Crack at Dusk : Crook of Dawn [Hardcover]

Priscilla Cogan (Author), Duncan Sings Alone (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 6, 2000

Crack at Dusk: Crook of Dawn (Two Canoes Press, 2000), the third novel in The Winona Trilogy, (Winona's Web, Compass of the Heart) continues to explore the deep divide between the modern psychological view of life and the traditional Lakota (Sioux) spiritual perspective, following the same characters: Dr. Meggie O'Connor, the psychologist and Hawk, the Lakota medicine teacher. In Crack at Dusk: Crook of Dawn, the two lovers marry but soon find their relationship sorely tested by the addition of an emotionally disturbed boy, Winona's grandson, who has been violently exposed to the forces of evil. Hawk argues that the boy's soul has been stolen, thus requiring special ceremonies. Meggie is adamant that the boy is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and needs hospitalization. Together the two of them must find - through love, ritual, and story - the way into the boy's heart to bring him back home. An affirmative, healing story, Crack at Dusk: Crook of Dawn provides an uncompromising view of the contaminating nature of evil and the path back to wholeness.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A therapist and her Native American husband use a wide array of healing techniques to save the soul of a young boy who is abducted and sodomized in Cogan's latest, a heartfelt but uneven effort that begins when nine-year-old Adam Arbre and his "girlfriend" June are kidnapped from their small town in upper Michigan. The boy is found a few days later, but his violent behavior after the incident leads his parents to turn to Dr. Meggie O'Connor to help him deal with the aftermath. When the medical trail hits a wall, O'Connor teams up with her husband, Hawk, who believes the boy's soul has been stolen by evil spirits, and the couple arrange several Native American ceremonies and rituals to augment the therapy process. Cogan, a clinical psychologist who also performs Native American ceremonies and is married to a Cherokee storyteller, writer and healer, does her best work describing the therapeutic process, as well as how the incident and the girl's subsequent death affect the professionals and neighbors who team up to help Adam. But she overplots by adding too many secondary characters, and the mundane scenes laying the groundwork for the kidnapping take up far too many chapters. Her other major gaffe is the decision to have the criminal trail lead to a Satanic cult, which remains a hoary literary clich‚ despite her attempts to explain the still-present threat of Satanism. Cogan has successfully blended Western storytelling with Native American spirituality before, but this book contains too much filler to measure up to the earlier novels.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

Crack at Dusk: Crook of Dawn is a novel that explores the darkest depths of mankind while also offering hope and redemption--a feat in and of itself. Priscilla Cogan ends the trilogy that began with the celebrated Winona's Web, following the same rich path of native American folklore and psychological exploration. Cogan is a natural born storyteller.

--Jill McCorkle, Author of Final Vinyl Days; Carolina Moon; Crash Diet; Ferris Beach; The Cheer Leader; July 7th; and Tending to Virginia -- Book Jacket

In a world painted gray by moral relativism, Priscilla Cogan builds on a foundation of abolute truths to create a gripping novel about the battle between Good and Evil. Set against a backdrop of the Easter story and the Inipi ceremonies of the Lakota People, Crack at Dusk: Crook of Dawn is not only an exploration of the nature of God but a psychological thriller that illustrates the power of faith and the healing inherent in redemption.

--Sue Harrison, Author of Mother Earth, Father Sky; My Sister the Moon; Brother Wind; Sisu; Cry of the Wind; and Song of the River -- Book Jacket

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 365 pages
• Publisher: Two Canoes Pr; N edition (March 6, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929590059
• ISBN-13: 978-1929590056
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,639,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Challenge Your Perspective on Good and Evil, March 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Crack at Dusk : Crook of Dawn (Hardcover)

I found this book, as others in the Trilogy, to be challenging and thought provoking in so many ways. It explores good and evil while valuing the experience from the perspective of many spriritual traditions. I appreciate how the author blends Native American, Christian, and Jewish "truths" enabling us to see how we are similar and in fact how complementary our differences can be. Then she takes it a step further and brings the spiritual perspective into a relationship with psychological, physical and emotional wholeness. This is territory over which many authors do not travel, and I appreciate the beautiful way in which she enables us to make the journey.

I agree with other reviews in that to really appreciate this book, it would be best to have read the other two books. I know the Trilogy has come to an end, but I hope the author will write more....she has shared a real gift with all of us who have read her work.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courageous, healing tale -- if you can handle it, December 25, 2005

By 

Sacredtouch "Chi" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crack at Dusk Crook of Dawn: A Novel of Discovery (Paperback)

I thoroughly enjoyed Priscilla Cogan's first two novels in the Meggie O'Connor series. When I read some of the reader reviews of Crack at Dusk Crook of Dawn I was put off but determined to judge for myself whether it was a worthy successor to the other two novels. The first, Winona's Way, dealt with "Good Spirits." The second, Compass of the Heart, with "Trickster Spirits" and this third with "Evil Spirits" -- at least from the perspective of the Lakota. Cogan has successfully woven the strands of her story together so that the reader is drawn into a tale about the nature of good and evil. The issue of satanic ritual abuse is included with some graphic detail that will (and should) make readers uncomfortable. But as one of my teachers has said, we must continue holding up the light despite the scary and ugly things it illuminates. Cogan drives that point home. A worthy read, but only if you dare face your own shadow -- and those of others.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read, July 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Crack at Dusk : Crook of Dawn (Hardcover)

Again, Priscilla Cogan writes a marvelous story that is excellently crafted and brutally real. Her writing holds the attention of the reader and her characters spring to life. Very hard to put down, one is forced to either slow down and enjoy the beauty of the language or to speed up to discover what happens on the next page... I look forward to her next work. Altho the book stands alone, it can be better enjoyed if read after the first two books of the trilogy.. thank you to Priscilla.."Mitakuye oyas'in"