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Indian Killer
A serial murderer is terrorizing Seattle, hunting and scalping white men. And the crimes of the so-called Indian Killer have triggered a wave of violence and racial hatred. Seattle's Native Americans are shaken and confused, none more so than John Smith. Born Indian, raised white, Smith desperately yearns for his lost heritage and seeks his elusive true identity. He meets ...more
Paperback, 420 pages
Published
January 1st 1998
by Warner Books
(first published 1996)
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This was my introduction to Sherman Alexie, and I still think it is his best work that I've read to date. The title itself made me question my thought processes, as I immediately envisioned a book replaying and displaying the historical themes of colonization and genocide against Native Americans in a modernized plot. This is, of course, what Alexie is doing, but the story centers around a couple of local murders attributed to an "Indian Killer" -- an Indian who kills, not someone who ...more
When John is wrenched from his mother and flown to his adoptive parents he is given the name John Smith. A name which is renowned within western culture for its generalization; it could be any white American man anywhere. Sherman Alexie purposefully chooses a name which could refer to anyone white because it allows a lot more freedom with John as a character. It highlights how little he fits into the white world to which he has been forcible adopted into. Even though he has the name of any other...more
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Recommends it for:
People who like psychological thrillers
I picked up Indian Killer at the library because I'm on a Sherman Alexie kick and this was the only book of his available. Being a psychological thriller about murder, it's not exactly the type of book I normally read. I was a bit apprehensive as I started reading, afraid I'd get nightmares or something, but the book quickly drew me in.
Indian Killer explores themes of identity and isolation across whites and Native Americans. There's the Indian man, adopted by white parents, who long...more
Indian Killer explores themes of identity and isolation across whites and Native Americans. There's the Indian man, adopted by white parents, who long...more
I almost never read murder mysteries, but this one is written by Sherman Alexie,and I loved The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. There's very little endearing humor in this one, but I will give it a chance.
This book is harsh and disturbing, but readable. John, the main character, is revealed to be mentally unstable. We are to assume that this is the result of being separated from his specific Native heritage -- he knows he was born to an Indian mother, but the adoption ...more
This book is harsh and disturbing, but readable. John, the main character, is revealed to be mentally unstable. We are to assume that this is the result of being separated from his specific Native heritage -- he knows he was born to an Indian mother, but the adoption ...more
WOW. INTENSE. There was a lot of rage and pain in this book. The other other Sherman Alexie book I've read was The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a YA novel. Indian Killer is about an Indian serial killer. Though this book is much darker and a lot more violent, Alexie offers social commentary on Native American issues and the tensions between the Native Americans and the whites (which I guess almost goes without saying, as this is a Sherman Alexie book).
Alexie is a powerful wr...more
Alexie is a powerful wr...more
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His other books weren't available at the library, so I went for this one. It was an interesting comment on racial tensions, but seemed overstated, was extremely grotesque and had one of the worst, most unsatisfying endings I've ever read. The characters were more like charicatures and, even though it was listed as a mystery, the mystery is never solved. I'll have to read one of his other books to redeem my opinion of him.
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This is an angry book, and a book about anger. A serial killer in Seattle, who is scalping white victims and leaving behind owl feathers, Indian symbols of death, exacerbates the underlying tensions between whites and Indians that have long festered in the city. Particularly affected are borderline individuals -- whites who want to be Indians, an Indian half-breed raised by an abuse white father, and a mental disturbed Indian adopted as an infant by an upper-class white couple. As events unfold,...more
This starts off w/ a melodramatic bang worthy of Michael Crichton &/or Dean Koontz.. It's a thriller.. but it's a thriller w/ something that Crichton & Koontz will never have: a subtext of sensitizing the reader to American 'Indians'.. & there's no simple resolution. There're plenty of characters, the most sympathetic for me being probably the activist Marie Polatkin, the one who articulates the most accurately (IMO). The complex issue of relations between 'Whites' & "Indians' in the 'U...more
This book was very difficult to read. Oh, the actual words weren't difficult: if anything, I found the writing style simplistic and not always in harmony with the contents. But it was difficult to read because barely any of the characters were - well, I don't want to say "sympathetic"; there were plenty of sympathetic characters. But most of the sympathetic characters were so deeply flawed that it was hard to take.
And you know... when it comes to racial issues, when it come...more
And you know... when it comes to racial issues, when it come...more
This is the only Sherman book I didn't love. Mystery is a hard genre to write and there were so many loose ends and odd pieces that didn't seem to fit. I did like the interesting idea of an indian who didn't know what tribe(s) he belonged to and how it affected his identity as a person. I also liked the Tony Hillerman-esque writer, he provided me with some snarky giggles. The premise was a good one, a serial killer who scalps his victims and leaves a feather as calling card, how racial tensions ...more
I didn't like that there was so much violence and swearing in this book. Although, I will have to say that Sherman Alexie knows how to write and tell a good story. The killings were really bloody and some parts of the book were really violent. I couldn't connect to alot of the characters in the book. Except, maybe Marie and how nice she was to the homless indaians and that she took her time to talk to them and give them sandwiches to eat. Also, I connected with Daniel and Olivia and the love f...more
this book was really amazing. I don't recommend it to just anyone because of language/content, but I was enthralled by the voice. It was so direct & intimidating, of course, that might be the effect of using sentence fragments.
