Book Description
Ute shaman Daisy Perika is no stranger to eerie dreams, but when she has a nightmare, lives could be at stake. Convinced that her visions of a wisp-thin girl with blood dripping from her hands are omens, the old woman calls on her nephew, Charlie Moon. Moon, a part-time tribal investigator and full-time Colorado rancher, is skeptical, but he knows better than to dismiss his quarrelsome aunt too quickly. After all, she has been right before. But what can he do? Although Daisy can see what's left of a dying man's face, she can't get a clear look at the girl's. Without that, Moon doesn't have anything to go on. Then he gets a call about a very real murder. Sarah Frank, an Ute-Papago orphan and daughter of Moon's childhood friend, was spotted standing over the battered body with blood on her hands. Moon and FBI Special Agent Lila Mae McTeague cross the border to investigate, but they're too late. Not only has little Sarah vanished with a one-of-a-kind family heirloom, but Moon and McTeague aren't the only ones on her trail. Off the reservation and across states lines, James D. Doss's clever mystery finds Moon on the law enforcement side of the investigation and his aunt Daisy decidedly on the other.
Customer Reviews:
Blood of Dreams.......2007-10-02
Ten Charlies Moon stories and John Doss still keeps the high pitch that made us fans from his first book. During my librarian days I always put John's books in the Kentucky collection, he is one of our finest writers no matter where he lives.
Charlie Moon has moved to full-time ranching, but Aunt Daisy has other plans for his time after she has a nightmare. Charlie has to cross state lines to follow her bidding when Sarah Frank, an Ute-Papago orphan disappears with a valuable heirloom and is suspected of murder. Aunt Daisy has other plans for the child. Both Charlie and Aunt Daisy are vivid characters crafted by a master.
New to the series, get to reading and discover why the old-timers and Publisher's Weekly put James D. Doss as one of the best.
Nash Black, author of SINS OF THE FATHERS and TRAVELERS.
Charlie Moon is always terrific.......2007-07-03
As always, the Charlie Moon books are great reading. Doss does his expected outstanding job of bringing Charlie, Aunt Daisy, and a cast of character to life. His descriptions of the desert and canyons of Ute country are so real you can smell the sage.
Stone Butterfly.......2007-03-25
Stone Butterfly tells a story of greed, murder and betrayal. Charlie Moon and his aunt become involved and things start to heat up. I kept wondering how it was going to end and I was in for a surprise when it did. I never caught the ever so subtle clues. I can't wait to read the next one!
I'm a fan of James Doss and love all the books he's written. Charlie Moon and his aunt Daisy are two of my all-time favorite characters. They are old friends I get to visit with every time Doss brings out a new novel in the Charlie Moon Series. The stories are full of humor as well as mystery and have yet to disappoint me.
Too clever for its own good.......2007-03-24
I've read all of Doss's Charlie Moon mysteries but I thought this one was trying to be too clever for it's own good. At times the characters seemed to be babbling. The plot was devised in such a way that the reader could not figure out the story until the very last twist, and even that left quite a few questions unanswered...(which I can't list in order not to spoil the read for prospective readers.)The book left me frustrated and ready to write to the author to get him to fill in the holes. Not one of Doss's best by a long shot.
Probably the best Moon story yet........2007-03-15
From beginning to end this held my interest. His previous book was good, but it does not hold a candle to the Stone Butterfly.
Amazon.com
It's pretty well understood that mysteries come with an implied contract. Authors, for their part, promise to deliver plots and resolutions, however improbable, with some degree of plausibility. Readers, in turn, give an author a 50-50 shot by turning down the gain on their innate disbelief. Then along comes Grandmother Spider and all bets are off.
Southern Ute tribal policeman Charlie Moon has a problem. It seems that, thanks to the imprudent squishing of a wayward spider, the giant spirit Grandmother Spider has risen from her cave below Navajo Lake and exacted revenge on humanity by snatching the research scientist William Pizinski and Tommy Tonompicket, the local carouser with whom he was drinking. Charlie knows this because the squisher was Sarah Frank, the 9-year-old ward of his elderly, shamanic, and altogether elsewhere aunt, Daisy Perika. And Daisy got it straight from a dwarfish spirit called a pitukupf.
The pitukupf half smiled, exposing jagged rows of yellowed teeth. He vigorously stirred the crooked stick in the embers under the apparition, kindling new flames. The dwarf ceremoniously lifted the helical baton like a conductor calling dark chords from an unseen orchestra. The glowing sparks swirled up the column of heated air... and the hideous image of the eight-legged creature followed. As it ascended, the grayish form took on the bright orange hue of the yellow flames beneath it. The apparition grew larger, the entrapped man struggled vainly in hope of release. And screamed piteously for someone to help him.
And that's not the half of it. Before long, Charlie and his friend, Granite Creek Police Chief Scott Parris, are up to their gun belts in national security issues, mutilated bodies, hideous creatures roaming the countryside snatching sandwiches from the mouths of 80-year-olds, and the bizarre reappearance of the two missing and now-amnesiac tipplers. And, happily, that's still not the half of it.
