Tag: mystery

PbGF Earns Over the Top Reviews

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Poisoned By God’s Flesh: A Peter Romero Mystery
by David E Knop
book review by Joe Kilgore

“Most people know the right thing to do, but the hero actually does it. Heroes keep the monster from the door. It is a matter of survival. For everyone.”

Things start out bad and get decidedly worse in this contemporary thriller that takes place on the highways, hills, and plains of New Mexico. Romero, the fellow mentioned in the subtitle, is a reservation police officer who finds the body of a young woman that just happens to be the daughter of an old high-school flame. Her death is only the beginning of woeful events that will snowball one upon another as Romero is pulled, or perhaps chooses to be pulled, into more chaos, calamity, and death than one finds in most thrillers. In fact, conflicting opinions about what Romero is forced to do, versus what he takes it upon himself to do, are at the heart of this tough-as-nails tale. 

Author Knop keeps a foot firmly on the accelerator as the pace of his novel careens from one bone-crushing event to another. Even though a murder on a reservation falls under the jurisdiction of the FBI, Romero hustles to hunt for people who may be involved in the girl’s death. Soon the dead girl’s boyfriend can’t be found. Her father is drunk and looking for vengeance. Her mother is kidnapped. Illicit drugs are involved, as are stone-cold killers. When Romero’s family is threatened, he sends his wife to stay with her ninety-year-old mother and later comes to believe that both of them are in mortal danger. As Romero tries to untangle all of this, he’s bounced, broken, and beaten in more ways than the reader can count. His physical punishment is vividly detailed, as are his mental and emotional struggles to untangle intersecting deceptions that threaten to do as much damage to his mind as the rough treatment has done to his body. While bad guys are trying to do him in, and the Feds are trying to keep him out, Romero keeps getting puzzling mystical advice from a shape-shifting shaman that only the reservation detective can see. It’s frequently more difficult for the policeman to decode the shaman’s Confucius-like insights than stay on the trail of the villains who also become involved in the heist of a nuclear vehicle. 

The author shows particular skill at escalating action set pieces. From Romero’s frequent attempts to escape even more physical harm than he’s already been forced to endure to gun battles that send the body count into double figures, Knop depicts violence with cinematic intensity. He also creates villains who are as memorable as they are nasty, and they’re about as evil as criminals come. His supporting players merit mention as well. From the Native American female FBI agent who surreptitiously supports Romero’s motives (if not his behavior) to the reservation cop’s long-suffering wife who is virtually at the end of her emotional rope, Knop imbues these characters with traits and idiosyncrasies that bring flesh and blood to the pages they occupy and not just in the standard ink and plot progression. The writer is also extremely adept at making the western landscape and environment a vital part of his story. He does a first-rate job of blending physical detail into narrative impact, as when he says, “On a cold night, the cliffs warmed the valley. Cottonwood and pinion flourished from the spring water. Birds and mule deer flocked to the place. The gorge’s serenity made it a nice place to live. And die.” 

This novel is the second book in the author’s mystery series. Readers who enjoy this foray into the fictional exploits of a man whose inner turmoil is often as tumultuous as his occupational confrontations will likely relish the fact that there is more to took forward to in the future. 

RECOMMENDED by the US Review

Honorable, Indeed

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Animal Parts was bestowed an Honorable Mention in the 11th PSWA Conference in Las Vegas, NV, in July 2016!

delicious-too
There were a couple points taken off for Cougar having eaten a couple of spectators and a judge.

The thrilling mystery, Animal Parts by David E Knop, would’ve won First Place at the 11th annual PSWA Writers Conference but having a hungry 170lb mountain lion as your companion tends to complicate things.

Cougar asks that you read Animal Parts…and soon.

Buy now at Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com.

