised in New Mexico, so this novel has a special meaning for me...
I heard part of this as an audio book on a road trip years ago and finally decided to read the whole thing. Pretty good, I loved the character of Lum Lee.
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Tony Hillerman, who was born in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, was a decorated combat veteran from World War II, serving as a mortarman in the 103rd Infantry Division and earning the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. Later, he worked as a journalist from 1948 to 1962. Then he earned a Masters degree and taught journalism from 1966 to 1987 at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, wh...more
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Feb 16, 2012 05:26pm