Customer Reviews

Wild Indigo (A WILD Mystery)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

With Wild Indigo, Sandi Ault has managed to combine a gripping story whose vivid characters fairly leap from the page with a fascinating look at Pueblo culture. And as icing on the cake, at least for dog lovers, she gives us one of the most memorable literary canines I can recall, descriptions of whom are so heartfelt that he must surely be based on a real and much-loved wolf/dog. I await impatiently the next in what I hope will be a long series of Jamaica Wild books.

Industry reviews and customer reviews appear to all be in agreement: WILD
INDIGO is an exciting, high-paced, beautifully crafted book. But, what I love most about the book goes beyond being an exciting novel.

Ms. Ault clearly has spent so much time researching this book, and clearly has such a love for the Pueblo Indians, that it is contagious to the reader. This book has inspired me to visit an area I previously knew nothing about and to study a people I barely knew existed. I feel as magnetically drawn to this mysterious tribe as the main character, Jamaica Wild, does. I want to have my own "Momma Anna". At the same time, the author really conveys the theme of leaving the People alone and giving them their privacy, leaving me wanting to learn more, but from a respectful distance.

There are hundreds of high-quality, exciting novels on the market today. But, over time, the memory of plot details begin to fade. One thing that cannot fade is an interest and passion, and a desire to research and learn more. This was something that WILD INDIGO provides that most novels do not.

Sandi Ault's Wild Indigo is mesmerizing from the tragically mysterious beginning to the gripping on-the-edge-of-your-seat ending. Ms. Ault walks the reader directly into the breath taking vistas of Northern Mew Mexico and onto the fictional Tonoah Indian Pueblo with her incredible visuals. She expertly weaves the intricate tale of a Bureau of Land Management agent, Jamaica Wild, her heart rending relationship to her wolf pup, Mountain, adoptive pueblo family, and an ancient Hispanic spell casting healer. While the mystery around the death of one of the natives and disappearance of two others unfolds, we experience first hand pueblo life interwoven with a profound mystical belief system. Wild Indigo is a deeply felt, page turning glimpse into a world few of us would otherwise be privey to.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) agent Jamaica Wild is a liaison between her agency and the Tanoah Pueblo in Northern New Mexico. It is the period of Quiet Time, a sacred holiday where the Pueblo is closed to outsiders. Jamaica is there because she was invited by her mentor Momma Anna Montayo to cook and while there a child says the buffalo are loose from their pen. When she goes to investigate she sees Jerome Santana in the pen going towards the bulls who are ready to charge, a look of rapture on his face.

He is killed but war chief Reuben Rael and Wrangler Sonny are more concerned that she is on the rez during Quiet Time. They escort her off their land but Jamica tells her boss that she thinks Jerome, who never uses, was on drugs. The tribe refuses to allow an autopsy and when Jamaica is on the land again, they complain to her boss, saying she caused the buffalo to stampede. He has no choice but to suspend her. Her investigation takes an odd turn, some of it mystical but it takes a near tragedy for the truth to come out.

What Tony Hillerman and Aimee and David Thurlo do for the Navaho, Sandi Ault does for the Tanoah. Readers get a vividly descriptive look at their culture and belief system, trying to maintain the old ways while living in modern times. The heroine is a loving gutsy woman who keeps a wolf for a pet and refuses to let her suspension keep her down. She is a modern day warrior who takes action when she feels that is the proper cause.

Harriet Klausner

In the wild and majestic beauty of northern New Mexico, Sandi Ault takes you on a journey into Native American Culture delving into the mysteries, spells, potions and idiosyncrasies of the Tiwa tribe of the fictional Tanoah Pueblo, located a few hours north of Taos, New Mexico.

Jamaica Wild is an agent for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. When she happens upon Jerome Santana, a local Tiwa, standing stoically in the midst of a herd of corralled male buffalo, she instinctively knows the situation is potentially deadly. The buffalo, tense and skittish with the human in their presence, are moments away from stampede. As Wild continues to lure Santana away, the herd spooks and Santana is trampled to death.

Thus begins Jamaica Wild's voyage into the depths of Tiwa culture within the Tanoah Pueblo, and her exposure to a life foreign to her own. With the help of Momma Anna, an old Tiwa woman to guide her, Wild is gradually exposed to the customs and closely guarded ceremonies that ancient traditions requires of the tribe after the death of a tribe member.

Throughout it all Wild feels there is something amiss. Though not a trained investigator her gut tells her she must dig deeper to uncover the truth. She is deflected by the members of the pueblo at nearly every turn. The help she does receive is cryptic and beyond her knowledge. When she attempts to clarify it with the few members of the pueblo willing to talk, she is thrown off the trail with threats the Tiwa see clearly, but Wild neither perceives nor understands.

The author has crafted an intricately woven web of deceit and mystery that lead into a culture that very will ever be exposed. Her research is extensive, although the characters are fictional, her knowledge of the culture and the location is vividly expressed in her writing. The characters are genuine, the scenes are set dramatically set and wonderfully crafted.

