Red Moon: A Howard Moon Deer Mystery (Howard Moon Deer Mysteries)

Rating:
Summary: Red Moon is Full
Review: Even though I'm not a special fan of Southwest settings, a friend recommended the mystery Red Moon because of its other merits. I bought the book and was so very pleasantly surprised by its intelligence and wit. Mr. Westbrook writes very well and pulled me right into the story--giving me several vivid characters to care about and an intriguing plot that kept me guessing until the last page. His dialog is excellent. He never hits a false note. My only complaint is that the book kept me up late two nights in a row--it was so suspenseful, I couldn't put it down. I'm so impressed with Red Moon that I'm ordering the first two in this series, Ghost Dancer and Warrior Circle and look forward eagerly to his next one, Ancient Enemy, previewed at the end of Red Moon and due out soon. I'm sorry I didn't know about Mr. Westbrook sooner. He's terrific and deserves an audience outside "Southwest" circles.

Rating:
Summary: A good read. A page turner
Review: I really enjoyed Red Moon. It is a classic, mystery-suspense novel, but is so well written that it belongs with the best of the genre. I especially enjoyed all I learned about New Mexico and that the characters were so well drawn. I found it so interesting that the detective was blind and that we "saw" things through his "eyes" and I enjoyed the protagonist, Howard Moon Deer who is flawed but kind and sexy. The prologue is one of the best I have read with a wonderful description of the rainbow man. I look forward to "Ancient Enemy" which, I believe, is due to be published this fall. If you have not discovered Robert Westbrook I urge you to do so. His books are thoroughly good reads.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent series with two interesting sleuths
Review: I suppose it is time for a sub-genre of blind detectives to be developed. Howard is the employee of a blind retired police officer, Jack Wilder, who couldn't stand being retired. He provides the thought and Howard does the legwork to research the cases, often with unforeseen consequences. Howard is a Native American who received an education off the reservation. Now he is sophisticated, knowledgeable, and doesn't always fit in with his fellow tribesmen. In addition, he is living in New Mexico, and is equally as much an alien as Jack when it comes to the reservation and its residents.
Jack, though a resident of permanent darkness, is a gourmet cook and is even experimenting with learning to shoot without sight for aiming. Every so often he must extricate Howard from a bad situation. Howard gets knocked unconscious on a regular basis, and should be suffering far more damage from those blows...or at least reconsidering his career move.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent series with two interesting sleuths
Review: I was greatly disappointed with this book. The main character is not a Ella Clah (Aimee and Davis Thurlo), Charlie Moon (James D. Doss), nor a Jim Chee or Joe Leaphorn (Tony Hillerman) but instead the book is about a blind ex-cop from California and his college-educated indian assistant from Minnasota working in New Mexico. It reads more like a typical 1940's detective novel. Your money would be better spend on a Thurlo, Doss, or Hillerman book. I had the same feelings when I read Westbrook's companion book "Ancient Enemy".

Rating:
Summary: Red Moon
Review: I was greatly disappointed with this book. The main character is not a Ella Clah (Aimee and Davis Thurlo), Charlie Moon (James D. Doss), nor a Jim Chee or Joe Leaphorn (Tony Hillerman) but instead the book is about a blind ex-cop from California and his college-educated indian assistant from Minnasota working in New Mexico. It reads more like a typical 1940's detective novel. Your money would be better spend on a Thurlo, Doss, or Hillerman book. I had the same feelings when I read Westbrook's companion book "Ancient Enemy".

Rating:
Summary: Reminiscent of Hillerman
Review: Lakota Sioux Howard Moon Deer has come a long way from his poverty-stricken days on South Dakota's Rosebud Reservation. With the help of scholarships for Native Americans, Howard obtained a BA from Dartmouth and a Master from Princeton. Howard took a break from his studies. He journeyed to San Geronimo, New Mexico where he becomes an assistant to blind private detective Jack Wilder.

Art dilettante Robin Vandenberg hires the pair to obtain evidence that his stepfather is stealing from the store owned by Robin's mother Barbara. After less than one day passes after retaining the sleuths, Robin fires them. Someone soon beats up Howard and breaks into his home. An unknown assailant rummages through Jack's belongings. Finally, a culprit shoots and kills a homeless person in front of Howard's home. The murder weapon traces back to a robbery-killing over twenty-five years ago, leaving Jack and Howard seeking clues that are over a quarter of a century old to close out their current fiasco.

Robert Westbrook captures the enchanting artistic ambiance of New Mexico even as he describes the seamier side of the state. RED MOON is a fascinating mystery due to its rich atmosphere and complex characterizations. Although, the romance between Howard and Claire seems like filler material, the overall story line retains the appealing flavor of previous "Howard Deer" mysteries that fans of Native American fiction love.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: A Fun and Interesting Read
Review: Recently, I was searching for something new to read when a friend handed me Red Moon. I had never read anything of Robert Westbrook's before, but anxious for something different, I opened the book, and found his style absolutely captivating. He is a marvelous writer, but what I really liked was his ability to create a small town and make it come alive for me. I've never been a big fan of 'small town' settings, but his was unique, a bit quirky, and delivered with sharp wit.

The other aspect of the book that I liked was the plot. Lately, the mysteries I've been reading have been based on contrivance laid upon contrivance with the endings all too predictable. In Red Moon, the plot wasn't built on a framework of coincidences, but rather, was intelligently formulated with a very interesting ending.