Grandmother Spider is Charlie Moon's sixth, strangest, and perhaps funniest airing (from 1994's The Shaman Sings through 1999's The Night Visitor). With mystery and mysticism enough to satisfy Hillerman's fans, and humor, memorable characterization, and good writing enough to satisfy everyone else, who's going to quibble about a silly old contract? -- Michael Hudson
Book Description
The incomparable mysteries of James D. Doss, featuring the amiable, outsized Ute tribal policeman Charlie Moon and his irascible shaman aunt Daisy Perika, are brilliantly conceived, richly atmospheric puzzles generously sprinkled with humor and Native American mysticism, and teeming with characters as colorful and memorable as any found in contemporary fiction. The enchantment is more potent than ever before in this spellbinding tale of lethal human depravity and a legendary nightmare come alive.
A lawman with a hardy appetite for life and an unshakable faith in the explicable and rational, Charlie Moon has never taken his grumpy aunt Daisy's visions and premonitions seriously. He is especially skeptical of the old woman's stories about "Grandmother Spider," a gargantuan avenging arachnid that allegedly rises up out of Navajo Lake in search of human prey. But on April first, in the still, utter darkness of the Colorado night, Daisy and her young ward, Sarah, see something striding across the Canon del Espiritu. And something carries off Tommy Tonompicket and his unlikely drinking companion, research scientist William Pizinski, that same night, after ripping the hood off of Tommy's truck. And then there's the mangled, headless corpse lying outside a cabin in the mountains, with two large, fanglike punctures in its chest ...
Charlie is not prepared to accept a purely supernatural explanation for the recent occurrences.
This is murder, in Moon's opinion, pure if not simple -- and by human hands, most probably.
Even Charlie's friend, matukach Police Chief Scott Parris-who is more willing than most white men to see the things that hover beyond the edge of this world -- does not yet subscribe to the "mythical monster on the loose" theory that the evidence seems to overwhelmingly suggest. For there are just too many loose threads in this twisted web of blood and secrets, too many lies being spun and sticky pasts being protected -- and soon another death all of which strongly suggest that the dreaded Kagu-ci Mukwa-pi does not, in fact, exist.
But then again ... The most audaciously original and continually surprising of his critically acclaimed novels, Grandmother Spider confirms James D. Doss as a true master of the mystical, the hilarious, and the mysterious.
Customer Reviews:
Love the whole Charlie Moon series.......2007-06-21
Magic, mystery, crime, inticate plots dosed with laugh-out-loud humor set on the Ute Indian reservation in SW Colorado. James Doss' characters are wonderful. Charlie Moon is big, brave, smart and lovable (the big jug head) and always gets his man (or woman). Even though he's a lawman, he doesn't always follow the law (but no one is supposed to know that). His elderly Aunt Daisy Perika gives a wonderful depth with her cantankerous wit and shamanistic dreams. When she teams up with her friend Louise-Marie, you know trouble's on the way. Part mystery, part western, part spooky, always tricky. Once you start this series, you'll hunger for more.
gotcha.......2006-06-16
This was interesting, and very readable. I enjoyed it, although I still say the author uses foreshadowing way too much. But in this story, the author plays some really good tricks on the reader - Charlie Moon keeps repeating there is a reasonable explanation for everything, but we get sidetracked by the metaphysical - the visions, shamans, symbolism, dreams and so on. I usually can figure out just about any mystery, but the author had me on this one. I was surprised at the resolution of the mystery, and had a good laugh, too.
Grandmother Spider: A Charlie Moon Mystery.......2005-08-04
Doss does it again. Charlie Moon is a wonderful character and Doss knows how to spin a yarn!
Great fun! perfect summer reading.......2004-05-28
Finally...a mystery so outrageous it seems unsolvable without breaking the bounds of reason...and a solution outrageous enough to work!! I loved how this book mixed elements of a modern police/detective story with Native American shamanism and even a little of the supernatural. I also enjoyed the characters, especially the old shaman Daisy ,a cranky, fiesty woman with a shrewd sense of humor, and Charlie Moon, the soft-spoken Ute police chief with an appetite for unhealthy food.
After Daisy's young charge Sarah smashes a spider with her biology book, the Shaman tells her of how Grandmother Spider will rise from Navaho Lake to revenge her spider people. That very night something carries off two men...and then the strangely mutilated body of a third victim is found--the victim of a spider attack? Soon, Charlie Moon finds himself sorting through evidence so bizzare, even HE is starting to believe in Grandmother Spider...
Fun Story.......2003-06-20
This book was an easy read. I liked the mystery, but there was little build up of suspense. He's not as good as 'early Hillerman', but it falls in line with some of Hillermans more recent work. I think Kirk Mitchell probably does a little better job of building suspense. I do plan to read one of his other books.
Book Description
Natives and newcomers can agree on one thing: Colorado is a superlative state. It has more Fourteeners than any other state, more microbreweries per capita than any other state, the highest suspension bridge in the world, the world’s largest natural hot springs pool, the tallest sand dunes in the United States, and the largest city park system in the country. If you are looking for the perfect place to camp in Colorado, your trip starts with Moon Colorado Camping. It's the ideal resource for finding campsites—from secluded alpine hike-in spots to convenient roadside stopovers—throughout the entire state.
