David Schwinghammer's Blog - Posts Tagged "navajo-reservation"
Rock With Wings
In her second attempt at continuing the Leaphorn/Chee/Mauelito saga, Anne Hillerman centers on several plots and subplots.
The first one involves a speeding citation Bernie Mauelito issues to a man named Miller who has a gun in his glove box and a rifle in his trunk with two boxes full of seeming dirt. It's against the law to carry a gun in your car on the Navajo reservation. Although there's a drug sting going on, the FBI doesn't seem at all interested in Miller, but Bernie won't let it go.
She and Jim Chee are planning a vacation in Monument Valley, one of the most beautiful areas on the reservation. But a motion picture is being made there, involving zombies of course, and some violence seems to have occurred at one of the hotels. The Navajo police are short on investigators so Chee is asked to handle it. Chee finds blood and later a body. Their vacation is cut short when Bernie receives a call from a neighbor telling her her sister, Darlene, has left her mother alone. Another rather mundane plot involves a new tourist business Chee's clan brother has set up. Chee tries to fix the ancient people mover his clan brother wants to use to take the tourists to the sites.
Oh, yes, Chee also finds a grave at one of the tourist sites. It's been recently dug. Chee is suspicious the movie company wants to use the grave site for publicity. Then they find the residue of human bones. Once again Joe Leaphorn doesn't see a whole lot of action, although Chee does ask him for his opinion on the grave and items found there. This time Anne Hillerman has an excuse; he was shot in the head in the last episode and can't speak. When they get him a new laptop he is revitalized and makes some important contributions.
Back in Shiprock, Bernie finds a burning car near an elderly Navajo's house. He claims a skinwalker did it. Coincidentally the car belongs to Miller.
All in all there are too many subplots and the resolutions to some of them leave a lot to be desired. During a climax scene at the old Navajo's house, no body seems to recognize the so-called skinwalker who comes to the rescue. Bernie doesn't put two and two together, even when she's sitting behind the “skinwalker” in a car later on. The skinwalker's motivation is also suspect. Why would he/she come to their rescue when he was shot at previously?
Don't give up on our favorite character's involvement in the next episode, if there is one. The Lieutenant has asked Joe Leaphorn to work part-time at his own pace, and he has accepted.
The first one involves a speeding citation Bernie Mauelito issues to a man named Miller who has a gun in his glove box and a rifle in his trunk with two boxes full of seeming dirt. It's against the law to carry a gun in your car on the Navajo reservation. Although there's a drug sting going on, the FBI doesn't seem at all interested in Miller, but Bernie won't let it go.
She and Jim Chee are planning a vacation in Monument Valley, one of the most beautiful areas on the reservation. But a motion picture is being made there, involving zombies of course, and some violence seems to have occurred at one of the hotels. The Navajo police are short on investigators so Chee is asked to handle it. Chee finds blood and later a body. Their vacation is cut short when Bernie receives a call from a neighbor telling her her sister, Darlene, has left her mother alone. Another rather mundane plot involves a new tourist business Chee's clan brother has set up. Chee tries to fix the ancient people mover his clan brother wants to use to take the tourists to the sites.
Oh, yes, Chee also finds a grave at one of the tourist sites. It's been recently dug. Chee is suspicious the movie company wants to use the grave site for publicity. Then they find the residue of human bones. Once again Joe Leaphorn doesn't see a whole lot of action, although Chee does ask him for his opinion on the grave and items found there. This time Anne Hillerman has an excuse; he was shot in the head in the last episode and can't speak. When they get him a new laptop he is revitalized and makes some important contributions.
Back in Shiprock, Bernie finds a burning car near an elderly Navajo's house. He claims a skinwalker did it. Coincidentally the car belongs to Miller.
All in all there are too many subplots and the resolutions to some of them leave a lot to be desired. During a climax scene at the old Navajo's house, no body seems to recognize the so-called skinwalker who comes to the rescue. Bernie doesn't put two and two together, even when she's sitting behind the “skinwalker” in a car later on. The skinwalker's motivation is also suspect. Why would he/she come to their rescue when he was shot at previously?
Don't give up on our favorite character's involvement in the next episode, if there is one. The Lieutenant has asked Joe Leaphorn to work part-time at his own pace, and he has accepted.