I also have to say that I was instantly grabbed into the book because I didn't know what was going on. Now, after having finished the book and had some time to think about it, I still have no idea what happened. Crazy. And the book really delves into the issues ...more
I also have to say that I was instantly grabbed into the book because I didn't know what was going on. Now, after having finished the book and had some time to think about it, I still have no idea what happened. Crazy. And the book really delves into the issues ...more
I have been a big fan of Sherman Alexie for years and have wanted to finish reading all his published works. This one was really different from his usual writing. This book was really dark and I think showed his underlying thoughts about the oppression of Indians and the privilege of the Whites.
The book followed several people and their connection to the Indian community. One Indian, John Smith, who was adopted by White parents, decides to take Indian justice into his own hands ...more
The book followed several people and their connection to the Indian community. One Indian, John Smith, who was adopted by White parents, decides to take Indian justice into his own hands ...more
In the first half of the book, I was giving it 4 or 5 stars. I enjoyed the writing style, the introduction of the characters. The characters were interesting and unique. Then the second half of the book was like a big pot of hatred, anger, violence and racism and the author just kept stiring the pot and stiring the pot every now and then throwing in some spices to make you suspect a different character as the killer. I dont know if he was trying to build suspense, but I just felt frustration and...more
Ok, I recognize that this is a very well-written and compelling book. I think it would actually be a good book to teach if you were doing a class that dealt with the complicated issues of race in modern day United States. Adam and I had a lot of really interesting conversations as the result of this book--he read it outloud to me. All that being said, I didn't like reading it. It was just too dark and raw for me. If Adam hadn't been reading it out loud to me, I don't think I would have fini...more
I found this extremely disappointing. I'm a big fan of Alexie's stories and autobiographical works, so I was eager to read this. But no character in this entire novel is believable in the slightest. They are all either cyphers put in to make a point or, like the main character, just really poorly imagined. Most of Alexie's work has a beauty and bitter comedy comparable to other western writers like Denis Johnson or Sam Shepard. Stylistically, this is like a bad mass market paperback thrille...more
I admit that I mostly picked this up because a character in Shadow Unit mentioned it. (If you aren't reading that, go. Go now. You can finish reading this in a couple weeks when you're done.)
And, umm. It's been quite a while since I read my last Sherman Alexie book, (although for various reasons I ended up seeing Smoke Signals about six times), so I can't really compare this one to anything else.
What I've got is that the book was a slow read. Depressing, angry, a...more
And, umm. It's been quite a while since I read my last Sherman Alexie book, (although for various reasons I ended up seeing Smoke Signals about six times), so I can't really compare this one to anything else.
What I've got is that the book was a slow read. Depressing, angry, a...more
This was the first Alexie I read, though I was already a huge fan of the film Smoke Signals. It is characteristic of his writing in that it is steeped in the American Indian culture of the Northwest, however, its tone is much darker than anything else I've read by him.
The story centers on a group of American Indians attending college off of the reservation. At the same time a series of ritualistic murders are rocking the Seattle community. You see each murder through the eyes of t...more
The story centers on a group of American Indians attending college off of the reservation. At the same time a series of ritualistic murders are rocking the Seattle community. You see each murder through the eyes of t...more
I am a big fan of Alexie's writing but somehow had managed not to read this, probably his most popular book, until recently. As usual, there's a playfulness at work underlying more serious social commentary. Alexie both exploits and calls into question the detective/mystery genre. The protagonist is so complex that I almost felt like I left the novel knowing less about the protagonist than I did in the opening chapters. For the entire novel I wondered what he was really capable of, and because o...more
Alexie's thriller gets you to reflect on what race really means to you the reader. You come to conclusions and then later realize that you took something for granted about racial identity while reading and the text challenges you to revisit those assumptions as you piece together the mystery. It's also a truly creepy book with great suspense.