Join expert author Sarah Ryan as she brings you: descriptions of camping options, ranging from state park campgrounds to RV parks; complete contact information and summaries of each campground's scenic features, facilities, and nearby recreation opportunities; expert tips on gear, safety, and first aid, weather, low-impact camping, and camping with kids; easy-to-use regional maps, driving directions to each campground, and details on fees, reservation services, and helpful websites.
Customer Reviews:
SUPER BOOK!!.......2007-01-10
I love this book and refer to it often. This was the most up to date book back when I purchased it. Well put together, easy to find Campgrounds. I have recommeded this book to everyone in my RV Club and many are going out to get their own copy after using mine.
Our Favorite Series of Campground Guides.......2006-11-02
As indicated by other reviewers, the Moon Outdoors (previously Foghorn Outdoors) series of campground guides is not without flaws. Even so, we know of no directories which do a better job of addressing campground aesthetics than these wonderful guides. In our experience, the look and feel of a campground is often the single greatest factor influencing the quality of a camping experience . . . and the factor totally ignored by nearly all other campground guides.
There are a number of directories which rate facilities, provide directions, tell you how to make reservations and give you an idea of the cost for a night's stay in a specific campground. This series gives similar basic information and then goes beyond that. The Moon guides actually give you a feel of what it is like to stay in a specific campground - a bit of a narrative description and a "scenic beauty rating" for each campground plus information about nearby recreation opportunities. We like that a lot.
Have we found instances where we liked a campground more or less than the book's author? Of course. Tastes differ and things change over time. Even so, we would rather have an admittedly subjective rating of a campground's intangibles than to have nothing to go on but a recitation of facts and figures.
Are the Moon Outdoors Guides the only ones we carry? No. But they are ALWAYS the first place we turn when selecting a destination campground.
Useful, Honest, Eloquent.......2006-07-20
I've been very happy using this Moon guide to pick good places to camp this summer. The book is well-organized, with clear, honest, and up-to-date information about camping in Colorado. Best of all, author Sarah Ryan manages to convey the spirit of a place in concise and creative descriptions, with sentences like "The Gates of Lodore sounds and looks like a place out of Lord of the Rings." I've camped during summers in Colorado for over a decade, and I'm impressed with how accurately this book describes familiar places. And I've been particularly delighted with how helpful it's been in my search for hidden campground gems.
The definitive guide to camping in Colorado! .......2006-06-30
Almost 500 campgrounds in Colorado, from the plugged-in to the primitive are rated by author, Sarah Ryan according to facilities, scenic beauty, and activities. Ryan manages to be practical, informative and thoroughly engaging. Take, for instance, the quote she gets from Rosy Lane camp host Ray Zimball on the cliffs full of mica that surround his campground: "on a full moon you could read a newspaper by the light." This book is a must for Colorado campers and an excellent gift for outdoor-types. The guide is absolutely up-to-date but so well-written that it will be cherished by campers for decades.
Book Description
Colorado rancher and tribal investigator Charlie Moon is taking a night off to play some poker with his best friend, Scott Parris, Granite Creek's chief of police, when Scott's dispatcher cuts in with an emergency call. It seems a man was on the phone with his wife when their call was interrupted by a bloodcurdling scream and the most gruesome noises he'd ever heard. Would they mind checking it out? Arriving on scene, they discover that the man's wife, one of three daughters of a wealthy and powerful rancher, has been mauled beyond recognition.Even after her two sisters---one of whom is a popular TV psychic who on that very night's show reported 'seeing' the real-time murder of one of her fans---turn up at the DA's office, demanding answers, the smart money and forensic experts are still laying blame on a hungry bear. But once the wheels of justice are turning and the ratings for Cassandra Sees are going through the roof, the surviving sisters are awfully quick to move on in all kinds of ways. With eyebrows and suspicions raised, Charlie and his irascible aunt Daisy, a Ute shaman whose investigative talents rely heavily on help from the spirit world, set out to track down a killer. A tight plot, quick wit, and clever crimes make Three Sisters, the twelfth installment in the popular Charlie Moon series, the newest must-have from James D. Doss.
Book Description
The latest installment in the fascinating First North American series explores the people of northwest New Mexico and southwestern Colorado, the builders of the famous Chimney Rock They were called the Chaco Anasazi. They built thirty-foot-wide roads that crossed miles of mountains and mesas and constructed five-story buildings. Their priests and warriors presided over conquered populations via an extensive system of signal towers that could send messages across the vast distances day or night. Warriors could be dispersed to quell any rebellion within hours of the start of an uprising. The moon had reached its maximum three times since the Chacoans conquered the First Moon People. The Chaco matrons had built their Great House high atop First Moon Mountain and their red-shirted warriors stalked arrogantly through the villages. But the gods can only stand so much human arrogance. Young Ripple had no desire to become a Dreamer, but when Cold Bringing Woman, the goddess of winter, appears at his high mountain camp, she sends him on a perilous quest to destroy the hated Chacoans. In retaliation, war chief Leather Hand and his warriors embark on a campaign of terror so gruesome it remains unrivaled in the annals of prehistory. It all comes to a climax atop the mountain we now know as Chimney Rock. In the white light of the lunar maximum, the Pueblo gods will danceand an empire will be engulfed in flames and mayhem.