Armchair Interviews says: If you are looking for a mystery that has car chases, lots of weaponry and hard-nosed detective work, Wild Indigo is not for you. If you want a great piece of literature that also includes a mystery, this is your next book.

Sandi Ault's Wild Indigo is fast-moving and each chapter gives the reader a new perspective on the mystery surrounding Jerome Santana's death. Ault's skillful integration of these perspectives is part of what makes Wild Indigo such a delightful read! As I traveled deeper into her magical and mysterious story, I came to know and care about its characters. If you enjoy a multi-layered mystery that keeps you on your toes and at the same time prompts you to think deeply about the issues and people involved, Wild Indigo is for you! I do have one criticism, however. Even though Wild Indigo is fiction, Ault's masterful weaving of myth and fact created a world so real and compelling that it drew me in from the moment I turned the first page in early evening and would not release me until I had turned the last page at nearly 4:00 A.M!

If you are looking for a mystery/thriller with a Native American slant and even an intriguing dose of mysticism, run, don't walk, away from this volume and pick up something by Peter Bowen or Kirk Mitchell. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of books I have put aside without finishing, and this is one of them.

I can even pinpoint the exact moment when I came to this unhappy conclusion (no spoiler): The heroine, Jamaica Wild, explains that the reason she does not have blinds on the windows of her home is because she wants to be able to see the surrounding mountains through them.

Ms. Wild's lack of awareness that blinds may be opened to view objects through their accompanying windows will come as no surprise to anyone who has read this far. Ms. Wild is dumb as a stump. And not entertainingly so. She never says anything interesting, unexpected, witty, or suggestive that she is capable of solving the mystery. Other reviewers have observed that she is weirdly forgetful and unable to interpret some pretty obvious circumstances. Bingo. (It is a very dull pueblo: None of the other characters, with the possible exception of Momma Anna, who tends to speak in sentences of no more than five words, ever says anything that suggests you'd like to be seated next to him or her at dinner.)

But a mystery with a stiff central character (even one who is in every scene, and is telling the story) can be redeemed by good writing. Alas. The writing is writing-class poor. The book seems not to have had an editor's care. From page 5: "I looked through the shattered windshield, the scene beyond it in fragments like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, the green of the forest land rising to the blue and purple shoulders of the Rocky Mountains, the high peaks watching like guardians over the normally peaceful, ancient village of Tanoah Pueblo." Multiply this cliched, redundant, unlikely, dull, and plot-stopping level of irrelevant detail by several hundred pages, and you can put away the Ambien.

Don't get me started on the wolf.

One of the most insightful mystery novels I have ever read. It is as though the author is really living her story. The descriptions of the native American customs, beliefs and worship of the good Mother Earth are all convincing and written in a loving spirit and understanding of a gentle, loving people. Outside of the beautifully written words there is an excellent mystery story.

Am looking forward to future adventures of Jamica Wild and her wolf Mountain.

Other reviewers have compared Sandi Ault to Tony Hillerman, but except for stories involving Indian Culture the two are quite different. Hillerman's Navajo are realistic Americans who pursue understandable rational behaviors. Sandi Ault describes "story book Indians," men, and mostly women, who pursue magic and mystery. Their magic, unlike any magic I've run across, seems to actually work - so that almost anything can happen in dreams or in reality. Events happen which do not appear to accord with possible reality, and human motives for helping others or killing seem unreal to me.

If you like mystery and magic this may be an author for you. I do not plan to read other novels about Jamaica Wild, the heroine of this book.

I just finished Sandi Ault's intriguing first novel, Wild Indigo, and can't wait to follow Jamaica Wild's next adventure with her wolf, Mountain. The entwining of characters, culture, and mystery were skillfully mastered as I found myself walking through the story as an unseen friend. Extensive research lent itself well for the fictional tribe of the Tanoah Pueblo, as Ms. Ault weaves a tale of the tribe's struggle to live between the old ways and the new. As the story opens, the tribe and Jamaica are thrown into the public eye following the death of a young male tribe member. It is Quiet Time for the Tanoah Pueblo, and amongst mourning and ceremonial preparation, they are not receptive to outsider investigations.

Ault's writing style unfolds an in-depth portrayal of Jamaica and bonds the reader to her. In the face of career woes, banishment from her reservation family, and mystical curses, Jamaica proceeds to tackle each obstacle with hardheaded determination. The result is an exciting ride for the reader as she defiantly goes into forbidden places. Jamaica's vulnerable side is not to be ignored, as she experiences the frustrating task of loving a demanding young wolf, struggles for acceptance in her adopted Pueblo family, and tries to fit in a relationship with her male lover, Kerry.

I loved this book and its detailed overview of all the characters. The story development was strong with each additional chapter, which made the book hard to put down. I highly recommend Wild Indigo for anyone who enjoys native culture and mystique wrapped around an exciting story.