Some of the character development is a little weak, but perhaps that's intentional. Maybe Alexie treats his characters as stereotypes so that...more
Some of the character development is a little weak, but perhaps that's intentional. Maybe Alexie treats his characters as stereotypes so that...more
The intertwining stories of people in the seattle area revolving around the mysterious serial killer dubbed the "Indian Killer" because of his calling card: two bloody owl feathers. Alexie is a brilliant author in touch with the Indian perspective, history, and culture. This novel was better because it described locations that I'm very familiar with. And I loved the character Truck, a loud-mouthed radio host in the mold of Rush Limbaugh. A thrilling novel that reveals the plight of...more
Alexie himself considers this his worst book because he didn't know how it ended and because it was trying to a "big" book. I loved it. Loved it. To me it speaks of the anger and grief and hate that result when people are hurt, abused, humiliated, sold, and used over many, many generations. White people need to hear about these feelings more. Need to listen. Need to stop being defensive. It's not about responsibility. It's about how suffering feels. Right up there with Spike Lee...more
A seriously intense book...similar themes to other Alexi books but in a darker context. Interesting to read after having read Twilight where one of the main characters is Native American and the book is absolutely void of any race issues...the way I was raised to think. Anyway, this book was awesome - gives you a lot to think about as you are reading...what your assumptions about the plot say about your own biases and perspectives on race relations and the overlapping of factors that contribute ...more
An un-put-downable murder-mystery novel, with all the elements typical of the genre: a psychotic serial killer, a retired ex-homicide detective, and a cast of possible suspects. The plot centers around John, a Native American man from an unknown tribe, ho was adopted at birth by a white couple in Seattle. Not really belonging either to white middle-class suburbia, or to the local Native population, he grows up without friendship or a sense of belonging. To make matters worse, his adoptive paren...more
I’ve had this book on my shelf for 12 years and just picked it up. It was well wrought. It will stay with me for a long time. As a “murder mystery,” it was far from traditional… For me, it wasn’t about actually identifying “the” killer at the end, but exploring the experience and motivations of all the characters, and their potential for both creation and destruction, love and hate, laughter and despair…and the ways in which they simply survived.
Most of the characters were sympathet...more
Most of the characters were sympathet...more
The powerful white men of Seattle had created a law that made it illegal to sit on the sidewalk. That ordinance was crazier and much more evil than any homeless person. Sometimes Marie wondered if she worked so hard at everything only because she hated powerful white men. She wondered if she went to college and received good grades just because she was looking for revenge. She woke up at four in the morning to study before she went to class. She rushed from the University down to the shelte...more
I loved Alexie's earlier books (The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Reservation Blues), but this book disappointed me. Not that it isn't brilliantly written, or that there aren't lots of great characters and ideas in it, but it's way too full of sadistic violence for my taste. I'm sure Alexie, who is dedicated to telling the unromanticized truth about the modern Native American experience, felt that he needed to somehow express the sort of cultural rage of that community, and I guess ...more
As a whole, I like Alexie's writing style. He's both descriptive and to the point. The subject matter was serious but the book also has funny lines and moments of levity. The chapters are really short, so the action keeps moving. In Indian Killer Alexie does a good job of portraying the fear and the anger that can quickly arise in a community, especially when it is believed that a person of a one race is committing crimes against another race. His depiction of Indian life in Seattle was just as...more
I'm trying to add reviews of books I may not have read in awhile so I'll keep this short. I've kept most of Alexie's books but I gave away and/or sold this one.
It was still good, and it still explored the idea of what it means, and how others interpret what it means to be a "real" Indian; along with exploring the people who feel entitled to write or teach about it without having a real knowledge. At some points though, I wonder if Alexie feels that only Native American ...more
It was still good, and it still explored the idea of what it means, and how others interpret what it means to be a "real" Indian; along with exploring the people who feel entitled to write or teach about it without having a real knowledge. At some points though, I wonder if Alexie feels that only Native American ...more
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Sherman J. Alexie, Jr., was born in October 1966. A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, he grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, WA, about 50 miles northwest of Spokane, WA. Alexie has published 18 books to date.
Alexie is an award-winning and prolific author and occasional comedian. Much of his writing draws on his experiences as a modern Native American. Sherman's best known w...more
More about Sherman Alexie...
Alexie is an award-winning and prolific author and occasional comedian. Much of his writing draws on his experiences as a modern Native American. Sherman's best known w...more
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“Listen" said Mather. "I understand what you're going through, I really do. An Indian woman in college. I understand. I'm a Marxist."
Really," said Marie. "I'm a Libra.”
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3 people liked it
Really," said Marie. "I'm a Libra.”
“The killer simply picked any one of the men in gray suits and followed them from office building to cash machine, from lunchtime restaurant back to office building. Those gray suits were not happy, yet showed their unhappiness only during moments of weakness. Punching the buttons of a cash machine that refused to work. Yelling at a taxi that had come too close. Insulting the homeless people who begged for spare change. But the killer also saw the more subtle signs of unhappiness. A slight limp in uncomfortable shoes. Eyes closed, head thrown back while waiting for the traffic signal. The slight hesitation before opening a door. The men in gray suits wanted to escape, but their hatred and anger trapped them.”
—
3 people liked it
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