Customer Reviews:
People of The Moon.......2007-04-06
I enjoyed every moment of the reading of this book. I found it interesting and hard to put down until I had completed it .
I have read all of the First American Series by the Gears and will continue to do so as soon as the new ones come out in paper back .
The whole series is well worth the price for anyone interested in thier interpretation of how the first native peoples in the Amerca's loved ,lived and died .
Predictable, but vivid and historically fascinating.......2007-03-10
Ironically, the criticisms I have of the writing are based on the fact that I love the Gears' series so much that I'm now familiar with their style and recurring tropes. Don't get me wrong, this is a great page-turner and I always admire how they combine anthropologicial evidence and research with fiction. Particularly for someone who is fairly new to the Gears' NA series, this is one of the better ones in a while. I do like how they take characters from People of the Sun (Nightshade, Night Sun, Ironwood) and show us their ultimate fates. I guess I'm just a little too familiar now with the stock characters of 1) Reluctant Dreamer who ends up basically predicting everything; 2)diabolical determined War Chief who will stop at nothing; 3) hot chick and nice guy who get it on after being forced to travel together. I guess that's the way of fiction: Take "adversaries" of the opposite sex, make them HAVE to hang out with each other, and they WILL fall in love ! (LOL: Of course every young woman is long-legged, big breasted and narrow-hipped.) But beyond these overly familiar themes, (oh yes, and the inevitable "Maureen's shapely [...]" theme in the introduction) the descriptions of war, the motivation for cannibalism, the historical details are all fascinating and the Gears' writing is never less than vivid and humorous.
Another Great book.......2007-01-12
I enjoyed this book, as with all the others in this series. Next it will go to my mohter, who will then read it and send it along to her neighbor. We are all fans, and this is a good, fast read.
Lynn's Review.......2007-01-11
Have been buying the First North Americans series for my adult daughter. She has encouraged me to read them also. We are both pleased with Michael & Kathleen Gear's series. Nicely written. It holds one interest and invites you to read and re-read each book.
One of their best!.......2006-12-04
I first discovered this series back when I was in high school, and have kept up with it ever since. I have read all of the books in this series, and this is one of my favorites. The Gears write in such rich detail it is just like being there sharing each experience the characters have. I love getting lost in their books. If you have read other books in this series, you must read this one too. If you have never read any of these books, what are you waiting for?!
Book Description
Charlie Moon is treading on sacred ground...and he may live to regret it. The two sandstone monoliths -- a pair of massive natural giants towering over the southern Colorado landscape -- that stand before the hulking, good-natured former policeman turned rancher are wrapped in rich tribal lore and dark, ancient mystery. To the local Navajo, Pueblo, and Ute, they are the Twin War Gods, sons of the moon goddess White Shell Woman. Legends tell of strange happenings in their shadows, whisperedtales of fire and famine, lost treasure, and blood sacrifice. But it is a much more recent history that troubles Charlie Moon, specifically the fresh corpse of a young Native American woman unearthed at an archaelogical dig, corroborated eyewitness accounts of a nightmarish figure appearing and disappearing abruptly in the darkness of the Colorado night...and the discovery of the qrisly remains of an old Navajo who seems to have spontaneously combusted.Charlie's aunt, Daisy Perika -- an aging, cantankerous Ute shaman prone to frightening visions of death and catastrophe -- has warned her nephew away from this haunted place. No good can come, she tells him, from violating cursed ruins where Anasazi priests have consigned the lives of innocents to sacrificial flames.But Charlie Moon's insatiable appetite for heavy, greasy food and good living is surpassed only by his love for justice and the truth. Though the truth Aunt Daisy's words have rung loud internal alarm bells, the dedicated onetime lawman is unwilling to abandon his murder investigation. Somewhere, he believes, in this bizarre tangle of ancient and modern-day evils are answers grounded more in contemporary greed and cold-blooded malice than in thousand-year-old superstitions. Digging too deep, however, could prove fatal, as death cuts an ever-widening swath through the local Native American community, And without the protection of the badge he relinquished, Charlie soon find himself the guest of honor on his funeral pyre.
Customer Reviews:
A Poor Man's Tony Hillerman.......2003-03-22
The dust jacket quotes the Denver Post: "Doss does for the Utes what Tony Hillerman has done for the Navajo [sic]." Well, not quite. I enjoyed reading "White Shell Woman," and look forward to reading other Charlie Moon Mysteries, but not quite as eagerly as I look forward to the next Tony Hillerman book. But who knows? Maybe some day Doss will equal or even surpass Hillerman. I hope he does. After all, there are never too many excellent writers, and James Doss shows promise of better things to come.
Not as good as Carl Hiaasen, but..........2003-03-10
I bought this book because I read the reviews saying he was part Carl Hiaasen, part Tony Hillerman -- well, I find Mr. Doss a LOT closer to Hillerman than to Hiaasen. I laugh my way through Hiaasen's books, and that didn't happen here, although there were a few moments when I laughed out loud.