My wife typically doesn't enjoy mysteries by 'guy writers,' but one night she was desperate for something to read, started Westbrook's book and ended up staying awake all night finishing it.

We'll now be looking for the other two books in this series!

Rating:
Summary: Great characters, however story not used to full potential.
Review: This third book in the Howard Moon Deer series deserves 3.5 stars.

I find it very interesting that this novel is billed as a `Howard Moon Deer' novel, when in fact the character Moon Deer makes up one half of a the detective team of Wilder & Associate. Throughout the novel, while Howard does play an integral part of the unfolding mystery, it is his mentor and boss, retired CA. policeman, Jack Wilder who has just as much action. Even more so, it is Jack Wilder that the P.I. firm is named after, and it is Jack that pretty much is part of the climax and resolution of the overall mystery here.

I purchased this book for its somewhat synonymous genre of modern Native American mysteries as Tony Hillerman would write about in his Jim Chee & Joe Leaphorn novels. Whereas Hillerman mixes in traditional Native American culture, history, religion, and tradition into his novels author Robert Westbrook barely touched on any of this in this novel. Actually our star, Howard Moon Deer, is very educated. He can speak French and English quite well and attended Ivy League schools. He often comments on how far removed he is from `traditional' Native American life as he has mastered the yuppie slang, has a taste for Café Aulaits and wine, and is involved with an equally educated white woman.

So what part makes this a southwestern novel? Well, events take place in the fictional town of San Geronimo, New Mexico. The author compares San Geronimo to a smaller scale Santa Fe and Taos, as it is centered around an artist community/mentality and tourism. Sure there are some references to Native American culture, but not many.

The story was nothing new. Current mystery revolves around a recent murder and a stolen Georgia O'Keefe painting from years past. As the mystery unfolds, we learn of another murder and mystery tied to it from the past as well, but conveniently all the players from back then are still present today. Overall, the story was entertaining, and you really get interested in the cast of characters. The characters are pretty well defined and all have apparent motivations and definitions that make them fun and quirky. However, the climax was a slight let down as everything happened too fast and wasn't overly exciting or action packed. It was a fairly easy read, as I finished the 297 pages in less than 4 days, and I would definitely read the next one just so I can see the resolution of a few interesting non-essential story threads that presented themselves throughout the tale. Some of these seem to dictate the actions of Howard, his girlfriend, and Jack and the way they perceive each other.

In closing, Robert Westbrook has some very good characters in Howard Moon Deer and Jack Wilder, but I don't think this story utilized their full potential.

Rating:
Summary: Great characters, however story not used to full potential.
Review: This third book in the Howard Moon Deer series deserves 3.5 stars.

I find it very interesting that this novel is billed as a 'Howard Moon Deer' novel, when in fact the character Moon Deer makes up one half of a the detective team of Wilder & Associate. Throughout the novel, while Howard does play an integral part of the unfolding mystery, it is his mentor and boss, retired CA. policeman, Jack Wilder who has just as much action. Even more so, it is Jack Wilder that the P.I. firm is named after, and it is Jack that pretty much is part of the climax and resolution of the overall mystery here.

I purchased this book for its somewhat synonymous genre of modern Native American mysteries as Tony Hillerman would write about in his Jim Chee & Joe Leaphorn novels. Whereas Hillerman mixes in traditional Native American culture, history, religion, and tradition into his novels author Robert Westbrook barely touched on any of this in this novel. Actually our star, Howard Moon Deer, is very educated. He can speak French and English quite well and attended Ivy League schools. He often comments on how far removed he is from 'traditional' Native American life as he has mastered the yuppie slang, has a taste for Café Aulaits and wine, and is involved with an equally educated white woman.

So what part makes this a southwestern novel? Well, events take place in the fictional town of San Geronimo, New Mexico. The author compares San Geronimo to a smaller scale Santa Fe and Taos, as it is centered around an artist community/mentality and tourism. Sure there are some references to Native American culture, but not many.

The story was nothing new. Current mystery revolves around a recent murder and a stolen Georgia O'Keefe painting from years past. As the mystery unfolds, we learn of another murder and mystery tied to it from the past as well, but conveniently all the players from back then are still present today. Overall, the story was entertaining, and you really get interested in the cast of characters. The characters are pretty well defined and all have apparent motivations and definitions that make them fun and quirky. However, the climax was a slight let down as everything happened too fast and wasn't overly exciting or action packed. It was a fairly easy read, as I finished the 297 pages in less than 4 days, and I would definitely read the next one just so I can see the resolution of a few interesting non-essential story threads that presented themselves throughout the tale. Some of these seem to dictate the actions of Howard, his girlfriend, and Jack and the way they perceive each other.

In closing, Robert Westbrook has some very good characters in Howard Moon Deer and Jack Wilder, but I don't think this story utilized their full potential.

Rating:
Summary: The worst copy editing I have ever seen
Review: While the content of Mr. Westbrook's Howard Moon Deer mystery series is interesting and provides a reader with a panorama of life in northern New Mexico, the editing is atrocious. The typos, grammatical errors, and the use of incorrect words are embarrassing. Does no one edit their own manuscripts in this computer age? This sloppiness is distracting. I can no longer read his novels.