Customer Reviews

Dance of the Thunder Dogs (An Emmett Parker Mystery)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Coming home to recuperate from the near fatal injury sustained in "Sky Woman Falling," Emmet Parker, Comanche investigator for the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, receives an "honor dance" from his tribe, and the President even makes an appearance. So how does it happen that days later, he's a fugitive with feds and local cops gunning for him (literally), accused of murdering a friend and stealing oil well funds from his own people?

His old rival, FBI agent Michael Mangas, is quick to lead the ravening pack, but the easy assumption of guilt from everyone else never quite rings true. Put this aside, however, and you have an edge-of-the-seat chase through the backcountry of Oklahoma, complicated by Parker's unhealed chest wound. Parker does lots of outwitting, but Mangas is no slouch either, and eluding posses of cops requires numerous death-defying stunts as well as a bit of help from his friends, including a wise elder, an ex-wife and an ex-con.

Narrative shifts mostly between Parker and Mangas, and diverts occasionally to a slippery villain who calls himself by the name of an Indian god and murders as easily as he breathes. Parker's complicated partner Anna Turnipseed does not make an appearance, but the headlong rush to the finish makes up for the lack of psychological nuance.

A previous reviewer wrote that without Anna Turnipseed our protagonist Emmett Parker is nothing. Parker would probably agree, and I missed the steamy love scene that I have no doubt will surface in future installments. However Mitchell is at his very best in this thriller which shows Parker's resourcefulness and depth of character, character he got the hard way from his ancestors and his own struggle to walk the warriors' path. This book grabs you and doesn't let go even on the last page. A heck of a lot of fun.

Dance of the Thunder Dogs is a tangent from the other books in the series, but a satisfying read nonetheless. If there's one thing Mitchell's good at is interweaving complex subplots together (Spirit Sickness,a good example). The turn of events that occur after Jerome's death escalate beautifully to a rich conclusion (Oil Conspiracy, Killer's connections, etc). Some notable moments include the cat and mouse game between Parker and Agent Mengas, and the revealing of various character involvement in the crime. I admit I would have liked to have seen more of Anna (Sky Woman Falling was great), but a novel devoted solely to Parker is still worthwhile.

In the opening pages of Dance of the Thunder Dogs, Kirk Mitchell's fourth novel to feature Emmett Parker, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Investigator returns to his hometown to be honored by his tribe. Although pleased with the honor, Parker finds it a little disorienting to be back in his old stomping grounds. His confusion grows when he finds himself the chief suspect in the murder investigation of his boyhood Jerome Crowe, pursued by old associate Michael Mangan, an FBI agent with whom he's always had an uneasy relationship. Caught up in a game where sudden death is a consequence of failure, Parker strives to find the real killer even as the authorities continue their relentless pursuit.

Although the "accused-of-a-crime-he didn't -commit" is one of the oldest plots in the genre, Mitchell manages to give it a new spin by again exploiting Parker's insular world, that of the Native American, which allows him to explore issues and concerns unique to that community. As in previous works, Parker is again forced to wrestle with the fact that he is part of two cultures--attempting to evade capture in the outside world, he gets in closer touch to his Comanche heritage.

The decision to focus almost entirely on Parker yields substantial dividends, and augers well for future installments in the series. Book by book, Mitchell has been painting an intimate portrait of Parker, a tough, complex and conflicted man. It should be interesting to see what Mitchell has in store for his hero next.

In the other books, Emmett Parker was a Comanche far removed from his roots. By his own admission, he had grown apart from his Comanche self. In this book, he comes home, if only to the place of his birth. It takes him quite a while to find who he actually is.... through a lot of self-searching, being a hunted man, and the dreams of an old man.
For me, this novel made it possible to relate to Parker in a way I was unable to in the first books. Since I picked up Mitchell's first books about this man, I have been hooked. I also read Hillerman, Thurlo and Coel, but Mitchell's books are the best by far.
This book, in my own humble opinion, is his best to date. All action without the romance thrown in. Looking inside Parker's mind as we do here is what makes Mitchell's writings so powerful. Doggone good book!!

And Kirk... this book came out in 2004 and it is now 2006. That is 2 years. Write faster...please!!!

Emmet home to recover or retire? Think again.
While it is hard to grasp that immediate suspicion should fall on such a respected law enforcement officer, the intrigues make this a page turner like no other. Parker on his own, on home turf that has become unfamiliar to him through his long absence, adds great cultural background, works very well, and makes this probably Mitchell's best book so far.
However it would be nice to see Anna back in the future somehow...

This is the first novel I have read by Mr. Mitchell, and I am more than a lttle impressed. You can read plot summaries elsewhere, so I won't bore you with my version. This novel does contain the best descriptions of small-town life in and near Indian reservations I can remember. One example: two Indian protagonists drive along the main street of a town and pass the Teepee Bar; both remember that it once had a sign in the window that said "No Indians Allowed"; funny and accurate at the same time; I grew up a few miles from the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming; there was no official sign outside of the bar of the one new Indian bar in town, but there was a hand-written sign in the window which said "Pollacks Welcome". A bit of Indian humor, although more than a few Native Americans prefer to be called Injuns, more of their subtle humor. I was welcomed until I began winning a little too much at the pool table. This personal diversion aside, Mr. Mitchell's novel is complex, informative and worth staying up with late at night, even though you know that the alarm on your clock will be beeping much too soon. The author has piqued my interest because he has taken the mystery genre into a wonderful place. Read carefully. There are more clues than you can imagine, all carefully placed.
Martin Stadius

Emmett Parker is a Comanche BIA investigator who normally works out of the Arizona office. But as a Special and unique investigator, Emmett is called upon to solve all kinds of crimes.

However, his last adventure cause him physical harm so he has come home to Okalahoma to recuperate and heal, and possibly decide if he still wants to be in this line of work.

Before we can even determine if Emmett is settling into his mother's home for some much needed R&R, he is accused of killing his best friend, being involved in an elaborate scheme to skim money from the trust funds of the Native Americans, and is being hunted by an adversary who has known him all his life. Michael Mangas is an FBI agent out to get Emmett, maybe, just because. He is not sure Emmett is guilty, but it sure is looking that way. Only with cunning and ingenuity and a little help from his friends can Emmett avoid getting killed or captured.

This is a fast-pace book with lots of action and twists. We are not sure who are the bad guys, and who are the good guys. All we know for certain is that Emmett is not guilty and someone else is. Proving it is another kettle of fish altogether.

When an investigator is on the wrong side of the law, he has to be very careful and suspect everyone, including the ones who claim to be helping him.

The ending is true Mitchell, lots of action and fireworks to conclude the storyline, but also, enough hints to leave us waiting for the next installment of Emmett Parker and his exciting life.

I thouroughly enjoyed this book. Events unfolded at a good pace and there was not alot of the emotional torture that Parker went through with Tumbleweed in previous books. That can get a little tiresome.

If you're a fan of Indian Country whodunits, Kirk Mitchell is tops. I could go on, but I'd just be repeating myself. This is a terrific read.