Customer Reviews

SHAPE SHIFTER, THE (Joe Leaphorn & Jim Chee)

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

Tony Hillerman's Navajo series includes a few of the best books in the genre: Skinwalkers, A Thief of Time, and Coyote Waits, for example. But for some years now, the books have been poorly written and what is more tiresome, miserably edited. HarperCollins obviously doesn't see any reason to clean up a Hillerman manuscript. They are ignore contradictions, spelling and grammar errors, mistakes with names, and inconsistencies. And the fulsome reviews that sell the books at Amazon justify HC's contempt for readers.

This book is terrible. It is full of tired diction. The pat phrase overused in this one is "Lt. Leaphorn, retired": start keeping count when you get bored. It's not as irritating as "the legendary Lieutenant" (which turns up occasionally), but it gets old fast.

The "experimenting" with chronology is simply bad plotting. Joe can't be "retired a few months" if Jim and Bernie are married, except in an alternate universe. And Louisa is apparently not living with him any more, but he's forgotten she ever did, so it's Ok. In fact, maybe we are supposed to think Joe is getting senile, because at one point he ponders that something was "why he had decided to go home"; the problem? He's in a motel room for the night, obviously not "going home."

But the real clincher is the crime itself. As the story develops, we are supposed to believe that an international mega-criminal worth millions would set up an elaborate robbery of a trading post in the middle of the Navajo rez. At the end, Leaphorn mentions the genius of the guy because "he always left no witnesses." Unfortunately, he says this to one of the three witnesses to the trading post crime; in fact, one of three accomplices he spents weeks with and then betrayed to the police. Fortunately, the witness is too polite to contradict him... those Navajos, always polite.

At one point, Hillerman seems to realize that the trading post robbery seems a bit, well, out of character for his mega-criminal. So he quickly does some self-justifying math. He points out that the post took in about $100 a day and they often didn't bank the money for weeks. Oh, that's different. The worth millions arch criminal stakes the place out for months so he can score 2 or 3 grand, for which he commits multiple murders! Not only ruthless and arch, but petty.

Anyone who calls this one of Hillerman's best is insulting him. I have pages of reviews of his books and others like it at my site; this book is embarrassing. With the millions Hillerman has made in the Chee/Leaphorn franchise, he could hire an editor of his own to keep these books up to the standard Hillerman himself set and few have equalled. Instead, he is cranking out feeble imitations of his own work.

Several of Tony Hillerman's latest efforts have been disappointing. He seemed to have gotten away from what his readers loved. Joe Leaphorn was playing second fiddle to several other characters; there was less of an emphasis on Navajo rituals, mythology and religion, and in one rendition (THE SINISTER PIG) he'd gone so far as to leave the reservation altogether.

Apparently Tony has been listening to the criticism, because in THE SHAPE SHIFTER Joe Leaphorn is back at center stage, the mythology is back, and Joe spends most of the book driving around the reservation, giving us a good look around. Some of the great minor characters are back as well, the best of which is Grandma Peshlakai, who was greatly irritated with Joe as a young man when he couldn't find the thief who'd stolen her buckets of pinyon sap.

Shape shifter is just another name for skinwalker and there's another one on the prowl in Hillerman's latest mystery. The newly retired Leaphorn is trying to find out why "Woven Sorrow," a Navajo rug supposedly worth in the neighborhood of two hundred thousand dollars which supposedly burned in a gallery fire, seems to be hanging on a wall in LUXURY LIVING, a magazine he's been shown. Hillerman's description of the rug and the story behind its weaving gives him an opportunity to wax poetic about Navajo mythology. We're also treated to a mini-sermon on Navajo religion. The Navajo elders had condemned the rug because it violated the Navajo tradition: The Dineh taught its people to live in peace and harmony, and the rug seemed to be harping on past transgressions, including Bosque Redondo and The Long Walk Home.

The plot deals with Leaphorn's efforts to find out whether a serial killer who was supposedly burned up in the gallery fire is still at large. The man who owned the rug in Luxury Living, Jason Delos, soon becomes a figure of interest. Tommy Vang, Jason Delos's Hmong houseboy, gives Hillerman a chance to compare Hmong and Navajo mythology.

Unfortunately the rest of THE SHAPE SHIFTER doesn't live up to the mythology and religious aspects of the book. There's practically no suspense. Hillerman tips his hand almost immediately. Anyone who reads a lot of mysteries will figure this one out twenty pages in. There's also a lot of repetition as Leaphorn spends most of his time interviewing possible witnesses and drinking coffee. He drinks so much coffee it's hard to understand how he ever gets any sleep.

THE SHAPE SHIFTERS is a thin book: thin on story, the plotting is horrible, and the (bad) editing is beyond belief. Also, a few principal characters are unbelievable (Tommy Vang comes to mind) as are their motivations (the antagonist fits in here). So, what happened with this book? Good question. The answer might be that it's a draft of an earlier book that was never finished. Given the sequence of events (Leaphorn's "recent retirement," living or not living with Louisa, the technical inaccuracies on driving distances, etc.), I think this was a book that should have been published earlier in the series, but now, badly re-written and edited to fit into the current sequence. And, as a result, the book is a mess.

