From Publishers Weekly
Distinctive characters and the rich Montana setting lift Bowen's Gabriel Du Pré adventure, the 11th (after 2003's Badlands) to feature the Metis-Indian tracker. Billionaire Markham Millbank wants to buy the journals of explorer Meriwether Lewis, allegedly found by Du Pré while looking into the disappearance of some Missouri River boaters in 2001's Cruzatte and Maria. Du Pré refuses either to acknowledge or produce the priceless material, and scornfully tosses to the ground envelopes filled with money he receives from Millbank. An increasingly ominous cloud hangs over the Toussaint Saloon, where Du Pré hangs out and sometimes plays the fiddle. When a fellow musician and a friend's niece are attacked, Du Pré must admit the seriousness of the situation. Nosing around between fiddling, drinking "ditchwater" highballs and receiving counsel from his wise longtime love, Madelaine Placquemines, Du Pré is soon at the heart of a murder case that's not what it seems. The author's proseâ€"including unusual punctuation and speech rhythmsâ€"may take some getting used to for the uninitiated. Yet the lure of Du Pré and his cronies is not in Bowen's sometimes elliptical language but in the texture of the storytelling, soaked in folklore, mysticism and wry humor in the face of human folly.
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Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Booklist
*Starred Review* The lost journals of Lewis and Clark are said to reside somewhere in Toussaint, Montana, and it's rumored that Gabe Du Pre is the only man who knows their whereabouts. The feds want Du Pre to surrender them as a national treasure. Technically, Du Pre doesn't know where they are, though his spiritual guide, Benetsee, an Indian with mystical powers, does. And no one can make Benetsee do anything he doesn't want to do. But even as Gabe and his lawyer tangle the feds up in a legal stalemate, other, less benign forces have made it clear they want the journals. Gabe isn't interested in the riches that anonymous callers offer him, but the scent of money draws trouble, and soon two people in Gabe's inner circle have been kidnapped, with the journals sought as the ransom. Toussaint isn't just a small rural community. It's a battleground where the irresistible forces of technology and greed run headlong into the immovable concept of personal integrity. Gabe speaks pidgin English, drinks too much, and scratches out a living as a roadhouse fiddler. But like the most memorable creations in detective fiction, his moral center is unshakable. Another wonderful adventure in a great series. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