 

 

US Review of Books Praises Animal Parts

Animal Parts Book cover-6th final-cropped

A Review of Animal Parts by David E Knop by the illustrious US Review of Books

Animal Parts
by David E. Knop
BookBaby

reviewed by Joe Kilgore

“They dragged the blubbering man off and the door slammed. Silence. Dark silence. Romero knew he wasn’t dead. Death couldn’t hurt this much.”
When it comes to novels, it’s virtually impossible to think about the combination of crime, mystery, and Native Americans, and not think about Tony Hillerman. His Navajo Tribal Police stories gave readers a different way to view people who had frequently been marginalized and too often caricatured in books, films, and television. This author’s oeuvre is similar, yet distinctive in its own right. His third and latest installment of the life and times of Cochiti Pueblo Police Officer Peter Romero is addictively engaging, thoroughly entertaining, even occasionally educational when it comes to events in history and tribal migration seen from a different perspective.
The book opens compellingly with a cougar in the crosshairs of a high-powered rifle. The big cat had recently attacked a couple of hikers, and Romero had been paid to dispatch the animal. One shot kills the beast, but his death is not the end. Actually it’s only the beginning of an adventure filled with danger, brutality, and mysticism.
It seems that poachers are out and about and it’s Romero’s job to find and stop them. But as is generally the case in these sorts of tales, there’s more here than meets the eye. While some poaching is being done to feed hungry families affected by the sluggish economy in New Mexico, there’s also mounting evidence that much of it is being done to fuel the lucrative but highly illegal market in animal parts. Elk and more are being found with their brains and sexual organs removed—organs that will likely end up in very expensive and questionably effective aphrodisiacs. But then the poachers start to end up dead. Not just shot, stabbed, or choked, mind you, but totally eviscerated. One might even say eaten.
Of course Romero must intercede, but things are not going well for him. His wife has left him, and he wants her to return. Local officials have sanctioned him, and he wants them off his back. A thoroughly alluring FBI agent might be coming on to him, and he’s not at all sure he can marshal the reserves to resist. His neighbor is attacked by something that appears to be neither man nor animal, and to top it all off, the cougar he was sure he killed returns. Just when it looks like things couldn’t possibly get worse, they get horrific.
Knop starts his tale in high gear and never takes his foot off the accelerator. He maintains a blistering pace not only with tightly woven subplots that zip from one chapter to the next, but also with prose that is short, sharp, and finely tuned. His exposition is quick and clipped. His dialogue is realistically conversational and spot on when it comes to nailing the way people actually react. This is a confidently written tale by an excellent storyteller.
Not surprisingly, there is even a surprise ending, which will certainly not be revealed here. Some readers may well find it completely appropriate, while others might find it slightly maddening, but whichever camp you find yourself in, you’ll have had an exciting dash to the finish line through the pages of this first rate thriller.
Read the super review here:  US Review of Books-Animal Parts

Buy Animal Parts at Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com.

Please let us know what you think!

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Native American Cannibals – Are They Still Out There?

monster

American history is often considered lean on the topic of cannibalism. True, the University of Colorado’s Union Cafeteria is named after one, Alfred Packer (1842 – 1907) who ate, the story goes, two of the three Republicans in his county. A few of us may remember modern-day cannibals like the Stella Maris College Rugby Team (1972) or  Jeffrey Dahmer (1960 – 1994), but North American folklore is actually filled with stories of human flesh eaters.

In Southwestern Colorado, researchers have discovered the first clear evidence that Native Americans practiced cannibalism at a small Anasazi (ancient ones) settlement. Down south, early Spanish explorers took care to avoid the Karankawa of Southeast Texas who practiced ritual cannibalism. South of the U.S. border, Pre-Columbian Aztecs were notorious for eating their enemies. Upstate New York’s Mohawk were called man-eaters by their Algonquian enemies in colonial times.

As proof of their abhorrence of these eating habits, Algonquian-speaking people (Mohegan, Cree, Arapaho, Blackfoot and Cheyenne, to name only a few) of the U.S. and Canada tell tales of the dire consequences of eating human flesh: transformation into a hideous monster called the Windigo (sometimes spelled Wendigo).

The Windigo is described as a half-beast demon that possesses both human and monster characteristics. Descriptions of the beast vary, but generally it is said to be tall and lanky, have glowing eyes, long, yellowed fangs and extremely long tongues. Most have sallow skin sometimes matted with hair while some have scales. All Windigos are driven by an uncontrollable craving for human flesh.

How does a person become a Windigo? According to lore, one is created whenever a human resorts to cannibalism for survival. Once the initial crises of starvation ebbs, cannibals, no matter how repentant, become victims themselves and find their cravings for human flesh never ending. It is unclear what kind of transformation a person undergoes to become a monster or how much he remains a human, but one point is clear: they are possessed by a condition they cannot control, an illness without cure or relief except in death.

