Customer Reviews

You Never Can Tell

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I'm sorry to say that this is one of Kathleen Eagle's less interesting books. I've read them all and enjoyed them, especially as the world she writes about, Native Americans today, is considered honestly and seriously, so the reader is enlightened. This latest one, however, seems to be more concerned with filling us in on the siutation with all Native Americans rather than with the story of Heather and Kole. Heather, a world-class journalist, sets out to get his story. She meets this elusive character so easily, in the first chapter, it's laughable. There is no real tension or relationship between the characters, no real depth. They just seem to be mouthpieces for the Native American Indian Movement. I was sorely disappointed.

Heather Reardon is a writer on a mission. She is searching for Kole Kills Crow, a Lakota fugitive with a story to tell. Years ago, Kole was an activist for the Native American cause, trying to make things better for his people. But he dropped out of sight after the death of his wife and his escape from prison.

After Heather discovers Kole in a northern Minnesota bar, her life is forever changed. For she follows the hero of her dreams to his cabin where she begins to know him as the man shaped by the hardships he has endured. Heather and Kole embark on a cross-country journey to other reservations, gathering supporters for their journey to Hollywood, where they plan to make a stand against the bias of the entertainment industry against Native Americans.

Heather struggles to keep her personal attraction for Kole separate from her desire to write his story. And Kole tries to prevent an emotional attraction to Heather, a white woman who has put a dent in his hardened heart.

The banter between Heather and Kole is wonderful, ripe with innuendos and very quick-witted. Their relationship goes very deep, first beginning as purely physical, but gradually changing into an enduring ability to trust each other even in adverse circumstances. For a wonderful read proving that love can transcend anything, YOU NEVER CAN TELL can't be beat.

Free lance reporter Heather Reardon finds Kole Kills Crow, known for defying the South Dakota National Guard, in a local bar in the Minnesota backwoods. The journalist searched for the recluse to hear his side of the story of what happened in prison after he was convicted of kidnapping during the Guard incident. Just before his sentence ended, Kole fled prison when another American Indian standing near him is killed. Kole and Heather talk with her explaining that she spoke with people from his past such as the actor Barry Wilson, Kole's former mentor. Barry left the cause for Hollywood, allowing Kole to take the rap for the South Dakota incident.

Though he says he is only a flute maker, she and a Native American reporter persuade Kole to lead a Native American rights March on Hollywood to provide a more accurate picture of the American Indian. Along the way, Kole and Heather fall in love even as other American Indians join the march and other people want Kole dead so their exploitation can continue.

Best-selling and award winning author Kathleen Eagle provides readers with an exciting ethnic romance that showcases the modern day American Indian. The story line is very exciting, but it is the charcaters, especially the lead duo who turn YOU NEVER CAN TELL into a classy reading experience. As usual Ms. Eagle demonstrates with this novel that you can tell why books like THE NIGHT REMEMBERS and THE LAST TRUE COWBOY are so popular with readers.

Harriet Klausner

But this one was so boring, I couldn't even finish it! Both of the leads, Kole and especially Heather, seem superfically written. I was unable to "bond" with either one of them. Lots of allusions to big drama, but halfway through the book, still no interesting drama to be had. :(

Kathleen Eagle. You Never Can Tell. New York: William Morrow Pub., 2001. 306 pgs.

Okay Eagle fans; fasten your seatbelts because we are going on one crazy cross-country ride in a beat-up old camper, room for one, maybe. Kathleen Eagle reintroduces Kole Kills Crow, who has a cameo appearance in her last book, The Last Good Man (definitely a 5-star-read), but with a whole new story and adventure for him to pursue.

Kills Crow is in hiding from the world. His past as a Native American activist caused great heartache and hardship and the lost of his beloved wife and child. Now he wants nothing to do with anyone, least of all a nosy, yet persistent, reporter named Heather Riordan who is “a little Cherokee.”