It would be pointless to recount the story because there isn't much to it. You can figure out the bad guy in the first 30 pages. All the clues are there and what is astonishing is that the FBI and Leaphorn could not figure it out when they investigated the original deaths back in the 1960's. Astounding given the evidence they had available to them. So, then, where does that leave us?

This was a history lesson that did not work as a mystery. It's one of Mr. Hillerman's misses in terms of fusing Navajo history and folk lore with his experiences (and the U.S. involvement) in Vietnam. The tales of the woven rug are very well written and that's the heart and star of this story. When the novel ventures overseas (flashbacks only) to Vietnam with the history lesson of Tommy Vang's people (even with the similarities to the Navajo), the story runs out of steam and gets bogged down in an unbelievable arch that does not work and really, makes no sense. Why would this smart and rich person kill someone over a few thousand dollars?

There are rumors that Mr. Hillerman has been sick and hasn't been well since his brother died several years ago. Maybe his personal issues have taken a toll on his writing - it happens. In my opinion, he reached his peak with A THEIF OF TIME, a book where EVERYTHING works so extraordinarily well - the pacing, the story, the tension, the plotting, the locales, the history; it's an outstanding book (and my personal favorite :-).

Until Mr. Hillerman throws in the towel, I'll continue to buy and read his books (in paperback; someone gave me this copy) because I'm a huge fan of the desert Southwest - a place of unparalleled beauty and vast, open spaces.

Unfortunately this book continues the sad, slow decline in the quality of the Leaphorn/Chee novels. Forget the fact that the timeline doesn't fit with other books. There are more serious problems here. The plot seems to move slowly from one meeting over coffee to another. It is astonishing how very little actually happens in the 270 pages of this effort. The premise of the story is a good one: a valuable rug, previously reported to have burned, shows up in a picture. Or is it a copy? After a promising start the story goes . . . well, nowhere. I must also add that Joe Leaphorn seems to have acquired a new last name of "retired." Just one example of some weak editing that plagues the entire book. For a once proud series, this effort is just short of embarrassing.

Where was the HarperCollins editor? Forget the misspellings. How could it not be noticed that the Totter store became the Handy's establishment on page 71. On page 162 Legendary Leaphorn knew that the victim had a lunch bag. The reader didn't know that. We only knew that Leaphorn had been given a lunchbag. Why, why, why? This yarn isn't knitted together. I'm a fan. I've read all the Hillerman mysteries -- even made a special trip to Tuba City to look at the Tribal police station. Authors have editors to pick up the loose ends. Are our big conglomerate publishers not able to manage that task?

Hillerman--as usual--had a good premise. But, he dropped the ball this time.

Maybe Tony is tired. If that's the case, take a rest. Loyal fans will understand and there's a superb repertoire of previous books for new readers to choose from or admirers to read again.

Leaphorn's relationship with Louisa hasn't progressed beyond sharing a house. Jim Chee and Bernie Manuelito are married now, a situation fans have long anticipated and approve. Unfortunately, they have little to do in this book but serve as a sounding board for Leaphorn. Retirement, a condition he hasn't adjusted to, doesn't keep Leaphorn from jumping into a cold case from the past.

The case itself is unbelievable and the denouement just isn't up to the old Hillerman.

Because I love the Leaphorn/Chee series I couldn't not finish the book, though it was a struggle at times. What made it worse was the evident lack of editing by the publisher.

People are critical of certain "printers" that pass themselves off as publishers. In defense, I would note they stress their books are NOT edited. It seems HarperCollins and many of the other big name publishers are fast becoming "printers" as well, as can be seen in the number of spelling, grammar and other errors to be found in this book. I must say this is not the worst example I've seen out of New York. Authors, don't you complain? Don't let your publishers tell you spell check is a substitute for a hands-on editor.

Meanwhile, I'm going back and re-read one of the vintage Hillerman's.

What to say? Does anyone else find it hard to criticize an author who created such great old friends as Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn? The book did hold my interest, mainly because I felt at home with Lt. Leaphorn after reading so much of him previously.

Unfortunately, it was hard to overlook the tons of inconsistencies (first Louisa knows Vang, then she has no idea who he is after joe just told her about him, where does joe live?) and the feeling that the whole story was just not quite believable (the master CIA plotter allows his rug to be photographed in a magazine?).

If you're a fan of hillerman, you'll enjoy riding with joe again. If you've never read him, read "A Thief of Time" or "Skinwalkers" or "Talking God", but skip this one.

Did anyone else notice Lt. Leaphorn's obsession with coffee and food in this book? Although if I remember reading Hillerman's descriptions of food has always made me hungry too.