The first 100 pages were slow going, and I almost gave up, until the book started to get into stride. The second hundred pages have been pretty quick and the third hundred pages are racing by. So, the book is worth it if you can make it past the first 100 pages.
Daisy Perika, the Ute elder shamaness who is Charlie Moon's aunt (Charlie Moon is the central character in this series of books) is the best character in the book and worth the read altogether. I'd like to read more about her, so I'm probably going to buy more of this series.
Doss has an annoying habit of using half sentences that should be employed rarely for effect rather than all the time. Things like "Which was the idea." or "And that was the idea."
So, he's not Carl Hiaasen by any stretch of the imagination, but he's good and I'm glad I picked up the book. Entertaining, even if you have to go on the web and look up some Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico geographic locations. Doss assumes we know where or what the Columbine is (other than a flower or a high school).
Enjoyable mix of Indian shamanism and police procedure.......2002-05-02
Charlie Moon is retired from the Reservation Police but when murder strikes a beautiful Ute woman, he can't help being interested--especially when the tribal leaders ask him to return to work part time as a private investigator. Without the politics of the local police, he has an ideal situation--at least as far as work goes. As far as his ranch, his psychic aunt, and his love life go, things are not so great.
Legends of an ancient Anasazi treasure have haunted the Utes for years. Now someone is digging, disturbing the remains of buried Indians and the work of the archeologists trying to uncover the history of this region. Simply disturbing archeological sites is bad enough, but when one of the students is murdered, rumors start to spread about the ghosts of the Anasasi protecting their treasures and of a shape-shifter walking the ruins. Moon doesn't believe in shape-shifters--although his aunt certainly does. But when the uncle of the victim disappears leaving nothing but his clothes, his dentures, and a pile of ashes and bone chips, Moon is certain that the mystic forces his aunt can't leave alone are somehow involved.
Author James D. Doss (click here to see booksforabuck.com reviews of other novels by this author) combines a fine touch for characters (especially Moon's aunt), respect for the Native American heritage that makes up so critical an element in his stories, and pure adventure to deliver a fine light read. Charlie Moon is a sympathetic character now blessed with a ranch that can't make a nickle, a dog that steals anything he tries to eat, an aunt who can't help being cranky, and a girlfriend who seems to show up only at the worst possible moment.
Fans of the Charlie Moon series will definitely want to read this one. Tony Hillerman fans who haven't discovered Doss will be overjoyed by this addition to the short list of excellent authors writing Native American mystery.
Book Description
In James D. Doss's latest complex and absorbing crime novel set on the Ute reservation in Southern Colorado, Charlie Moon's cleverness and his aunt Daisy Perika's intuition-not to mention the spellbinding story behind this unusual day-share the limelight with the vibrant details of Native life and custom.BIZARRE OCCURRENCES CAN HAPPEN Strange things are happening near Granite Creek, Colorado, all in the space of less than twenty-four hours. A Ute shaman dreams of being buried alive and hears the hooting of an owl, signaling impending death. A man walks into Spirit Canyon and disappears, leaving his battered wife both relieved and devastated. A private museum is burgled. An Apache is arrested for assaulting a police officer. And a sniper takes a shot through an antique store window, wounding the proprietor.IN THE COURSE OF A DAYPart-time Ute tribal investigator Charlie Moon would rather be tending to his duties on the Columbine Ranch than playing detective with this puzzling collection of seemingly unrelated events. But when the local police and the FBI-including the beguiling Special Agent Lila McTeague-can't seem to put it all together, Charlie must connect the dots before anyone else dies.
Customer Reviews:
Big Disappointment.......2006-08-05
I tried to stay with this book to the end, but alas, I tossed it with only about 20 pages left. By this time the plot had become so byzantine that I no longer cared who did what. Furthermore, I was getting pretty sick and tired of the sophomoric and unrealistically silly dialog that ran all through the book. The relationship between Moon and the FBI lady, for instance, was like something out of a novel for teenagers. In other words, the book lacked credibility. Doss falls short, I'm afraid, of even a mediocre Hillerman book. Hillerman weaves in the rich and mystical lore of the Indian culture quite effectively. His dialog is pitch perfect, not contrived, as in this book. And, as another reviewer noted, I was put off by Doss's maddening habit of witholding clues and information through the book. I was looking forward to a good read, but all in all, it turned out to be a very flawed book.
The Witch's Tongue.......2006-03-11
The Charlie Moon series is getting more amusing and more "spiritual", for lack of a better word, as it evolves. Certainly, Moon has become a more interesting character. He was always more interesting than the earlier protaganist in the series Scott Parris. I enjoy the series but it is not my favorite reading. I find hiding of clues and information from the reader irritating.
Good Story, Nice Characters, Great Setting.......2004-11-17
Having lived in the American West for most of my life, I've long enjoyed stories that take place in places I've been. And I've been all over the four corners area. In the Charlie Moon mysteries, the action is in South Western Colorado, an area I know particularly well. And the tone of the book reflects well on the area.
