Customer Reviews

Jemez Spring (Sonny Baca Mysteries)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Who among us dares dispute that Professor Rudolfo Anaya's words flow with the poetic cadence of a pristine clear New Mexico mountain stream? That fact, he is guilty of! Just as he is equally guilty of perpetrating a disservice to Sonny Baca--his fictitious character who has served him well during the first three excellent novels. Jemez Spring utilizes this final Baca tome as a vehicle to extol a personal vendetta/cause as well as demonstrate his command of stimulating prose and history of long-dead cultures.

There are times when an author belches forth far too many meaningless words and details unrelated to the tale being told--that not only are they distracting--they border on nonsense and are disruptive.

Without an actual count, it is estimated that sixty-percent of pages are devoted to a number of subjects other than those that directly relates to Sonny Baca's current dilemma: The creeping and steady erosion of land and culture of the people of the southwest--which I personally sympathize with; throughout the book the reader is also subject to a number of unrelated ancient history lessons from exotic places; and while I've never been accused of being a prude--the professor emeritus' constant reference to sexual innuendo was excessive, unrelated, and unnecessary in this reader's opinion.

With approximately forty-percent of pages devoted to Sonny's final adventure--he is surely obliged to consider authoring PI Sonny Baca a make-up novel. A novel totally devoted to the adventure. One that Anaya owes those he terms, faithful readers, and Sonny.

With Jemez Spring, Rudolfo Anaya brings to a close his quartet of novels centered on the literate and spiritual private investigator, Sonny Baca. All the elements of a great hayride are present. First, we have a corpse. But not just any dead body. Sonny is beckoned to crack the mystery behind the death of New Mexico's governor whose bloated, half-cooked body is found in the Bath House at Jemez Springs.

Second, we have something worse than a dead governor: someone (al-Qaeda?) has planted a bomb in the Valles Caldera, not far from Los Alamos National Laboratories, where it apparently is set to blow in just a few hours.

Third, enter the crooked politicians and greedy developers who might be behind the murder and bomb in order to secure water rights and make a fortune. And the evil, powerful Raven (Sonny's nemesis and polar opposite) might be mixed up in all this, too. Finally, there's a troubled love interest: Sonny and Rita adore each other but she is healing (emotionally and physically) from a miscarriage and needs space.

But Jemez Spring is not your typical mystery. We can't forget that this is Anaya's world. So, in addition to the murder and ticking bomb, the mystical otherworld is as real as anything else. Sonny enjoys extended dialogues with the spirit of his late mentor, don Eliseo. Sonny also wears the powerful Zia medallion which Raven desperately wants to possess. Sonny's one-eyed dog, Chica, dreams which eventually leads to a heated and protracted debate in the community. Even a group of European intellectuals debate the question of the dreaming dog in a hilarious send-up of ivory tower literary analysis: "But you can't deconstruct folk memory! Does the dog wag the tail, or the tail wag the dog? You are going in circles. The essence of the dog dream lies in the artist as myth-maker. Which leads directly to the myth of Aztlán and its use as an identity in the Weltanschauung of the Chicano." You can almost hear Anaya laughing as his "intellectual" character spouts such pretentious and overwrought opinions.

Included with all this are Anaya's poetic and loving descriptions of New Mexico mixed in with plenty of digressions on religion, politics, sex and culture. Anaya's characters are fully-realized portraits, people we see and know. Sonny Baca couldn't have asked for a better way to end his career. But he'll be sorely missed.

[This review first appeared in Southwest BookViews.]

A tale that will appeal to any reader with an interest in the American Southwest and its culture, both past and present. Not just a mystery, but a tale of supernatural, myth, and cultural history. Sonny Baca is drawn into amurder of ther governor of New Mexico when his body is found in a tub at the Jemez Springs and four black feathers are found with him. His enemy, The Raven, is back. Sonny communes with the ghost of Don Eliseo, his mentor, who accompanies him and Chica, the dreaming dog, into the investigation. A fascinating read from the beginning through Sonny's encounter with The Raven to the last pages. In Jemez Spring the reader will step off the edge of what we call reality into a world where many things we do not understand lurk, places consigned to myth and superstition by modern man, yet known to the older generations and considered as part of their world. Do they exist or not? To answer that question, I recommend settling into a comfortable chair and taking the tour of Jemez Spring with Sonny and Chica. This is a multi-layered mystery with a case of well drawn characters, a great comgination of the old and the new. Enjoy the adventure. I certainly did.

As a 30+-year lover of Rudolfo Anaya's work, I must say I was rather disappointed with "Jemez Springs."
Anaya distinguished himself and his work through tales such as "Bless Me, Ultima" and "Tortuga"; stories and themes as timeless as the Rio Grande Valley and its presence. Those tales, flawlessly told by Anaya, call to be read and remembered numerous times.
"Jemez Springs," however, needs only to be read once. Whether by pressure of deadline or the simple need to tie up a few loose ends, Anaya comes across as a self-indulgent retired literature professor, attempting heavy-handed ties between New Mexicanos and their culture and forms of Greek and other literature, while tying them only with the loosest of whip stitches.
If you are an Anaya fan, you owe it to yourself to read "Jemez Springs," but then give yourself a good dose of "Ultima" to wash away the bitter aftertaste.

I am a big fan of Rudy Anaya and the Sonny Baca series. This book, however, was disappointing. It was very wordy in that there was not much conversation going on. I am a native of NM, but no longer live there. One thing that I always loved about the Sonny Baca series is the description that went into talking about NM, NM food and the people. I didn't get that with this book. This book did not live up to any others by R. Anaya.

JEMEZ SPRING is the fourth in a series about detective Sonny Baca and his quest to catch Raven, who is forever doing something horrible--this time threatening to set off a nuclear device in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico. The story could become just another catch-him-before-he-blows-us up loaded with chase scene. But in Rudolfo Anay's hands, JEMEZ SPRING becomes much more. While solving crimes, Sonny Baca also discovers a lot about his Hispanic roots. He uses this heritage to help in the fight against Raven. Therefore, we as readers learn about the stories, songs, food, values, and ideas that make New Mexico Hispanics--well, New Mexico Hispanics as opposed to someone else. And not only that!! Mr. Anaya skillfully connects that heritage to Greek and Roman myths; and Native American stories. In this gentle way, he reminds us that no matter who we think we are, or who we think we might be better (or worse) than, we are really all one. We all need to survive, to love, and to achieve. Anay's stories show us that we all try to figure out how to do that. He also reminds us that storytelling is more than entertainment. Stories transmit our values to the next generation. That's what I loved best about JEMEZ SPRING. Mr. Anaya also used the story to play with reality. As Sonny tries to guess what Raven will do with his bomb, Sonny becomes more and more afraid of Raven. He imagines so many possibilities that soon, he isn't sure which are real, which might become real, and which are completely off the wall. Don't we all go through that once in a while. The two layers together make Raven something more than the run-of-the-mill outlaw, and Sonny Baca more than the average detective. What they become I will not say, because that's up to the reader. But I will say that JEMEZ SPRING is a good read. Enjoy.