Rio Grande Fall
-
- $13.99
-
- $13.99
Publisher Description
A New Mexico PI tries to stop a cult leader's murderous rampage in "a fascinating hybrid of detective story, adventure yarn, and shamanistic magic." —Kirkus Reviews
The world-famous International Balloon Fiesta of Albuquerque is one of the city's most eagerly anticipated annual events and its biggest moneymaker. But when a woman plunges to her death from one of the balloons—foreshadowed by Sonny Baca's vision of a body plummeting from the sky—Sonny's sure it's murder.
The dead woman was the chief witness to testify against the cult implicated in the murder-for-hire of Sonny's cousin Gloria, whose death still haunts him. In addition to motive, Sonny finds means and opportunity: a homeless family who saw someone push Veronica Worthy out of the hot-air balloon. Worthy was one of the four wives of Raven, leader of the sun cult, and a dangerous, shamanlike criminal who's supposed to be dead. But the four black feathers found on the corpse are his calling card—clues to let Sonny know he's alive and kicking. And his murder spree isn't over. Now, led by his spirit guides, Sonny must race to stop a vengeful madman and save the woman he loves.
From the American Book Award–winning author, this is "a completely entertaining mystery novel [that] offers two parallel lands of enchantment" (Booklist).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Albuquerque PI Sonny Baca, still tormented by his cousin Gloria's ritual murder in Zia Summer (1995), turns to the old healing ways of Southwestern Latinos. During a limpieza, a cleansing ceremony, Sonny envisions someone falling from the sky. It really happened: a murder trial witness was pushed from a hot-air balloon piloted by Raven, the bloodthirsty cult leader who vanished at the end of the earlier book. When Raven kills a balloonist with drug connections, directors of Albuquerque's colorful balloon fiesta hire Sonny. He suspects many--federal agents, local police and perhaps the fiesta's beautiful manager, Madge Swenson--of smuggling drugs, using the balloons as cover. Raven raises the stakes by kidnapping Sonny's true love, Rita. Sonny seeks spiritual strength in the Native American tradition, taking on qualities of the coyote (his nagual, or animal spirit) for a feral rematch with Raven. Sonny is a distinctive narrator, speaking with passionate eloquence about old New Mexican lore and the loss of Hispanic traditions amidst pop culture and Anglo money. While Anaya (Bless Me, Ultima) still struggles with the mystery genre, lumbering through a choppy plot and sometimes submerging the story in preachiness, he nevertheless smoothly incorporates the rich legends of the area's heritage into this tale, particularly in Sonny's final, dramatic crisis.