The mystery tales spun by Mr. Doss are all you could want of a good mystery. The clues are there, the seemingly unconnected incidents that are creating all kinds of confusion and uproar will all come together in the end. But you knew that, this is the essence of any mystery.
The story is very well told. The characters are not supermen, they have flaws. In between is a good dose of humor. The plot is full of twists and turns, blind alleys and mis-directions so you wonder just how Charlie Moon is going to pull it off.
It's kind of like Tony Hillerman but with the Ute's instead of the Navaho. It's also without the mystical aspects, which makes for a story that I happen to like better.
Witty and engaging mystery.......2004-10-15
Ute tribe investigator Charlie Moon is visiting his aunt when a woman bursts into her trailer with a strange story of dreams, King Kong, and her husband climbing a moonbeam. Charlie and a local cop look, but can't find any sign of the missing husband--but find themselves caught in a roadblock, chasing an Indian who thinks he can fly, and generally running into the kind of trouble that the tribe pays Charlie to help them avoid. Somehow, it's up to Charlie to get to the bottom of the mysteries of missing museum pieces, a missing husband, a strange fight between a cop and an Indian who can't quite fly but is happy to sue the tribe, and, before it's over, multiple murders. Unfortunately for him, he's got to do all the detecting while his love live gets tied up in knots.
Author James D. Doss combines Native American mysticism, a rich dash of humor, a tall (7 foot), dark, and silent hero, and some confused but mostly likable criminals into a fast-reading story. Poor Charlie continues to have rotten luck with his women, great skill with his detecting, and questionable success with his ranch (although beef prices were up four cents).
As with the other books in the Charlie Moon series, THE WITCH'S TONGUE is less about who did it than watching Charlie Moon go through the paces, astound those around him, and manage to come out ahead somehow (except on the little matter of love). At times the story got a bit silly, and I would have liked to see more of Aunt Daisy and her pitukupf, but that didn't keep me from getting completely hooked. Good stuff.
Doss does it again.......2004-10-09
Charlie Moon and company are back -- even the strange little dwarf. A twisting plot that comes together at the end -- and left me amazed at Moon's picking up on such subtle clues.
Book Description
When a local prosecuting attorney is killed by long-range rifle while dining at an exclusive Granite Creek, Colorado, restaurant, it seems obvious that a vengeful criminal is to blame. But orthodontist Manfred Blinkoe was sitting ten feet away and he insists that he was the intended victim. In fact, he claims that just before the shot was fired, he saw his doppelgangeran eerie lookalikeas he did in the past just before a near-death experience. Terrified, Blinkoe hires Charlie Moon to find the lookalike, but before Charlie can get anywhere, Blinkoe is murdered for real. As usual in Dosss clever, intricately drawn mysteries, the cagey Charlie Moon and his Ute shaman Aunt Daisy share the spotlight.
Customer Reviews:
Shadow Man.......2007-09-02
This is my first book by James Doss. Not particularly impressed. Probably will not order any more in that series.
Patches
Shadow Man (A Charlie Moon Mystery).......2007-01-26
The chief characters in the book are Charlie Moon, a Southern Ute Tribal Investigator, his Aunt Daisy who happens to be a Ute Shaman and Charlie's best friend, Police Chief Scott Parris. The tale begins when a woman is murdered in a restaurant in a small town in Colorado. There were only two diners at the restaurant and the survivor, an orthodontist by the name of Dr. Blinkoe is convinced the bullet was meant for him.
Dr. Blinkoe ends up hiring Charlie Moon to investigate and things start to heat up. Charlie's Aunt Daisy manages to get in on the action and provides us with some very funny moments.
Doss mixes mystery, humor and the supernatural to come up with a story that is entertaining and fun to read.
If you haven't read any of his books before, I'd recommend reading his earlier ones, such as: The Shaman Sings, The Shaman Laughs, The Shaman's Bones and the Shaman's Game. The Night Visitor, Grandmother Spider, White Shell Woman, Dead Soul and The Witch's Tongue are later works and I enjoyed reading all of them.
/shadow Man-James Doss.......2006-11-06
Ihave the complete collection of James Doss (I think). This is the funniest one yet
If only we were allowed negative stars..........2006-09-10
Got a free copy of *Shadow Man* and it's no surprise, for me at least, that nothing has changed in James Doss' appalling goulash of sophomoric humor, unbelieveable plotting, and comicbook characters.
There's more of that special sensibility that spews food over, "I know you are, but what am I?" The chief of police is asked if he was "discreet" about coming to a restaurant, and he says, "Yes, I came in down the chimney" and then, in case we don't get it (These are the jokes, folks!), muses that the restaurant owner doesn't get it. I laughed 'till snot got in my ears. And then, and then, there's that one other part, it's Sooooooo funny!!!!!
