It was good until the last fifty pages....

books:


	• Bone Walker (Anasazi Mysteries) Kathleen O'Neal Gear, W. Michael Gear Topeka Bindery, 2003 - 662 pages average customer review:based on 19 reviews
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highly recommended

It was good until the last fifty pages....

Just finished reading Bone Walker. This is the last of the Anasazi Mysteries. I'm assuming that there won't be anymore. Interesting, I had been thinking that this final one was a big improvement over the other two. Some editing issues seemed to be cleaned up. They learned how to spell pinon; studied southwestern cooking (although I don't think I'm going to want to eat huevos rancheros anytime soon - sick to death of them now); I think the Gears even visited Albuquerque. While it was a little hard to get into at first the pace did pick up; the flipping back and forth between centuries wasn't too bad. They even worked out the awkward Maureen-Dusty dynamic; I enjoyed the direction their relationship was taking. Catkin and Stone Ghost were brought back into the picture. Catkin was one rockin' warrior. Browser was great! Little Bone Walker was sad. Overall, it was looking like a fairly good murder mystery mixed in with the Anasazi story. But somehow they managed to drop it in the last fifty pages.

For one thing, all these new characters that were introduced without any direction whatsoever. Yvette's purpose was lost on me. She added nothing to the pace of the story. Reggie needed more page time to work but he didn't get it. We didn't even get a chance to find out what for sure happened to him. Ruth Ann was probably the most uni-dimensional character I've ever read. I didn't believe anything about her. Rupert wasn't that great either considering how important he was. Why wasn't he in more of the story? And how many elderly aunts does Magpie have left to kill off?

Then they gave away the ending to the Anasazi story way too soon. Mysteries are about suspense - you know? Then with the modern mystery I was subjected to a drawing room scene where the murderer reveals his motives. But since the story was pushing well past six hundred pages maybe the authors thought they needed to speed things up. But it was still a poor payoff for my efforts.

But then there's something that didn't occur to me until I got to page 326 of the paperback version - there were no hispanics in the section of the story that takes place in modern times except for the attendant in a parking lot who didn't even get a gender. Just mentioned as "a Hispanic". I do not understand that and it's been rubbing at me ever since. Now I'm wondering if there were any hispanics in the other two. I hate to belabor the issue but hispanics are half the population in New Mexico. You would have to make an effort to avoid them.

So there - those are my thoughts. If another one comes out I probably will read it. Too late to stop now.

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Bone Walker

I found myself in agreement with other readers in that the lives and times of Browser and Catkin are far more interesting than Dusty and Maureen's pathetic F'ed up 20th century existences.

So, to get an expansive uninterrupted narrative simply skip the chapters pertaining to Dusty's unresolved childhood issues. That would be every other chapter if you're keeping score.

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Bone Walker

DON'T READ THE JACKET! It will ruin the story! Otherwise, another incredible journey with the Gears'!

Loved it!

I loved this series. Two mysteries; one from the past and one from the present both skillfully woven with a little history and archeology thrown in for good measure and you have a fantastic read. Now that's talent! I'm not ready to see the end of Dusty and Maureen. I hope the series will contiue with a different mystery to solve.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear, award-winning archaeologists and international bestselling authors, break extraordinary new ground in the riveting sequal to their bestselling The Summoning God. Bone Walker is more than a murder mystery, it is a psychological thriller filled with the action that have made this the dynamic duo of the historical. They have breathed life into the vanished world of the Anasazi, bringing out the spirit, the loves, and a mysterious world where mystery and horror lurk in every shadow, behind every door, sometimes right before you. The Gears invite you to follow them down the dark labyrinth of the serial killers mind in Book III of the Anasazi Mysteries.

Eight hundred years have passed since the Mogollon holy man was murdered in Flowing Waters Town. The threads of evil spun by Two Hearts are drawn across time to ensnare modern archaeologists Dusty Stewart and Maureen Cole. The "Wolf Witch" has killed archaeologist Dale Emerson Robertson, and Dusty and Maureen must unmask the murderer before he strikes again. But in so doing, Dusty will root out disturbing secrets about his own past that will cast his father's suicide in an unsettling light. With so many skeletons in the closet, even a bone expert like Maureen can be baffled...and the Wolf Witch is two steps ahead of them, drawing them relentlessly into his trap...

From the national award-winning archaeologists and international bestselling authors of The Visitant and The Summoning God comes a novel of unforgettable terror about a murder in America eight hundred years ago...and a power that transcends time.

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