Hour of the Hunter by J. A. Jance

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS:
-Print: COPYRIGHT: January 1, 1991; PUBLISHER: William Morrow & Company; ISBN 978-0688096304; PAGES 370 ; Unabridged (Amazon Hardcover)

-Digital: COPYRIGHT: (1/1/1994) March 17, 2009; PUBLISHER: William Morrow reprint edition; FILE SIZE: 1001 KB; Unabridged (info from: Amazon: Kindle edition)

*Audio: COPYRIGHT: 20 Jan 2005; PUBLISHER: Books in Motion; DURATION: 15 hrs (approx.); Unabridged (INFO FROM Libby, OC Public Libraries)

Feature Film or tv: Not that I’m aware of.

SERIES: Walker Family Mysteries, Book 1

CHARACTERS: (Not comprehensive)
Diana Ladd- Widowed mother of a 6 year old boy
Davy Ladd (Olhoni) – Diana’s son
Bone – Black and tan mutt – predominantly Irish Wolfhound
Iona Anne Dade – Diana’s mother
Max Cooper – Diana’s father
Andrew Carlisle – Convicted as accomplice in a rape and murder of a teenage Native American
Gina Antone – Young Tohono Oʼodham Native American
Rita Antone {Nana Dahd / Dancing Quail} – A Tohono Oʼodham Native American-Gina’s grandmother
Gabe Ortiz (AKA Gihg Tahpani {Fat Crack}) - Rita’s nephew
Juanita Ortiz – Rita’s sister
Looks At Nothing – Tohono Oʼodham Native American
Ron Mallory – Assistant Superintendent at a state prison in Florence Arizona
Brandon Walker – A Pima County homicide detective
Louella Walker – Brandon’s mother
Toby Walker – Brandon’s father

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
-SELECTION: Don and I had the pleasure of seeing the author, J.A. Jance, speak at a library luncheon where this book was brought to our attention as having been the first book published. (Now, how had I missed that?)

-ABOUT? When a young Native American woman is killed and the perpetrator is sent to prison for just 6 years and then released with the prison’s assistant superintendent commenting on his departure that, in his opinion, he should never have been imprisoned for such an act to begin with, we gain an understanding of the low social status of those in this Native American community; many of the Tohono Oʼodham Native American customs are also highlighted.

-LIKED: Great characters and insights into the lives of the Tohono Oʼodham Native Americans. Great plot.

-DISLIKED: Nothing comes to mind.

-OVERALL: I enjoyed becoming familiar with the good characters, and was anxious that they overcome the bad ones.

AUTHOR: J. A. (Judith Ann) Jance -- (born October 27, 1944) "J. A. Jance is the New York Times bestselling author of the J.P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, the Ali Reynolds series, and three interrelated thrillers. Born in South Dakota, and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, she lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona. – “About the Author (inside the digital version of this book)

NARRATOR: : Gene Engene -- "Gene Engene is an award-winning reader with an astounding catalog of audiobooks to his credit. He is best known as J.P. Beaumont in the J.A. Jance mystery series. Gene is a veteran stage actor, director, and is a retired Professor of Drama at Eastern Washington University." -- Books in Motion

GENRE:
Fiction; Literature, Thriller; Suspense

SUBJECTS: (Not comprehensive)
Papago Indian Community; Tohono Oʼodham Native Americans; Psychopaths; murder; suicide; Origin stories; Widows; small towns

LOCATIONS:
Arizona

TIME FRAME:
1943, 1963, 1967-1968, 1975

DEDICATION:
“To Bill, who brought us “the Bone,” and to Diana Conway wherever she is”

