Rating: 
Summary: Anaya writes a mystery novel with a classic taste!
Review: "Rio Grande Fall" picks up where "Zia Summer" left off. Sonny and Rita are back, along with most of the other original characters. Anaya introduces a few new, intriguing characters as well. The story will certainly grab your attention, and the final chapters will have you on the edge of your seat! Things certainly end with a bang! or perhaps, to be more precise, a zap! A must read for both Anaya and mystery fans.
Rating:
Summary: Anaya writes a mystery novel with a classic taste!
Review: "Rio Grande Fall" picks up where "Zia Summer" left off. Sonny and Rita are back, along with most of the other original characters. Anaya introduces a few new, intriguing characters as well. The story will certainly grab your attention, and the final chapters will have you on the edge of your seat! Things certainly end with a bang! or perhaps, to be more precise, a zap! A must read for both Anaya and mystery fans.
Rating:
Summary: Sonny starts to get mystical
Review: I enjoyed this book as much as I did Zia Summer, and there were a few climaxes and page turning events that really kept this book going.I had three problems with this book, that are small by themselves and really shouldn't affect the overall story: 1) The author still mixes in some Spanish and Mexican slang that makes some sentances a bit hard to decipher if you aren't familiar with the language, 2) The author delves much more into an occult/mysticism for his main character which I think detracts from him becoming too believable, 3) a few minor characters seem to serve no purpose as they are introduced early in the book, and no resolution ever comes about for them. Other than that, the book kept me guessing, it was fast paced, the crimes were unique, and I thought it was a smooth sequel to Zia Summer.
Rating: 
Summary: Follow up to Zia Summer not as hot
Review: I found Rio Grande Fall to be a very entertaining book. However, it greatly relies on the reader being familiar with the first book Zia Summer. While Anaya tries to fill in some of Zia's happenings, it would have been a very difficult book to read without first reading Zia Summer. Sonny Baca is a great character, but lacks some depth that he had in Zia. You would think that Sonny would have learned his lesson concerning the villian Raven. Anaya's style is supurb but lacks some Christian aspects that could easily be incorporated into his spiritualism. Unlike some reviewers, I did not find it to be a "preachy" novel, but gave another religious interpretation. I also loved Anaya's description of the Southwest and the culture. He certainly could rival Tony Hillerman. Overall I would recomend reading Rio Grande Fall, but after the superior Zia Summer.
Rating:
Summary: A great mix of mystery and spirituality
Review: I had not read "Zia Summer" when I stumbled upon "Rio Grande Fall." Rudolfo Anaya's second Sonny Baca mystery filled in the "Zia Summer" gaps enough that I had no problem following "Rio Grande's" exciting and intricate story of murder, deception and spiritual power. Anaya's carefully crafted use of Spanish without translation adds to the flavor, as do his descriptions of Sonny's shamanic journeys, as he learns to use his power animal, Coyote. When religion appears at all in popular literature today, it usually is in the mainstream. Thus, it is refreshing to find a hero who devoutly espouses an alternate belief system. Also, Anaya packs this page-turner with Hispanic-American socio-political history, working it in so entertainingly that you don't realize till later how much you have learned. "Rio Grande Fall" is an all-around good read.
Rating:
Summary: A great mix of mystery and spirituality
Review: I had not read "Zia Summer" when I stumbled upon "Rio Grande Fall." Rudolfo Anaya's second Sonny Baca mystery filled in the "Zia Summer" gaps enough that I had no problem following "Rio Grande's" exciting and intricate story of murder, deception and spiritual power. Anaya's carefully crafted use of Spanish without translation adds to the flavor, as do his descriptions of Sonny's shamanic journeys, as he learns to use his power animal, Coyote. When religion appears at all in popular literature today, it usually is in the mainstream. Thus, it is refreshing to find a hero who devoutly espouses an alternate belief system. Also, Anaya packs this page-turner with Hispanic-American socio-political history, working it in so entertainingly that you don't realize till later how much you have learned. "Rio Grande Fall" is an all-around good read.
Rating: 
Summary: Mumbo Jumbo
Review: I have read the first two books in this series, and I am not up to read the rest. Sonny Baca, the supposed detective hero, is so incompetent, and the confrontations he has with his adversaries so contrived, that it is juvenile. Baca is so constantly stumbling into traps, that the reader is saying "Sonny, don't go in there" two pages before he runs head long into another trap. After a while it become silly. The way Sonny escapes from the traps is even sillier. And the exotic spiritualism is never explained in a way that makes any sense. After a while it is so much Mumbo Jumbo. The shame of the matter is that Anaya is a prose master, and the images he conveys are effective. The problem is the stories are simply lacking any believability. If you want southwestern mysticism and great story telling, by a truely talented writer, try The Shaman Sings, and the other books by James Doss.
Rating:
Summary: Best of Chicano Literature, for Chicanos
Review: I strongly recommend this author and particularly this book. However, care should be taken when reading Some background in spanish is recommended since author likes to throw in a bit of "Spanglish" in,Englis, and Spanish mix, expecting that readers will catch on. A most interesting character Sonny Baca, its very refreshing to read about Latino heros, which go unmention in American Literature.
Rating:
Summary: Best of Chicano Literature, for Chicanos
Review: I strongly recommend this author and particularly this book. However, care should be taken when reading Some background in spanish is recommended since author likes to throw in a bit of "Spanglish" in,Englis, and Spanish mix, expecting that readers will catch on. A most interesting character Sonny Baca, its very refreshing to read about Latino heros, which go unmention in American Literature.
Rating:
Summary: Best of Chicano Literature, for Chicanos
Review: I strongly recommend this author and particularly this book. However, care should be taken when reading, some background spanish is recommended since author likes to throw in a bit of "Spanglish" in, expecting that readers will catch on. I most interesting character Sonny Baca, very refreshing to read about Latino heros, which go unmention in American Literature.
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