Their travels take them from one reservation and American Indian center to the next while they try to legally bring attention to what really matters in today’s Native American affairs, and where will they find the most readily available cameras for this world-wide attention? You guessed it. Hollywood. However, this is no easy or free ride for any of them. As the few people who still believe in the way it should be band together to start their travels to stand up for themselves, one more time, people keep climbing aboard the caravan.

Riordan is getting it all down. The inside scoop. She is also getting an inside scope of this man-of-her-dreams because she remembers-him-when. Will the unlikely beautiful Heather Riordan find a way to bring peace and a little understanding into the heart of a hardened and wronged man? Will the trip end in triumph or will they go bust on there way west? These are questions the author keeps you guessing as you rattle around in the camper and keep your eyes peeled for whatever happens next!

Sexy, adventurous, fun, and meaningful, Kathleen Eagle has done it again. I easily rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars, only because it doesn’t quite catch up to the 5-stars awarded by me to The Last Good Man. One thing for sure, neither of these will go unnoticed as time ticks on in the libraries of today’s world. Congratulations Kathy!

I absolutely LOVE Mrs. Eagles books! I have never found another author that captures a readers attention like Kathleen Eagle!

Her characters are always people that I wish I could meet in person. It's like she introduces you to friends of hers and they take you on a wonderful journey. I always cry at the end of the journey because it IS THE END.

Mrs. Eagle never ceases to amaze me with her creativity for storylines. Not only am I drawn to the drama but also the humor that makes my kids look at me funny because I laugh out loud when reading one of her books.

Most importantly, Mrs. Eagle always incorporates Indian issues into her stories that many people would never know about. In YOU NEVER CAN TELL, Mrs. Eagle covers a wide variety of issues that Indian people are trying to gain public attention to. In her own way, Mrs. Eagle is doing activist work just like Kola and Heather!

I also like the fact that all of Mrs. Eagle's heroines are strong and well-educated women!!!! And the fact that she doesn't put too much emphasis on physical appearences or sexual situations.

Mrs. Eagle is a TRUE storyteller!!! I highly recommend ANY and EVERY book by Kathleen Eagle!!!

What a disappointment! I normally love all of Kathleen Eagle's books. I buy any book she writes without a second thought. I can't tell you how bad this book is. The plot was so strained that I wondered if Ms. Eagle was under pressure to write it and didn't believe in it in the same way she believed in her other works. For example, the reason for the caravan undertaken by the hero and heroine and others is so trival as to make the participants seem like whiners who have absolutely nothing better to do with their boring lifes not as if they have a burning passion to stand up for something worthwhile! I got the impression that Ms. Eagle was trying to use an old formula from a previous book and stick in a new motive. It fails miserably. I was interested in the meeting of the characters from the earlier book but by then I couldn't stand the hero and his lady and didn't care how they dealt with the reunion!
The really bad and sad part of all this for me is that I don't trust Ms. Eagle and her future books the way I once did. All you writers and editors out there take notice of this. Romance readers are loyal as long as you respect us.

I always look forward to Kathleen's books because she's one of the only authors of modern fiction whose style I really enjoy and whose settings I can relate to. My favorite book so far is The Last True Cowboy, but this is a worthwhile read too. Keep it up Kathleen!

As a long time reader of Kathleen Eagle's books, I was disappointed in this one. The plot was minimal, the love story was shallow, and the dialogue was silly a good bit of the time with too many puns and and double-entendres.

Kole Kills Crow, an AIM-type activist turned mystical flute maker after his escape from federal prison, has been living underground for years, hiding from the law as well as the political enemies he can't name. That is, until Heather Reardon, a freelance journalist, tracks him down on an Ojibwe reservation in Northern Minnesota. She's been following the story of Kole for as long as she can remember, and as far as Heather's concerned, it's time for his story to be told. And she has the skills and the reputation to do so. But will he be a willing participant?

Ms. Eagle commands witty dialogue and conveys the sensuality of Heather's and Kole's relationship in such a manner that this book would also be enjoyed outside the romance genre.

Fans of Russell Means' "Where White Men Fear To Tread" and the movie "Thunderheart" will love this book and feel like they have the "inside activist story."