This beautiful book is filled with many wonderful maps as well as early western journals desribing the first explorations of the Ohio Country by white settlers and their encounters with the many native tribes that called Ohio home in the mid to late 18th century. Including such important accounts as Christopher Gist, who was the first white man to chronicle his explorations of the Ohio wilderness, John Heckewelder and David Zeisberger, the famous Moravian missionaries who founded a number of Christian Indian towns in eastern Ohio and who help support the American cause during the Revolution in the west, Col. Henry Bouquet, the leader of a military expedition into Ohio in 1764 to help put down Pontiac's Rebellion, as well as many others whose explorations and contact with the Indians proved valuable to posterity. Early maps are compared with modern versions to try to locate a number of vanished Indian villages in a way never done before, thus providing a new perspective on the locations of modern roads and cities to their old Indian counterparts, particularly in the areas around modern Coshocton at the Forks of the Muskingum River. This area was also the site of the ill-fated Fort Laurens, the first American military installation in the Ohio Country. This is a wonderful reference book and is highly recommended to anyone with an interst in Ohio or frontier history.

This book has a wonderful review and information about plants in the Missouri River Region of the United States, and a bunch of information as to how some of the tribes in the local area used them traditionally. My only beef with the book is that the authors did not do another one for at least one other region of the US - wish they would!

The dialogue was trite and unrealistic. The characters did not have different voices and were very flat and superficial. In addition, the dialogue got even worse when more "traditional Natives" spoke, illuminating her views on intelligence on the reservations.

Coel's knowledge about Native Americans and reservation life leaves a lot to be desired. Vicky, the "native" lawyer was more American than a Valley Girl. She appeared to completely embrace American ways and completely abondon her tradition without thought. Although other works might explain her context to the reservation and Native life, I kept having to remind myself that she was Native American since she seems more like the misguided non-native attempting to help rather than a member of the society. This story is structured so that all of the negative elements of reservation life occurred in the past rather than the fact they continue to occur. Coel's work reflects the idea that went behind the creation of Reservations in the first place; keep them on the reservation until they are acculturated into modern society. Her work reflects the idea that Native American culture is a thing of the past and should simply remain there.

For a more accurate view of Native American life read Sherman Alexie or even Tony Hillerman. Both write mysteries and both make the distinction between fact and mere fantasy.

Father O'Malley demonstrates his humanity and detective abilities in The Lost Bird. The women in his life add to the challenges of solving murders. His niece arrives unexpectedly after the death of an elderly priest who returned to the Wyoming reservation seemingly to die. There are questions on the Moccasin Trail (Indian gossip-line) about O'Malley's relationships to his red-haired niece and female colleague.

As always, Margaret Coel handles her subject-matter with sensitivity. Her insight into the man behind the cloth is moving, not sensational.

The denouement will satisfy her fans and attract new readers.

If you like the Native American culture you will appreciate this mystery even more. The characters have depth and you can't help but get emotionally involved in their plight. Good from cover to cover.

After consuming everything Hillerman has written, and learning something new about Native American culture from each book, and after Hillerman's squib on the Dust jacket, my expectations were set so far above what this trite book delivered that even two stars seems kind... As a 1/8 Arapaho [& 1/8 Blackfoot] i had hoped to learn something about their life. The characterizations were also paper thin, including both the male and female protagonists... and the denouement was telegraphed for miles... ergo, even as a mystery/suspense novel, this one flunked.

Ghost Walker is the story of Father O'Malley a Jesuit priest who works at St. Francis on the Arapaho reservation, and in his free time solves crime. Father O'Malley is a likeable character, with two problems: he has just discovered a body in a ditch by the side of the road, and two: he has financial trouble and is having difficulty making ends meet.

I wanted to like Ghost Walker, because it contained some of my favorite fictional elements: Native American Characters and Mystery, but the writing was inconsistent, and I really couldn't decide whether this book was supposed to be a 'cozy' mystery or hard-edged murder mystery, as a result it was neither, and the story suffered as a result.

Pros: Unique characters, interesting setting, some Native American Lore described.

Cons: O'Malley interfered WAY too much in Police Investigations. Police AND FBI, seemed to sit by the phone, waiting for O'Malley to call. (Yeah, right.) Substance and Alcohol Abuse themes felt a little bit heavy-handed for this reader, and I felt a bit sermonized to. The ending left me saying: Where's the mystery?

Overall, this was an okay read. I would have liked it better if it had been either a hard-edged mystery or a cozy. As both, it was rather weak, and it left me with a blah, ambivalent feeling.

