Author: James Welch
Title: The Indian Lawyer
Genre: Historical Fiction, Westerns, Mystery
Format: paperback
Pages: 350
Published: October 1, 1990
Where I Got It: My shelf (Amazon)
Summary:
Sylvester Yellow Calf is a former reservation basketball star, a promising young lawyer, and a possible congressional candidate. But when a parolee ensnares him in a blackmail scheme, he'll have to decide just who he is, and what he wants.
Review:
I've enjoyed others by this author and I have a goal to eventually read all his books. He is good. After buying this a while back...it just sat on my shelf for like 5 years. Whoops. Thank goodness for the TBR challenge ;)
Here we have Sylvester Yellow Calf. He was a former reservation basketball star who became a promising young lawyer and a possible congressional candidate. He really has made his way in the world. However, when a parolee ensnares him in a blackmail scheme, he'll have a challenge in front of him. He'll have to decide who he is and what he wants in life.
I'll admit....I struggled a hair. It took longer than I thought it would to finish. This was a pretty slow narrative. Things are happening, don't get me wrong so it's not boring, but just slow. Some politics so that didn't help. And then we get to see a lot of flashbacks from a lot of characters. Lots going on but slow in building.
Even though I struggled with the pace, I did enjoy the actual story. I liked Sylvester and I even ended up liking Patti Ann. Not sure where or when that happened, but yes, I liked her. This author really does have a way of showing the complexities of humans. It's never black and white. You get to understand our hero, of course, but our "baddies". You begin to understand all of them and feel for them all. Of course, you are rooting for the hero, but you get why our baddies are "bad".
Soooo. The ending? I def had some questions. I had to look it up and I guess I'm not alone. It was for sure an ambiguous ending which is fine, but man.....I do love a good epilogue and finality ;) Kuddos to Sly for the decisions he made. He was a good egg.
Overall, I did like this one. Not my favorite of this author's, but it was good. It really made me want to continue my journey into all of his works. Someday! But yes, this had excellent characters and an interesting story. Some slowness and the ending could be seen as vague but it did make me think and have questions. I'll give this 3 stars.
Challenge(s):
- #9 TBR Pile Reading
6 comments:
I take it that this is a standalone with that murky ending. I'm with you on wanting it all clear at the end. Interesting with the shades of gray characters and way of portraying people. I'll have to look up his books.
Agreed. Like I get why authors do it...heck I've done it as a writer, but when I'm reading certain stories I want a more crystal clear ending sometimes esp if I really like the characters. And his stuff is sooo good.
Hmmm... Not for me, but glad you are enjoying the author, despite this one being so-so.
I don't blame ya. And not all can be winners
Not sure about the slow, I give up really fast these days
I need to better at that
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