Bone Game: A Novel (Volume 10)

by Louis Owens

Bone Game is a murder mystery on a grand scale. Cole McCurtain, a mixed-blood Indian professor of Indian Studies at Santa Cruz, California, is haunted by dreams dating back to events of Spanish California. Images of a Spanish priest murdered in 1812, a rearing grizzly bear, and a black-and-white painted Indian who offers bones in his extended hands come at a time when dismembered pieces of a young woman are washing ashore in 1993. The dreams become increasingly urgent as the murders become more frequent, and Cole’s family and friends gather to help—including Choctaw relatives who travel west from Mississippi because "this story’s so big, Cole sees only a little bit of it."

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Native American, Indigenous, College, Novels, Crime

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Professor Owens was my American literature teacher at Cal State University Northridge in 1984. Not only was he a great educator, but also a fine writer. The Bone Game is an interesting mixture of Indian culture, the cruelty of the Spanish missionaries, and a murder mystery both in the past and present. A story well worth reading.

[Carlie Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really really good Native American history mystery story with lots of twists.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really fun read, with a fast-paced and intriguing murder mystery storyline, interesting characters, and lots of humor. The central character, Cole McCurtain, a mixed blood professor of literature in California, is an engaging protagonist; his daughter, Abby, is a likable and believable young woman; his friend Alex, a fellow professor and a Navajo Indian who likes to wear dresses is funny without becoming the butt of jokes by the book or the author.

The best thing about this novel is its humor. All of the characters are willing and able to poke fun of the roles they are expected to inhabit and this gives the book a real sense of humanity. As Alex says, "humor's what gets Indians through the tough times" (190). For example, during one conversation between Alex and Cole, Alex suggests an NSF proposal to dig up Puritan graves as anthropological research, saying, "My basic argument is that it's imperative we Indians learn more about Puritan culture. Puritans had a significant impact on us." He continues, "we would document everything from the health and disease patterns of colonial settlers to burial customs, diet, nutrition, and social status. We'll do cranial measurements to figure out how intelligent the Puritans were, compared to us, and test teeth and bone samples for dietary information. Puritans were a primitive but fascinating people." He winds up by saying that although some people might be upset at the thought of exhuming their ancestors, "it's science, Cole. We can't allow their primitive superstitions to stand in the way of science" (180). This is a fabulously funny reversal of the treatment given to Indians and Indian artifacts. One more example, one that really hit home for me and made me laugh aloud. Alex suggests that he and Cole leave their university: "I mean, you've got cannibal prayer sticks and bear tracks turning up in your yard. There's a psycho out there killing people. I could get you a position at Navajo Community College. Five classes of composition" (133). Cole responds, "Dismemberment is preferable."

This novel is not all fun and games, however. It is also a reminder of the horrible histories of the United States, the awful things done to American Indians in the name of God and in the name of profit. It is a reminder that "nothing's ever lost." As one character says, "We pretend that the past is over, that ten or thirty or two hundred years puts a distance between us and what we were. But we know in our hearts there is no such thing as the past" (176). The past is not meant to overwhelm the present, however. It must be acknowledged, but it is no good to live for or in the past: "It's not wrong to survive. I see Indians all the time who are ashamed of surviving, and they don't even know it. We have survived a five-hundred-year war in which millions of us were starved to death, burned in our homes, shot and killed with disease and alcohol. It's a miracle any Indian is alive today. Why us, we wonder. We read their books and find out we're supposed to die. That's the story they've made up for us. Survivor's guilt is a terrible burden, and so we feel guilty if we have enough food, a good home, a man or woman who loves us" (165). Bone Game is a warning that "people got to live with what they made" (209), both in the past and the present.

[Juanita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review: Bone Game by Louis Owens. 3.5★'s 05/09/2017

This is the sequel to The Sharpest Sight . The book is well-written, and I could feel Owens insights to real life events that gave the story some realism, The characters were interesting and the story was understandable once I got use to his writing style. The story is woven back and forth from present murders to early Spanish Colonial events. Owens writing style of prose and symbolism imagery was slow at the start but as I read on I had no problem following where his story, past and present, was going. As a murder mystery Owens also enlighten the story with some humor among many visions and dreams.

The main character, Cole McCurtain a professor of Indian studies at Santa Cruz, California College is disturbed by dreams that date back to events with imagery of a Spanish priest who was murdered in 1812. At the present time of 1993 his dreams get worse as dismembered pieces of a woman’s body parts are discovered washing up on the shores of California. As the female students murders become frequent Cole starts drinking a lot of alcohol, eats very little and begins to hate his profession as his life goes nowhere. Cole’s not sure if his dreams and nightmares are related to the Native American past or present history.

His family, friends and even distant Choctaw relatives from Mississippi came to support Cole’s through the demons he felt were haunting him. His dreams were also visited by a black bear and a tall naked man whose body was all white on the left side and all black on the right side, which for some reason he called the mysterious Indian gambler. His Daughter, Abby who lived with her mother, came to stay with him and his transvestite Navajo friend encourage him to confront a myth of a centuries-old evil force that was unleashed by the Spanish missionaries of cruel treatment towards Native Americans.

Owens entwines the past and future together so the reader by now is saying, what does this have to do with the present murders? If I understood this right some of the dreams were real events happening in the present time and some events from the past murders and treatment of Native Americans were his dreams. Cole’s fear was so great that he combing them. The reader is not the confused person, it is Cole McCurtain, the main character who is confused…

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first read by Louis Owens was “Nightland” which I enjoyed. This one was a bit of a disappointment.