A woman falls in love at first sight with the hero, who of course falls back at once, at least until the scene is over. Muses she, after exchanging four or five words with him, "If only I had met this wonderful human being before I gave myself to my oaf of a husband!" But face it, every female human in Dossland falls in love at first sight with Charlie Moon (used to be Scott Parris, but the franchise took off when Charlie got to be head cutout), who obligingly falls in love with them, not just stupid ole' lust, understand, but gut-wrenching, weeping eternal love. Just like real life. Why only last week at the market, a woman looked at me and I looked at her, perfect strangers, and we both thought, as if coincidentally, "Him/Her! The one I've always wanted. Oh my glory. My eternal love!!!! Darling!!!!!!! No wait! That one, next to him/her!"
A murder occurs to get things rolling that is so hopelessly stupid and predictable you will groan repeatedly for a good ten pages after. A woman is shot to death in a restaurant, and the restauruant owner, discovering this unfortunate incident, worries that the other diners might be upset if they see the corpse. No doubt. First thing any Doss human would think of upon noticing that one his customers had been shot right between the eyes and gotten icky brains on the walls. And the police chief to whom he expresses this emotional commonplace simply accepts it as normal. And there is some confusion because the "crack marksman" who shot her precisely between the eyes actually meant to kill a diner at another table. No, I can't explain that more clearly. Well, let me try. He was aiming at someone else and hit her as if she were the target, a perfect bull's eye.... No, I give up.
The "conclusion" of this farrago is so utterly unsatisfying that you will dread, among other things, the possibility that Doss thinks his new villian is so neato that he should be brought back in another book. The "other book" is out, and one can only hope that Doss' attention span is as mature as his sense of humor.
The popularity of these moronic novels is a sad commentary on contemporary literacy. Read Kirk Mitchell, Margaret Coel, and the master even in his failing years, Tony Hillerman. Give this crud a flush.
get better all the time.......2006-08-11
This is the funniest of this series that I have read. The central character is really Daisy Perika, not Charlie Moon, or at least I find her more interesting than Charlie Moon. I don't usually like books with an emphasis on the supernatural, but in this series it is integral to the plots and well-done. Aunt Daisy has more contact with spirits than with living people, and she is comfortable and natural in that atmosphere. As for Moon's romances, they are banal and not especially interesting, but I appreciate the author's discretion. Very few people really write sex scenes well - the only one I have read recently that was authentic and well-written was in an Anthony Bourdain novel - so I like it when the author spares the readers and doesn't include sex just because he/she feels it is obligatory.
I also like the twists and turns of the plots in Doss's books, this story has them as well, and they are great surprises. His characters are more enjoyable than Tony Hillerman's, less earnest and stressed, more fun to spend time with.
Book Description
Robin Heatherton is a spy for the Confederacy. Disguised as a young boy, she infiltrates Yankee forces during the Battle of the Wilderness, but when her cover is compromised, she must crawl back to her own lines with vital intelligence. Meanwhile, Union Army Major Thomas Corley, obsessed with Robin ever since her espionage work led to the death of his brother, has vowed to track her down, and to kill her. Her husband dead at the hands of the Yankees, Robin flees with their five-year-old son into the untamed reaches of the Colorado Territory, where she'll try to work a gold-mining claim-helped only by gruff, handsome Garrison Parker, a Union veteran with no respect for women. She'll teach him some....unless Corley finds her first.
Customer Reviews:
needs something.......2007-10-10
I think this book is a little overrated. The historical facts are awesome, and the period detail engaging, vivid and illuminating.
However, I felt no sympathy for this character in the end, and found it hard to be compelled by her situation. Too many men falling in love with her, no time to build something between she & Garry. I never felt we really got to know the hearts of these weird people. She was a spy, one side or the other, she played a deceitful albeit necessary role, but one never truly understands WHY she did it, HOW she became involved, WHO she really loves, WHERE her heart lies, or WHEN - the timing is awful. And the oxymorons and irony is everywhere. There she is feeling SO safe with the yankee negro camp, they're welcoming her with open arms, yet she is fighting against everything they believe in and taking advantage of their kind-hearted generosity. She takes advantage of everyone and everything she can. Macey, Jeremy & Garrison were more interesting and we hardly got to know them. If Robin broke that rib one more time I was going to throw the book against the wall.
Where can I get more of the "Women of The West" Series?.......2000-10-18
I really enjoyed this but I can't seem to find the rest of the Women of the West "Series". Please let me know how to get them. Mariann98@aol.com
More great work by Gear.......2000-02-29
If you've read and loved Gear's other works (like People of the Lakes, etc.) or even if you haven't. you're sure to fall in love with gear's writing all over again. Gear has a gift for blending historical fact into believable fiction. This novel made me re-think the way I imagined the Civil War and held me entranced until it was finished/
Five stars! Ten stars!! Twenty!!! I would if I could!!.......1998-09-27
I walked around the house like a zombie, my eyes glued to the page. Not the inconvenience of cooking nor the movie playing on T.V. succeeded of dragging my eyes from between the pages. The characters are so REAL. Garry is such a sympathetic character, not at all macho like many romance novels, but deffinatly a man. Jeremy, Robin's son is an adorable scared little boy and his affection for his toy horse, Traveller, that he made with his own hands just makes you want to cry. Robin is one of the strongest women I have ever read about. Every character portraid in the novel seemed very real and human to me. Even Major Corley. I found myself feeling sorry for him, even though he was the next thing to evil. This is a keeper for sure, I'd recommend it to ANYONE!!
