Recently I read THE SHAPE SHIFTER by Tony Hillerman and was disappointed by the overall shoddiness of the writing and story. It just wasn't what I had come to expect from, arguably, one of the best writers to come along in recent years. So I went back and read THE DARK WIND. I suppose I wanted to see whether my expectations had become unfairly high or if there really was an appreciable difference between one of Hillerman's early novels and his latest.
What I discovered was absolutely striking. Here in THE DARK WIND was the detail, the thought, the word-smithing excellence and the professionalism that made Hillerman a sensation. Here were the various single threads of plotline that seem, at first, to be so disconnected and unrelated but that, in the hands of the master, are then woven into the fabric of a splendid story. I rediscovered that THE DARK WIND is what I have come to expect from a Hillerman tale and its characteristics are to be found in many of Hillerman's most esteemed works. Here are the allusions to Navajo culture, with its simplicity, charm and mysticism, interspersed with the trappings of the modern world as Jim Chee comes face to face with mystery, murder and witchery. Here were the colors, scenery and the splendor that Hillerman invariably sets as the backdrop to his stories. Here was the literary integrity that I have missed in Hillerman's more recent offerings.
