Winter Counts in Around the World in 80 Books

Nov 17, 2020 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, r2020-in-2020

When Sybil died, everyone said that the grief would get better over time, but that hadn’t happened. What I’d discovered was that sadness is like an abandoned car left out in a field for good—it changes a little over the years, but doesn’t ever disappear. You may forget about it for a while, but it’s still there, rusting away, until you notice it again.

A Lakota vigilante who drives around in an old Ford Pinto? Yes, please! There’s a lot for me to like here, but it’s also clearly a debut eff ...more

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Feb 14, 2022 Tony rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, crime, setting-us, novels

This debut crime novel stands out for its grounding in the real-life Rosebud Indian Reservation in southern South Dakota and the Sicangu Lakota people who live there. The author belongs to both, and does an excellent job both describing the reservation (one bar, one terrible pizza place, one shabby casino) and the dilemmas faced by its people. The protagonist is Virgil Wounded Horse, a 30-something guy who works odd jobs, such as construction and beating up people for money. As the book makes cl This debut crime novel stands out for its grounding in the real-life Rosebud Indian Reservation in southern South Dakota and the Sicangu Lakota people who live there. The author belongs to both, and does an excellent job both describing the reservation (one bar, one terrible pizza place, one shabby casino) and the dilemmas faced by its people. The protagonist is Virgil Wounded Horse, a 30-something guy who works odd jobs, such as construction and beating up people for money. As the book makes clear (and plenty of research has demonstrated), law enforcement on reservations is very spotty due to the interplay between tribal police and Federal authorities -- the latter of which have jurisdiction over felonies, and who consistently underprosecute these. Virgil is an example of real-life enforcers, who will punish those who escape legal punishment.

When heroin starts to appear on the reservation, Virgil is hired by a tribal councilman to take care of the problem, a notorious bad dude who was also Virgil's tormentor in school. Teaming up with Virgil is his old flame Marie, who's also the councilman's daughter. But when Virgil's live-in nephew gets caught up in the reservation drug scene, the stakes and complications get elevated. The plotting is a little rudimentary -- Virgil and Marie poke around Nebraska and Denver, and some connections are made. Many readers will spot the story's true villain very early on, so there's a certain amount of waiting for the puzzle pieces to all fall in place.

Along with the main story, there's a subplot about Virgil and Marie getting back together and her leaving for medical school, and another one about an indiginous chef from Los Angeles who's trying to get people to eat differently. A running theme is Virgil's distance from his heritage, and his gradual embrace of various ceremonies and traditions. It's all pretty interesting, but at times comes across as a little didactic and too on the nose. Still, many of my favorite crime books are also social and cultural histories, and this falls nicely into that tradition of crime writing. The book ends with a teaser for another story, and I'll definitely seek that one out when it appears. ...more

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Oct 11, 2020 Andy Plonka rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: src

This novel offers a look at the Lakota Indian culture through he eyes of a man trying to save his nephew from a charge of selling illegal drugs on the reservation. More than a little violent, it shows how the powers that be in the United States still treat Native Americans as second class citizens under laws that ought not to exist.

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