Facing Rushmore
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
A federal agent assigned to collect intelligence on militant Native American tribes discovers a plot to reclaim the Indian's sacred land at Mt. Rushmore.
The St. Louis Memorial Arch, 630 feet of gleaming stainless steel, twice the height of the Statue of Liberty, built to withstand earthquakes, has been so severely damaged that it's barely standing. What's even more unsettling to a nervous nation: The arch was damaged and turned black overnight but without apparent cause—no bombs, no guns, no chemicals.
There are suspects, however. And Charlie Hart, a clean-cut FBI agent in the all-American mode, is on the trail of three: Lakota John Brown Dog, an otherworldly whore, and "the grandfather," who's in contact with a shadowy but powerful group known as the allies.
And matters only get scarier for America after the arch is damaged...the four stone presidents on Mount Rushmore come under an attack that a hundred armed agents and a dozen assault helicopters are powerless to stop...then it's on to a second battle of the Little Bighorn. The white man's civilization ends with a lone wolf howling in the desolate forests of Manhattan.
The force majeure behind these events is ghost dancing, which began in 1890 as a promise to Indians that America's original illegal aliens—the Europeans and their descendants—could be eradicated without war, without killing. How this promise can be fulfilled more than a hundred years later, in present-day America, is one of the compelling mysteries at the heart of Facing Rushmore.
Martin's ten novels have given him a cult following. His thriller, Lie to Me, and his eccentric love story, The Crying Heart Tattoo, are adored by fans worldwide. But Facing Rushmore is in a class by itself. The novel's unforgettable characters dare to consider a provocative question in the post-9/11 world: Can the technological power of the United States, a power that has dominated the world, be overwhelmed by a superior spiritual force?
Facing Rushmore will thrill and provoke readers. It's a history lesson, a page-turner, and one hell of a journey. If you're a Martin fan, the good news is: He's back. If this is your first trip with him, get ready for the ride of your life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Earnest FBI agent Charlie Hart begins his debut fictive foray (two more Hart novels are planned) claustrophobically, as Charlie rigorously interrogates an Indian demonstrator named John Brown Dog, ringleader of a protest group that has vandalized the St. Louis Arch. Over the whole of Part I, written completely in dialogue, John answers Charlie's questions obliquely, offering detours and metaphors and elliptical threats spread over many chapters. In Part II, Charlie puzzles over John's yarn. Is Brown Dog an enraged crackpot or a terrorist threat? Are his weapons, ghost dancing and a mysterious black powder, just to name a couple, truly powerful or dependent upon the superstition of the targeted victims? Charlie can find no evidence of crime, but as Indian protest swells Mount Rushmore, a site sacred to Native Americans, is threatened government bosses order brute force to curb the group; Charlie, who doesn't believe that John Brown Dog is violent, is tasked with taking him down. Martin (The Crying Heart Tattoo) creates real tension out of Charlie's dilemma, particularly in the runup to Part III and the aftermath it chronicles. But Martin's handling of the mystical elements shifts unsteadily from allegory to thriller to clumsy social commentary. Despite some compelling scenes and genuine chills, the whole is a lot less than the sum of the parts.