This series by Ms. Coel is refreshing because the main characters are not perfect people. They are just like us with doubts and failures and struggles to deal with while solving crimes too. Excellent story telling and the Native American/southwestern flavor is a plus.

I really expected to like this book. I like John Hockenberry's work on NPR, and the subject matter is near and dear to my heart. But the novel just doesn't work very well. I think the author tries to weave 3 or 4 ideas too many into the plot, and the story and characters suffer as a result. The characters end of being cartoony, their motivations end up being very sketchy and unconvincing, and by the end I just didn't really care what happened. And as another reviewer points out, Mr Hockenberry glosses over an aftermath of immense contamination and suffering.
The only reason I'm giving it 2 stars is that his writing style and descriptions of scenery are good. Alas, that's not enough.

This first novel of Hockenberry is promoted as a thriller or a mystery. I think both of those designations do not do justice to this book. This book demands that the reader think, and it is hardly light and banal reading. As another reviewer has stated, the author uses 'stream of conciousness' which was very difficult for me to understand at first. There are so many characters involved with such different backgrounds, values, and belief systems...that at first it was extremely difficult to follow. However, this is one of those books that the reader must stick with and ultimately not only is it worth it, but after closing the book when finished, the mind is racing and wondering "Is this a real possibility?"

Hockenberry has the background as a journalist to acquire information about subjects that many writers do not have the ability to do. He takes full advantage of this to weave a story with a basis in reality that is shocking in its telling. Like most people, I know a little bit about all the topics he raises: the rights of Native Americans, our historical past concerning nuclear arms and nuclear energy, the prejudices that exists against people and their beliefs, the all too real tendency of corporations and government to discard their loyal workers after years of grueling and thankless work, and the environmental impact of our country's energy needs. This book greatly expanded my understanding of many of these topics, and piqued my interest in both the Northwest and the Native Americans from that area (I immediately went to the web to look up the dams on the Columbia River). To me this is a sign of a great book and a good writer. When people are moved to find out more about subject matters because the author has made it so interesting, then the author has more then succeeded.

I hope that Hockenberry continues to write, and continues to provide us with books that make us stop and think. Definitely worth the time and the money... Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

"A River Out Of Eden" sounds like it might be a very pastoral and peaceful novel about a beautiful river. Yes, the river is beautiful, and the country it flows through is likewise pastoral -- and the river is very real. It is the mighty Columbia. Hockenberry has done a great deal of research of the region. Many issues make up this fascinating novel about the Chinook native peoples, the dams on the river, white supremacists, a plutonium researche at Hanford, excessively heavy rain that treatens the strength of the dams. When people begin to show up dead by a strange but familiar harpoon, Francine Smoholla, a marine biologist who happens to be part Chinook Indian decides to do some investigating. This is a real page turner, well worth your time.

i have heard alot about the man and the book from many people. so i decided to buy the book and read it myself. i must say that for a person that lived with the indians for such a long time it seems to me that denig could not overcome his prejudiced ideas of a civilized or "savage" people and although he describes the manners of the indians in much detail he speaks about them with great arrogance, prejudice and contemp much of the time. to call the indians savages, heathens, and some more contemptuous words like these after living with them for years and marrying one of them, does not show much for the man. one should take his information with much prudence and caution.

I entirely agree with the other reviewer that Denig was very prejudiced about Native Americans. For me, the value in the book - and it is great - is to have rare information about these tribes before their near-disappearance. Denig seems to save his harshest criticisms for the tribes that were most independent, and his stories about these groups give us a glimpse into their lives. I would very much recommend this book to people who are interested in the early 19th century world of the Upper Missouri.

Mr. Skimin's book is not for people who have in-depth knowledge of the Little Big Horn; but I don't think it's for people who don't know much about it, either.

There is too much low-skill novelizing. Too many real people brought in just to make a book, mixed in with invented folk who read like cliches. The true and known stories from 1876 are strong enough without inventing sex in the tipi (Indian side), the jocular inventions in the Bismark brothel (soldier side), and the invented conversations between the Custers (tho fortunately Skimin does draw the veil with Autie and Libbie). And why use a real person's name and make him a racist/sadist if you're going to invent a Jewish victim? Why not invent the sadist too? That didn't seem fair to the real sergeant. Mr. Skimin willingly invented half a dozen Indians and gave them leading roles. Why not the sadist?

Aside from mixing up Miles and Myles, at the end of the book the man we've come to know and admire as Frederick Benteen suddenly becomes Thomas Benteen. Fred's brother was there? Clearly there was no editor on this project, but Mr. Skimin must have been napping when he read the galleys.