The word “disjointed” keeps coming to mind as I search for terms to describe the plot. The dreams/visions of the murdered Spanish priest, the present-day murder mystery, and the journey of Hoey and Luther from Mississippi to California never seemed to coalesce into a coherent whole.

I realized at some point that I should have started with “The Sharpest Sight” and I’m about to read that next. If “Bone Game” makes any more sense to me after I’ve read its predecessor, I promise I’ll come back and edit my review. And possibly change my rating.

Okay, having finished Sight, I stand by my earlier rating and comments. Sight is far superior. Read it before reading Bone Game. And then consider Bone Game optional - as far as my recommendations go.

[Kateri · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Beautifully written novel! This is the third time I've written this review so I'm going to have to keep it short. If you are hoping this is going to be a page-turning crime novel then I must burst your bubble a little, but it is a beautiful character study and exploration of Native American and mixed-blood themes. The murder mystery aspect certainly takes a back seat but it does remain necessary to the progression of the plot and the overall point of the story; though, I will say it's kind of a long and ambiguous ride to the finish end. I loved the realistic yet uniquely stand-out characters as well as the dark humor present throughout. I would not say the reveal at the end is very surprising (I basically saw it coming), but again that's not really the point of the novel. This book is more so trying to talk about history and time, identity and loss, all in relation to Native themes. And like I said, a wonderful dark humor shines through! In fact, there may or may not be a scene involving the skinning of a deer on a California University campus that may or may not be one of my new all time favorite scenes in a novel ever. Sooo good! Just. So good.

[RB Love · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is books like this that make you fear when you will find another one as good. The Sharpest Sight is the other book by Louis Owens that I have read. This one is better. More full and whole, the prose is strong and the narrative is quick paced, Native American-noir, a term Owens should have capitalized on.
Similar to all his fiction books, the main character, Cole McCurtain, is based on Owens himself. He was a half-breed Choctaw/Irish. A professor of English/Creative Writing and Native American studies at UCSC for a short time which was where I came to know him and where the setting of Bone Game takes place.
Owens mixes Santa Cruz Mountain murder legends in with his own mystical Native American dreamscapes with the irresistable UCSC hypocritical hippie student culture vibe. But he doesn't do it cloyingly as other books I have read do. He doesn't rely on the quirkiness of Santa Cruz, the university and its students. He underplays all that and rolls it into a canvass of much deeper tones, undertones and movements. The cover art for Bone Game, "Melting Retreat" by Veloy Virgil is strongly compatible with the book.
Satisfying is what you walk away with. Bone Game even helps to assuage the hole, (albiet ever so slightly), that Owens left with his inexplicable suicide in 2002.
http://articles.sfgate.com/2002-10-06...

[Jack Massa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting mixture of thriller and "literary" novel.

Dense and overwritten at times, as one might expect from a college-professor novelist. And the protagonist is a disillusioned middle-aged English professor who drinks too much and despises his students-- we always need more novels like that, right?

Only this English prof is a Native American, beset with troubling spirit visions. Now that is interesting.

By far the best aspects of the book are the various Native American characters and their adventures and perspectives dwelling in contemporary (circa 1996) America. This is the heart of the novel, and the thriller aspects are connected to it thematically. And yet, the thriller plot line feels layered on, and the thriller resolution feels contrived.

Still, because of its characters, humor, and authentic Native American voice, this one is worth the read.

[Sarah Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louis Owens’ Bone Game is a deeply psychological murder mystery surrounding Cole McCurtain, a mix blooded Indian, who is a professor of English and Indian Studies at UC Santa Cruz. Owens implements many aspects of traditional Native American storytelling, such as the trickster figure, and the myth of the Gambler. Ghost walk and think among people in Bone Game; Owens seamlessly transitions from modern mystery thriller to mystical folklore, tying all these aspects together to tell a story about the importance of remember the past and maintaining a strong sense of cultural identity. I especially appreciated the way Owens uses dark humor throughout the story; it adds depth to the story and is a technique I would like to become better acquainted with.

[Katy Lassiter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cole McCurtain is a Native American studies professor at University of Santa Cruz. He's also half Native American. However, he's lost what that used to mean to him. All that's left is the jargon he spits out for his students semester after semester. However, when dismembered bodies start showing up on the beaches of Santa Cruz and Cole starts seeing a man known as the Gambler outside his window, Cole realizes that something has changed and he no longer has the connection to figure it out. Owens does an amazing job of blending traditional Native American culture with California past and future.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled with dark humor and even darker history, Louis Owens makes you remember that practically ever part of the United States is haunted by atrocities of the past that seem to be forgotten. He employs an actual series of serial killing that occurred during the 1970s around UC Santa Cruz as the basis for this novel, which revolves around indigenous tribal spirits rising up from the past to wreak havoc on the present and with obviously good reason! In any case, now whenever I visit Santa Cruz, I can't help but think of the woods as being haunted.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bone game is about rituals in Native American tribes. The novel is incredibly intense and mysterious at all times. The line between real and fantasy becomes blurred and almost invisible at most points in the novel. The novel focuses on the ritual and story and almost has nothing to do with white think, so the read can be quite confusing. However, this book is well worth it for any writer looking for a different scope of imagination.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book, especially because I lived in the Bay Area during the time period in which the novel is set. I love how Owens attacks Native American stereotypes by diving into them and creates a book that makes the reader question culture, academia, and involves a murder mystery all at the same time.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suspect many readers will find this story a bit of a jumble, but if they hang in there they will be rewarded. The characters are layered, and interesting.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

♥

[Wyshona D. Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great mystery with some native magical elements!