Review by for Hour of the Hunter
Rating:
Until the end of chapter 20, I planned to give this book four or five stars. I enjoyed the native legends. I cared about the two heroines, Rita (formerly Dancing Quail) and Diana Ladd, not to mention Diana’s young son, David. The flashbacks to the characters’ pasts were absorbing. However, I hated what happened to Diana in the climax. Ms. Jance gave us plenty of warning that her villain was a homicidal sociopath. That was enough for me. I didn’t need for Diana to suffer as she did. True, what she went through was probably no worse [and didn't last as long] than what the heroine went through in *The Hellfire Club*, but that was by Peter Straub. When I read his books (or those by Stephen King or Barbara Hambly, etc.), I know what I’m getting into. I’d read only three other Jance books before this one, and they certainly didn’t lead me to expect that the climax would be so brutal. What made that climax even more offensive to me was that Diana, up until then, wa! ! s portrayed as a reasonably smart and strong woman preparing for the probablity the psycho would be after her. Suddenly she jettisons most of her brains and common sense so the psycho’s tricks work. I don’t accept the period the book is set in as an excuse for her [initially] poor showing. Years before Diana was even born, my Granny took a frying pan to the head of a big drunk who was trying to beat her up and knocked him out cold. I admit that the book improved once Diana got her smarts back. I liked the end. I’m sure I would have enjoyed this book more if I’d known what I was letting myself in for. Well, you’ve been warned. Enjoy. Tip for readers: “Tucson” is pronouced “too-sahn”, not “tuck-sahn.” Ann E. Nichols

Review by watzizname for Hour of the Hunter
Rating:
Neither a J. P. Beaumont nor a Joanna Brady story, this is a real page-turner. A widowed mother and her son are the targets of an ex-college professor who is a sadistic serial killer, who has just been released from jail after serving a sentence for the killing of a Native American girl.

The sympathetic portrayal of a native american culture is reminiscent of Tony Hillerman’s novels. A thoroly enjoyable story.

watziznaym@gmail.com

Review by Susie Morris for Hour of the Hunter
Rating:
HOUR OF THE HUNTER is very suspenseful and has one of the most diabolical villains created for the reading audience. Overall it’s very good, but minor flaws detour from making this an excellent read.

Widow Diana Ladd is raising her son, David, on the Tohono O’Othham Indian Reservation near Tucson, Arizona, with the help of Rita Antone. Rita is a Papago Indian basket-weaver/wise woman and has taught David the O’Othham language and customs since he was a toddler. Six years ago, Diana’s testimony had put Andrew Carlisle in prison for the murder of Rita’s granddaughter, which also resulted in the death of Diana’s husband (Carlisle was involved with her husband and his death was staged to appear as a suicide). Now Carlisle is out of jail and looking for revenge. Sounds like a typical mystery, but it’s definitely not typical.

Gruesome is the one word I would use to define Carlisle. His signature is to bite the nipples off of his victims. He thrives on torture, and a quick kill does not make him happy. He has plans on exactly how he wants Diana Ladd to suffer and this is described in great detail, sometimes to the point of turning my stomach. The victims he encounters on his hunt for Ladd are tortured and eventually killed but instead of appeasing his appetite for death, they only add to his need to reach Diana Ladd.

The Papago legends are written at the beginning of each chapter, which give an interesting twist to the story. At times it does take away from the tale, and I found myself wanting to skip the legends and get to the story at hand. Every chapter seemed like overkill. The O’Othham language is translated, but is difficult to read and understand. It does not flow smoothly.

Character development was excellent. Jance delved into each personality so I felt as if I personally knew each character. She left little to the imagination in this aspect. But in story development, she left a lot to the imagination, or lack thereof. It seemed as if her outline dictated the droning on of the story. It was predictable for the most part. The ending left me wondering why Jance had done the unthinkable to her heroine. What Ladd endured at the hands of Carlisle was unnecessary.

There were so many surprises during the story and for there to be no twists at the end made it very anti-climatic.