There are at least two Windigo-related cases on official record, both in Canada. One occurred in 1879 involving a Cree trapper named Swift Runner. The Northwest Mounted Police found evidence that he had killed and eaten his entire family. At trial, Swift Runner confessed and was hanged that summer.

The most famous Windigo-hunter was a Cree as well, named Jack Fiddler, who claimed to have killed at least 14 of the creatures. His last murder resulted in his imprisonment at the age of 87. In 1907, Fiddler and his son, Joseph, were indicted for the murder of a Cree woman. They both pleaded guilty to the crime with the defense that the monster had to be killed before she murdered members of the tribe. Fiddler committed suicide before trial. His son died in prison.

Some legends start for reasons lost to antiquity, but Windigo sightings are still reported. Some believe that these monsters are roaming the cold, dark wilderness of North America. Others would like to believe that legends are only that. The real question is: are Windigos phantoms of our past, or are they still out there?

 

Sources & Bibliography: http://drvitelli.typepad.com/providentia/, https://www.prairieghosts.com/abtauthor, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo

People of the Pueblo de Cochiti

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Peter Romero’s home and people are a proud tradition.

Please visit their site for more information: http://www.pueblodecochiti.org/

The Pueblo de Cochiti, (Cochiti), is located 55 miles north of Albuquerque, New Mexico and is contained within 53,779 acres of reservation land that sustains 1,175 Pueblo members according to the 1990 BIA census. Cochiti, the northernmost Keresan Pueblo in New Mexico, is located in Sandoval and Santa Fe Counties, approximately 13 miles northwest of Interstate 25 and 35 miles southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The topographic elevation varies from 5300 to 6800 feet above mean sea level and is characterized by the Rio Grande, which flows through reservation lands.  The principal land use includes farming, livestock, recreational, economic development, and agricultural and Pueblo home/residential construction purposes.  The demographic breakdown includes: 880 acres for agricultural; 4,443 acres of lake areas and wild river Bosque/wetlands; 7,042 acres dedicated to economic development consisting of residential and commercial lease properties and a golf course; and 41,424 acres of rangeland, pinion/juniper woodlands and Pueblo and residential use lands.

The people of Cochiti continue to retain their native language of Keres.  They maintain their cultural practices and have instituted programs dedicated to teaching and educating the younger generation Pueblo traditions and cultural practices emphasizing the native language.  Cochiti is well known for their craftsmanship in making jewelry, pottery, (storyteller), and drums.

Water in the Rio Grande, flows through Pueblo lands and is intermittently stored behind Cochiti Dam, which at a maximum capacity stores 502,330 acre feet of water known as Cochiti Reservoir. Cochiti has recently developed a Farm Enterprise Plan, which included the restoration of large acreage’s of traditional farmland inundated by seepage caused by the storage of water behind Cochiti Dam.  The reclamation of these lands, in cooperation with the US Army Corps of Engineers, (COE), was completed in September of 1994.

The Santa Fe River which headwaters in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains east of Santa Fe NM flows downstream through Santa Fe NM, La Cienega, NM and finally into pueblo lands at the mouth of La Bajada Canyon.  The river flows through Pueblo lands and discharges into the Rio Grande several miles hence.

Historically, Cochiti has had no private employers or economic enterprises.  This was changed with the Pueblo’s acquisition of the Town of Cochiti Lake and the creation of Cochiti Community Development Corporation, (CCDC) in 1995.  The Town of Cochiti Lake was established under a 99-year lease agreement with private investors to establish residential housing units under a strict building code and relative covenants.  The property has been under the direct management of Cochiti since the early 1980’s and has been a primary revenue source for the community.

Of primary importance to the Pueblo de Cochiti are the land, air and water on and adjacent to the reservation, which is the lifeline of the Pueblo Traditions and Culture. The Pueblo is located in the heart of the traditional homeland and it would be impossible to retain peoples and culture if the environment is impacted to the point where the Cochiti decide the land is dangerous to utilize for habitat, farming, fishing, hunting, and maintaining Cultural Tradition.