Mr. Skimin did a very good job of building a narrative around Custer's last winter. This may be the first time I can tell you where he was from December to May 1876, and I've read everyone from van de Water to Utley.

But I didn't appreciate the fictionalized last stand, with Keogh or Keough being run through by our Indian hero, nor the detailed inventions of how many times Tom Custer was shot or that Cooke was shot twice and also hit with an arrow. The book just isn't written well enough to make that stuff work. For someone who did that fine, try Hoffman Birney's "The Dice of God."

You can tell this book by it's cover. The photo of Custer is from the Civil War. He was photographed many times on the frontier. Why not use a photo more appropriate to the book? I don't know.

I was compelled to buy this book because of my long-standing interest in the conflicts between the whites and the Indians. This fictional novel, based on historical events, was found to be extremely light. Robert Skimin fleshed out characters, at times, in odd ways. I especially disliked the way real people were saddled with sexual, sadistic, and/or prejudicial characteristics. At times characters seemed to be introduced in a helter skelter manner just to add to the list of real people that he included in the novel. In places, I felt, he mixed combinations of traits just to add a new twist. For example, he had a former Jewish Russian solder, who was a black belt in Judo, defend himself against a sadistic, bigoted and not too bright sargent. Robert Skimin did stay with the historical facts surrounding General Custer and the events that led up to his defeat at the Little Bighorn but as a whole any grade school history student could have easily gotten the same information about the Sioux, Cheyenne, and the 7th Calvary.

Also recommended: Custer's Luck, Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas, Killing Custer, Black Elk Speaks, The Road to the Little Big Horn-and Beyond,

This book is a blend of fiction and history, but works better as history than as fiction. The dialogue is stilted. An example: Custer says to his wife Libbie, "You are uncommonly wanton, Madame." Libbie responds, "I like that term, you handsome devil, but you didn't answer me." (p 5) In addition, the characters are little more than caricatures, so the reader does not really get involved with them.

As history, the book demonstrates that Custer's decisions were arguably defensible based on the information he had--in one sense, "Custer's luck" had simply run out and the fates worked against him. All things considerred, though, Custer was responsible for the disaster because he was an egomaniac who, thinking he was invincible, recklessly entered into a battle he could not win. Although the book does a decent job of presenting the catastrophe from various perspectives, the book shows signs of carelessness. A minor but telling example is that the spelling constantly alternates between "Miles" and "Myles" Keough.

The River and the Horsemen will appeal to people interested in Custer's last stand, but will not hold the interest of the general reader.

At best this is a tall tale, at worst slanderous. As a student of Native American studies, I was looking for reference materials on individual Cherokee Chiefs. This book is certainly not a source to site. Just not a very good book over all.

I read Cherokee Rose and enjoyed the anecdotal trip through the early history of the Cherokee nation. The novel was action-packed and had great attention to detail.

Last summer I bought a painting of "The Spirit of Stickball." It is quite beautiful, but I couldn't understand how a sport could inspire someone to such a work of art until I read the description of the game in Cherokee Rose. I fully understand it now.

This is truly a saga of the American spirit. The author's description of people and places is worthy of Louis L'Amour. This story is filled with action and true drama of Native Americans. It tells a truer story of American History that what is taught to our children in school. If you liked Lonesome Dove you will like this book. All characters were real people and the facts are a matter of History. This book is highly recommended .

I enjoyed the first two novels in this series, but not this one. Her attorney protagonist became a shrill, irrational, self righteous zealot with no facts to support her breathless polemics. (All it would take is an unspecified "natural disaster" and then The Terrible Thing would happen!). The contrived "factual" rationalization for her position was as predictible as it was silly. This is a novel long on overly emotional protagonists drenched in self absorbed angst and prolix, confession prone bad guys, but short on rational plot development. It makes one long for Laconic Joe Leaphorn from Hillerman's novels. If you like the manufactured emotional trapeze of a soap opera, you will like this book.

I have bought Ms. Coel's other mysteries partly because her protagonists and mysteries are interesting, and partly because they are set in my home state. In this particular story, however, science was murdered in addition to a drunken cowboy, a tribal chairman, and odd assorted other unfortunates. Irritating careless errors certainly decreased my enjoyment of the book and detracted from the storyline. For instance, Ms. Coel has lightning flashes that follow closely after claps of thunder, "underground lakes" that are filled up with water pumped into oil wells to increase production, and "one to the minus six" being "much less" than "one in ten million"...(one to the minus six equals one). I found myself hunting for the next mistake instead of enjoying the mystery. Better luck next time, I hope.

Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden plays the Lone Ranger as she opposes the construction of a nuclear waste storage silo on the Legeau Ranch near the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Most of her tribe see the silo as an opportunity for jobs, but Vicky worries that the site will harm her people.

Her vocal opposition has stirred up the enmity of her opponents. One of them wants to quiet Vicky and all other opposition to the construction by using any means at his/her disposal. One opponent to the site is killed and Vicky nearly becomes a victim also. She turns to her one known ally, Father John O'Malley. Working as a team, the intrepid amateur sleuths begin to investigate why someone wants any opponents to the silo silenced. As they dig deeper, the pair becomes aware of their own attraction to each other. Still, they must solve the case if they plan to survive the silo construction.

Margaret Coel is rightfully being acknowledged as the female Tony Hillerman. The lead protagonists are wonderful characters and the story line is a very interesting blend of a modern problem (nuclear waste) and Native American folk lore. More novels like THE DREAM STALKER and readers will soon be calling Tony Hillerman the male Margaret Coel.

Harriet Klausner

Well, I am a huge Isabel Allende fan but this was too much! And I read it in Spanish so you can stop blaming the translator... I can't even begin to explain how insulted I was (and on how many levels!) by the Omaira character. On top of that, the story is one sorry new-age cliché after another. I gave the book 3 stars because despite the omnipresent [stuff] we do get a few glimpses of Isabel Allende at her best. I don't know about the rest of you but I want the old Isabel back. PRONTO.

City of the Beast is a magnificent example of Isabel Allende at her best. This book reminds us how much mystery is still left in the world. The story begins as 15-year old Alexander Cold departs from his cancer stricken mother and family the join his adventure-loving grandmother on a trip to South America. They, along with the rest of the group, search for the legendary "Beast," that is said to roam the Amazon. During his journey Alex befriends the local guide's daughter, Nadia, who has a gift with nature and languages. One night they are captured by the People of the Mist, and shown a whole new world beyond their own. There the two put to the test of the tribe, but with their totemic animals Alex and Nadia (or Jaguar and Eagle) have the strength to survive and save the People of the Mist. City of the Beast has mystery and action all throughout the book, but it does leave the reader at the end hanging with questions unanswered. This book is complex in some instances, but still has my recommendation as a fine piece of literary work.

Isabel Allende's book speaks to the hearts of those who are ready to change their emotional attitudes.
This novel describes attitude change in a teenager, a change from being self-centered, sour, rigid, and emotionally blind (with
respect to the needs of others) to a sharing, helpful, more altruistic, and more positive outlook. This is a change that some
readers are not interested in contemplating, at this time in their life, for various reasons, and so we may hear their complaints
that this book is not "entertaining" or that this story does not make a practical sense.
Allende has extended the realm of so called magical realism to her allegorical stories of the wounded and partly frozen heart in
which most characters on their life journey may slowly learn to move away from impulsive hatred, or from their lonely struggle
for finding their private comfortable role in life, further on to a more spiritual unity with others.
Allende's book is prone to confuse numerous readers. Some may object that the imaginary world of her novel no longer
matches the standard materialistic outlook on life, or that there are too many unexpected changes in her narrative style, in the
depth and scope of the vocabulary, or that her story is not a light entertainment.
For example, some persons (both in her novel and in the real life) indeed may understand each other, at times, without knowing
each other's language. The fact that not everyone can replicate this (or at least views himself unable of replicating this at least
once in his life) does not annihilate the existence of this uncommon phenomenon.
Allende's story has several symbolic levels and latent meanings or aspects, similarly to abstract paintings. Some of the frequent
criticisms of this particular novel may be compared to those faced by Van Gogh for his paintings of sunflowers, or of wooden
chairs, or of the trees moving in the wind.
The paintings by Henri Rousseau were often misunderstood by some as paintings "for children" and this particular book by
Isabel Allende is, in fact, mistakenly classified in many Canadian libraries as the one for the children's section. However, if we view this classification positively, it has the advantage of making the book accessible to teenagers.
I have listened to this book in Spanish (from audiotapes) while commuting in my car. After hearing the whole book more than 5 times, I have developed more appreciation for its poetic and rather unpredictable language and symbols. I am looking forward to obtaining more of Allende's books on audiotapes, hopefully in her original Spanish.
Not everybody is ready for this particular novel of Isabel Allende. However, it is a much needed tool for those human beings
that have a need to engage in a similar allegorical journey, in a jungle of symbols, allusions via simplifications, and with an
emotional symphony.