Bob Wiseman - Author/Reviewer.......1996-08-11
I'm always hearing from New York publishers and editors that there's
nothing new being written about the Old West. Look again, pardners,
Gear has found a new slant by taking a serious look at the women
who won the West. I think the western genre just got a welcome
nudge. The western women slant will prove profitable and entertaining reading. As stated, "New York,
take another look."
Book Description
With rugged scenery and warm hospitality, Colorado boasts world-class skiing, hiking, dining, music and film festivals, and whitewater rafting. Expert travel writer Steve Knopper helps you have a truly personal experience in this beautiful country. Suggested travel strategies and lists of must-see sights provide you with real insights so you can decide where you should go, stay, and eat—without hassles or regrets. Steve's travel strategies include: The 10-day Ski Bum's Tour, 10 Days in the Rocky Mountains (without skiing), Outdoor Adventure, and The Music Lover's Tour of Colorado.
Steve details where to hike, climb, mountain bike, raft, ski, and snowshoe. Complete with maps, photographs, illustrations, and special emphasis on leading destinations such as Coors Field, Gunnison National Park, Telluride, Aspen, Vail, Rocky Mountain National Park, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and Denver. Moon Colorado has all the tools for you to create your own unique trip.
Customer Reviews:
limited and disappointing!.......2006-07-14
This guide does not seem as comprehensive as the Moon guides I have used in the past. Accomodations and food sections are particularly limited especially when there are plenty of choices, such as in Lake City, and guidance would be useful. Hiking sections were also limited and recommendations sparse. All in all, the guide was disappointing!
Great unique travel book!.......2006-05-08
I am delighted to finally have a travel book that is easily readable by an author who has "been there, done that." Steve Knopper shares personal experiences and opinions with a sense of humor, an expertise as a writer, and first-hand knowledge of the areas he describes. He has grown up in Colorado, and his love and appreciation for this astoundingly beautiful state is apparent on every page. Unlike other travel books, where I feel the author has never visited the places, Knopper makes me want to experience a Colorado holiday from his unique perspective.
Great Guide Book.......2006-05-08
I've lived in Colorado most of my life. I found this guidebook to be refreshing, interesting, and a good resource -- whether you are visiting for the first time or (like me) already know quite a bit about the state.
Moon Destroys its Reputation.......2006-05-01
It's strange that Moon Handbooks, with a hard-earned reputation for comprehensive and authoritative guides to historical sites and traveler resources, would publish this book. They've eliminated the solid text of previous Colorado editions and started over with a new author who seems to have very little interest in or comprehension of what he is seeing. Just for one example, the entry on Cortez is riddled with bizarre errors and nonsequiturs. It says that the Anasazi built Hovenweep "10,000 years ago" (off by about 9,200 years), that the Anasazi structures at Mesa Verde "resemble hotels"(it's merely centuries wrong about Mesa Verde dates), that the white town of Cortez is--somehow or other--sacred to Native Americans, and that the Four Corners is "a symbolic area", whatever that is supposed to mean. The author eliminates mention of the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, one of America's major archaeological institutions, but he adds a description of the local golf course right down to the annoying trees on hole 5. This seems quite typical of the values of this author, who is mainly interested in upscale resorts and hip entertainment. He entirely eliminates Moon's usually long list of mom-and-pop motels and offers only luxury hotels and B&Bs. He seems to think that camping is for some sub-species called "roughing-it types" and lists very few campgrounds. He even seems to look down on mere Holiday Inns. He goes out of his way to snub ordinary towns (Cortez has--horrors--trailer parks) and seems worried that his hip image will be ruined if he is caught enjoying an ordinary hamburger in an ordinary cafe. The author seems to think that the value of travel is measured by how much money you can spend on luxury resorts and expensive restaurants and shopping. Aspen seems to be his idea of paradise. The author writes for Rolling Stone magazine and might know a lot about the hip nightlife of Aspen or Boulder, but this isn't why most people visit Colorado, and any Colorado guidebook should show better appreciation for wilderness experience or history or Native American culture. This book should have been subtitled "The Rich Status-Seeking Party Animal's Guide to Conspicuous Consumption in Colorado".
Books:
- Take the Kids London, 4th (Take the Kids - Cadogan)
- Talk to the Snail: Ten Commandments for Understanding the French
- Thai: Lonely Planet Phrasebook
- The Connecticut River Boating Guide, 3rd: Source to Sea (Falcon Guide)
- The French Polynesian Dive Guide
- The Lost Boys of Sudan: An American Story of the Refugee Experience
- The Mandala of Being: Discovering the Power of Awareness
- The New York Times Practical Guide to Practically Everything: The Essential Companion for Everyday Life
- The Oregon Trail (Dover Value Editions)
- The Post-Birthday World
Books Index
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Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
The Shape Shifter (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee Novels)
The Drowning Man (John O'Malley and Vicki Holden Mysteries)
Shadow Man (A Charlie Moon Mystery)
Mourning Dove (Ella Clah)
Dead Soul (A Charlie Moon Mystery)
