Former FBI agent, now special investigator with the Navajo Police, Ella Clah knows it's her police training, not the special gift of sensing she's supposed to have inherited from her clan ancestors, that accounts for her unease when troubling things begin happening on the reservation. Lab reports on pregnant women have been stolen from the health clinic, a Navajo guard at the LabKote factory has been murdered, and two native leaders have been kidnapped. The evidence points toward an activist Indian group known as the Fierce Ones, who have been protesting the deal that leaders made with the medical supply company that's on their land. Tensions are running high between the traditionalists and the moderns, the natives who want a return to the old ways and those who embrace the white man's technology to increase their crop yields and improve their brood animals. Not only is Ella stunned to learn that among the masked Fierce Ones is her beloved brother, a healer, but she's just discovered she's pregnant, by a tribal lawyer whose clan has been at odds with her own since the days of their ancestors.
This latest in the increasingly popular Ella Clah series (Death Walker, Bad Medicine, Enemy Way) packs enough action into one slim novel to satisfy readers used to the more cerebral novels of Tony Hillerman and others writing crime fiction featuring Native American heroes. Like them, the Thurlos put a lot of Indian lore into their books and focus on characters who struggle to live in two cultures but are never fully embraced by either. Ella Clah is a thoroughly modern career woman, but her loyalty to her heritage runs strong and deep, making for a richly explicated interior life that is more fully realized by the Thurlos than many of their peers in the genre. If you haven't met Ella before, her newest adventure will have you scrambling for her previous ones. This deft, fast-paced read pulses with danger and excitement on every page. --Jane Adams
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
YA-When Traditionalists begin protesting against a factory on the Navajo Reservation that produces germ-free equipment for medical labs, more problems surface, all pointing toward LabKote. The protests stem from animal deaths traced to the fairgrounds adjacent to the factory, which suggest that some sort of hazardous environmental substance has leaked out. Then two people die mysteriously, several more are kidnapped, and three attempts are made to kill Ella Clah, the Navajo Police Special Investigator assigned to the case. She begins to fit the pieces together, discovering a chilling scenario of impending destruction devised by pathologically evil minds. Focusing on LabKote and its mysterious goings-on, the authors build a strong plot filled with moments of action and intrigue, and include enough basic scientific and forensic evidence to educate readers without overwhelming them. At the same time, the various plot elements subtly weave details of Navajo ethics and culture into the story. Clans and their interrelationships become a priority focus for understanding the complex social system of the Navajo, Ella's status, and that of her unborn baby. An enticing mystery built on a frighteningly realistic scenario.
Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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