Special Agent Joe Evers knows his time on the squad at the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Albuquerque, New Mexico is nearly over. What an inglorious end to his career! After Christine, his beloved wife, was killed two years earlier, Joe has been lost in grief and let the bottle ease his pain. While still haunted by her death, he is now in reasonably better shape, but a past botched investigation is forcing an early retirement.
Dale, Evers' supervisor, calls Joe in to take the lead on an old cold case as a car belonging to missing Congressman Edgerton gets rediscovered over twenty years later. What the hell is Dale up to, giving him this FBI related case?
Connecting with the young and keen Officer Bluehorse with the Navaho Police Department on the Chi Chil Tah (Navaho Nation) Reservation, Joe examines the old stripped down and shot up Lincoln. As they start their investigation, little do they know how far the ramifications would ripple out - politically and otherwise. Joe's instincts and experience are still good, but will others let him continue?
John Fortunato's debut novel, DARK RESERVATIONS, won the Tony Hillerman Prize and it is definitely well deserved indeed! With his own personal experiences in military intelligence and as an agent with the FBI, Fortunato brings a very strong authentic tone and setting to DARK RESERVATIONS that makes it a riveting read from the first page to the last.
Special Agent Evers is a terrific character and I hope that there may be more of him in the future. He is a man of good heart, loyal to those who deserve it, occasionally a little loose with the rules when it suits his purposes, and not always keen to wait for backup. The characters are all well developed, as is the strong storyline, and their traits, flaws and characteristics are tightly linked with their personas.
Set in New Mexico, DARK RESERVATIONS reflects the bleakness and despair in the lives of some of the people in that region, yet nicely lightens the story by interspersing humourous situations and colourful language. Fortunato also gives a realistic voice to many of the issues facing the Navaho, and fans who like the Longmire series by Craig Johnson will appreciate having a new author in a different rural region to check out.
With its great storyline and powerful ending, DARK RESERVATIONS is sure to be of high interest to any mystery or police procedural fan. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I am sure readers will as well. So, find out why this cold case is so hot and go get your copy now!
Winner of the Tony Hillerman Prize
In John Fortunato's Dark Reservations, Bureau of Indian Affairs Special Agent Joe Evers still mourns the death of his wife and, after a bungled investigation, faces a forced early retirement. What he needs is a new career, not another case. But when Congressman Arlen Edgerton's bullet-riddled Lincoln turns up on the Navajo reservation---twenty years after he had disappeared during a corruption probe---Joe must resurrect his failing career to solve the mysterious cold case.
Partnering with Navajo Tribal Officer Randall Bluehorse, his investigation antagonizes potential suspects, including a wealthy art collector, a former president of the Navajo Nation, a powerful U.S. senator, and Edgerton's widow, who is now the front-runner in the New Mexico governor's race. An unexpected romance further complicates both the investigation and Joe's troubled relationship with his daughter, forcing him to confront his emotional demons while on the trail of a ruthless killer.
Joe uncovers a murderous conspiracy that leads him from ancient Anasazi burial grounds on the Navajo Nation to backroom deals in Washington, D.C. Along the way, he delves into the dangerous world of black market trade in Native American artifacts. Can he unravel the mystery and bring the true criminal to justice, or will he become another silenced victim?
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