The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 31 May 1999
by Sherman Alexie
This novel is the very troubling tale of turmoil in Seattle when a serial murderer starts killing white victims in a ritualized manner. The Indian community is torn between excitement at retribution for centuries of mistreatment, and low-key mystery at who would be so bold to commit such crimes. The white community is terrorized, while small groups of violent whites decide to take revenge on vulnerable Indians. There is a lot of rage in this book. Whites are either mean and racist dullards, while those who try to sympathize with Indians are to be disdained. John, perhaps mentally ill, is an adopted Indian child of white parents. Marie is an angry Indian revolutionary. Her professor is a thick-headed poseur, claiming to be an authority on Indian culture. The Indians are angry. They resent people with unproven traces of Indian ancestry who claim to be Indians. They resent any sense of connection with the whites while past injustices remain unresolved. Throughout the story, there is an undercurrent of mystery. Who is committing these bloody crimes? An Indian? A white posing as an Indian? Is it the final outcome of thousands of Indians ghost dancing? Alexie manages to maintain that mystery while presenting a compelling and dark tale of violence and anger. It is as if the book is directed at those who would claim to understand the Indian world. Powerful. Disturbing.
Also by Alexie: [The Business of Fancydancing] [Ten Little Indians]