EXCERPT: (From Chapter 1)
“Davy Ladd scampered eagerly out of the room. Bone, black as a shadow and almost as big as his six-year-old owner, waited patiently outside the door. The two of them raced through the house looking for Rita. Davy was quiet about it, though. He didn’t shout or make too much noise. Rita had taught him better manners than that. Children were never to shout after their elders It wasn’t polite.
He found Rita in the backyard loading boxes laden with finely crafted handmade baskets into the bed of an old blue GMC. She stopped working long enough to wipe the running sweat from her wrinkled brown face.
“Well now, Olhoni,” she said, standing looking down on him with both hands folded over her faded apron. “What did your mother say?”
Only Rita called Davy Ladd by the name Olhoni, which, in Papago, means Maverick or Orphaned Calf. That name, the one he called his Indian name, was a jealously guarded secret shared by the boy and the old woman Not even Davy’s mother knew Rita called him that.
“I can go, Nana Dahd,” he told her breathlessly.
Dahd was Papago for “Godmother,” but the title was strictly honorary. Davy had never seen the inside of a church, and there had been no formal ceremony. Like her name for him, however, Nana Dahd was a form of address Davy used only when the two of them were alone together.
Davy clambered up into the truck. He helped shove the last box of baskets down the wooden floor of the short bed to where part of a livestock rack had been spot-welded to the outside wall of the cab. He held the boxes tightly while Rita used rope to lash them firmly in place.
“She says I can go to the feast too. Shall I wear my boots? Should I get a bedroll? Can Bone come?”
“Oh’o stays here,” Nana Dahd told him firmly. “Dogs don’t belong at feasts. Go get a jacket and a bedroll. Even with the fires, it may be cold at the dance. You’ll want to sleep before it’s over. I’ll fix lunch before we go.”
“Oh, no,” Davy replied seriously. “I won’t fall asleep. I promise. I want to stay up all night. Until the dance is over. Until the sun comes up.”
“Go now,” Rita urged, without raising her voice. That wasn’t necessary. The child did as he was told. He sometimes argued with his mother but never with Nana Dahd. Finished packing, Davy stowed his small canvas bag in the cab of the truck and then made his way into Nana Dahd’s room.
He found her busily patting a ball of soft white dough into a flat, round cake. When the dough was stretched thin enough, she dropped it into a vat of hot fat on the stove’s front burner. Within seconds, the dough puffed up and cooked to a golden brown. Meantime, Rita patted out another. Davy had often tried working the dough himself, but no matter what he did, the ball of dough remained just that—a stubborn ball of dough.
Davy hurried to his place at the bare wooden table, while Bone settled comfortably at his feet. Rita placed a mound of thick red chili on the popovers, folded them over, and brought them to the table on plates. In the center of the table sat a small bowl piled high with cooked broccoli. While Davy wrinkled his nose in disgust, Nana Dahd ladled a spoonful of broccoli onto his plate next to the steaming popover.
“You know I hate broccoli,” he said, reaching at once for the popover.
Rita was unmoved. “Eat your vegetables,” she said.
Davy nodded, but as soon as Rita turned her back, he slipped the broccoli under the table to a waiting and appreciative Bone. The dog liked everything—including broccoli.”

RATING:
4 stars

STARTED READING – FINISHED READING
6-23-2023 to 7-2-2023 ( )

The graphic violence was a bit disturbing, but the Indian stories were interesting. ( )

Well written, filled with beautiful descriptions and stories. The shuffling forwards and backwards in time takes a bit of effort to follow, especially with the formatting for the ebook version, but it does give each of the characters a richly developed backstory.

Bit disappointed that the 2nd half of the kindle ebook is littered with errors from scanning - obviously the publisher had just run a spellcheck or something without actually proof reading the final copy. ( )

Very suspenseful , set Arizona as many of J. A. Jance's books are. The bad guy is very bad. Much of the story is set in the land and culture of the Tohono O'odham people who were sometimes called Papago. A murder took place on the reservation some years ago and the killer has just been paroled from the State Prison in Florence. Not to spoil the suspense but one lesson of the book is that even if you think you are much smarter than your mother don't piss her off.

A good book about many ugly topics; Native American, child and spousal abuse, for starters. Police and prison graft have their moments, also. Many flashbacks and O'othham Legends and Tales enrich the story but make it a slow read, A genealogy or list of characters would have helped quite a bit. But all in all, a good Jance story that fills in much of the Ladd/Walker history for those that started later on. ( )