As a loyal Tony Hillerman reader, let me first pay homage to a great mystery writer who through his superior and long writing career personally created the Western Mystery genre. Other authors who write in the same genre, such as J.A. Jance, Margaret Coel, Jean Hager, and James Doss owe him a debt of gratitude. I will continue to read anything TH produces. However, having said that, I acknowledge and agree with many of the comments that other reviewers have made.

Besides a crackling good plot, there are normally three elements that separate TH's best mysteries from the rest of pack or perhaps from these latter offerings.

1. Character Development - TH usually creates entirely believable and indeed memorable Native American or Belagaana characters that the storyline revolves about. He does this with a carefully constructed background combined with enough unique detail to bring the character to life, such that the person's actions in the story are completely plausible. He has done this for protagonists and villain alike. Unfortunately, in this book all the characters seem to be shallow and poorly developed. Even the character that is most developed, Tommy Vang, seems to consist of mostly clichés.

2. Nature - All of TH's best books have displayed not only a unique descriptive quality of the natural beauty of the Southwest story setting, but his main characters, Chee and Leaphorn, exhibit an almost religious reverence toward it. In this book as Leaphorn drives through the Big Rez the geographic place names are dutifully noted, but the descriptive prose that was a hallmark of TH's earlier novels is missing.

3. Native American Culture - TH's novels usually include some aspects of Navajo culture or religion and how it conflicts with modern society. This aspect of the story is intertwined with the main character's viewpoints and the basic storyline. Again, this aspect is largely missing in this book.

The other reviewers have also noted the peculiar and inconsistent revisionist timeline of this book. i.e. Bernie and Jim cannot be getting married if Joe has just retired. I take a different tack on this issue. I personally believe TH should abandon his self-imposed creative direction of writing about the evolution of his main characters as they get older. I believe this has been a creative straight jacket and limited the development of good stories. Personally, I think he should go back in time when Joe and Jim were still active police officers and create new stories from that perspective. Now that the Bernie and Jim relationship has finally been resolved, it is time to get back to basic good storytelling.

One last comment. I know that TH still has the writing magic. If one read his recent autobiography, it is clear that his writing skills have not really diminished. Thus, the decline in the quality of his recent books is puzzling. I am sure to some extent he must be tired of the same old, same old. If one does not have great enthusiasm, then they cannot put the energy into creating a great book. Other good writers caught up in a lengthy series often have experienced the same creative problems. I write professionally, so I know that good writing takes a lot of hard work. Thus, before TH alienates a lot of his loyal fans, he might consider teaming up with another writer to bring his new books back to their former glory. In the latter part of his career Arthur C. Clarke has very successfully done this with a whole panoply of co-authors in the Science Fiction genre. I think this teamwork would result in books with the unmistakable TH flair, but it would infuse a lot of new energy into the stories. Also, it would be a good way in which to pass on his style and perspective into a new generation of mystery writers.

Like many others, I anxiously anticipated Tony Hillerman's new book, THE SHAPE SHIFTER. I anticipated a book that would be a worthy addition to my Hillerman library but found, within just a few pages, that the book was...well...in a word...and I hate to say it...tiresome!

As so many other reviewers have already noted, the book flows about as well as a frozen river. It lacks Hillerman's usual attention to meticulous detail and is rife with all sorts of mental lapses and unfortunate blunders in rudimentary story telling. I was also extremely disappointed when Hillerman determined to revisit a part of his past that has never really provided a successful platform for one of his novels: his ties to Southeast Asia. From incongruities in timing to unbelievable scenarios, THE SHAPE SHIFTER is a disappointment.

I could go on and on and on regarding the story and plot and what is supposed to do but other reviewers have already done a fine job of that. What we apparently have here is an author who is seemingly resting upon his laurels. That's all I can attribute it to. Yes, it happens, but, given his past professionalism and prowess, I never thought that it would happen to Hillerman.

So there it is. If you're a Hillerman aficionado, as am I, go back and read SACRED CLOWNS, THE GHOST WAY, SKINWALKERS or THE WAILING WIND. If you're new to Hillerman avoid this one and start reading his novels in order from the beginning.

THE HORSEMAN

As a long-time fan of Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn/Chee mysteries, it deeply saddens me to say this, but this book is an absolute, total, complete mess -- worse even than its predecessor, "Skeleton Man," and that book was really bad.

It amazes me that anyone could have read "The Shape Shifter" and liked it. It's maddeningly frustrating to read as it's chock full of all kinds of errors, ommissions, contradictions, and inconsistencies. Mistakes that any decent editor could have easily found and corrected. Apparently, the publisher HarperCollins knows that they can sell anything Hillerman writes, so in order to save a few bucks, they no longer bother to edit his books. I can't believe that Hillerman puts up with this kind of treatment as he seriously risking damage to his well-deserved reputation as a great mystery writer. I, for one, am done with buying and reading any more new Hillerman books until these editing problems are remedied.

By the way, if you want to read some really good, well-edited mysteries involving the Navajo Tribal Police, I suggest that you check out the Ella Clah series by Aimee and David Thurlo. These books are an exciting blend of Navajo culture and police procedure.