The First Eagle: Summary and book reviews of The First Eagle by Tony Hillerman, plus links to an excerpt from The First Eagle and a biography of Tony Hillerman.
The First Eagle
by Tony Hillerman
Hardcover: Jan 1999,
360 pages.
Paperback: Jul 1999,
319 pages.
The very plague that decimated Europe in the fourteenth century lurks today in the high, dry land of the American Southwest. But Navajo Tribal policeman Jim Chee and his mentor, Joe Leaphorn, discover an even deadlier killer stalking the reservation in the most chilling and beautifully crafted novel yet from the beloved and bestselling master of Southwestern suspense.
When Acting Lt. Chee catches a Hopi eagle poacher literally red-handed--huddled over the bloody body of a young Navajo Tribal police officer--he has an open-and-shut case. Even the Feds--usually at odds with Chee'agree, and it seems the Hopi is headed for the gas chamber. Until Joe Leaphorn shows up to blow Chee's case wide open.
Leaphorn, now retired form the Navajo Tribal Police, has been hired to find Cathy Pollard, a hot-headed biologist who disappeared from the same remote area on the same day the Navajo cop was murdered. Is she a suspect? A victim? And what are Chee and Leaphorn to make of the report that a skinwalker--a Navajo witch--was seen in the same area at the same time?
To answer these questions, Leaphorn and Chee must immerse themselves in the enigmatic web of scientists hunting the key to the most virulent form of bubonic plague since the Middle Ages.
In addition to its finely wrought plot, The First Eagle offers a wealth of Tony Hillerman's signature gifts--glorious evocations of the high desert, delicately drawn characters, and eloquent insights into the foibles and wisdom of the Southwest's native people.
The Wall Street Journal
Mr. Hillerman skillfully blends Navaho lore with daily life.... Although the story is neatly told, the plot-line about a drug-resistant plague is slowed by Mr. Hillerman's fascination with scientific mumbo-jumbo.
The Washington Post The First Eagle displays all the strengths of Hillerman's writing a vivid sense of place, nuanced characters, and a complex, engrossing plot.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Eagle Boy Zephier Mystery Analysis It is a good book to read.
Review (not rated)
by Anonymous Lonna Schmidt Again, Tony Hillerman has written an intriguing novel about the Navaho people and those wonderful police officers Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn. Though one of his shorter novels, the plot quickly takes shape and you are left... Read More
Deep South proves that, "like the parks and monuments she writes of, Nevada Barr should be declared a national treasure"
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Stranger than fiction, blending tragedy and farce, How to Create the Perfect Wife is an engrossing tale of the radicalism, and deep contradictions, at the heart of the Enlightenment.
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
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Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
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Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read...
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U.S. ebook sales up in 2012, but rate of growth is slowing(May 16 2013) In 2012, trade book sales (i.e. non academic book sales) rose 6.9%, to $15.049 billion, and e-book sales continued to grow, although the rate of growth...
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The Wall Street Journal
of 5
by Eagle Boy Zephier
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