Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez

I don't have a good history with books about Game Wardens. Three years ago, I abandoned 'The Poacher's Son', the first book about Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch because I found Mike so nice and so calm that he bored me. This year, I abandoned 'In Plain Sight' the sixth book in the series about Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett because I decided I really didn't like Joe anymore.

Still, I like the idea of stories about Game Wardens so I decided to try 'Hollow Beasts', the first book in a brand show more new series about New Mexico Game Warden Jodi Luna. Now, I have a Game Warden I can look forward to reading about.

'Hollow Beasts' was a breath of fresh air. What a difference it makes when your Game Warden is a Hispanic woman in New Mexico rather than a white man in Wyoming.

'Hollow Beasts' is also a real page-turner, As soon as I started it, I wanted to sit down and read it until it was done.

Some of it, especially the start, is a tough read. The plot involves a White Supremacist terrorist group that behaves like a cult. Their hate and acts of violence against women were graphic, credible and repugnant. I spent a lot of the rest of the book waiting for these guys to get their arses kicked. I wasn't disappointed.

This is an entertaining and engaging book. It's also one which seemed to me to have a clear agenda: expose the twisted thinking and behaviour of white supremacists fighting their 'war' against The Great Replacement', to remind people of the history of New Mexico, including how it became part of the United States, and to show how strong, well-armed, women can work together to put an end to violent men. Most of the time, that agenda provided more energy to move the action forward and to help to define the characters and the culture that they live in. Once or twice, it felt more didactic than that. If it wasn't so closely based on the reality of the current situation, it might have felt like propaganda.

It was rescued from that by two things: I liked Jodi and her daughter and the newly-returned-to-town police detective she was working with; the clever way that Valdés built tension throughout the book, keeping me focused on the action and the risk rather than on the bigger political picture.

Parts of the plot did involve some remarkable co-incidences, mainly with regards to things that establish key relationships for Jodi Luna. I was happy to swallow these because they didn't mess with the main action of the plot or its resolution and because the relationships that were established set up the potential for some interesting twists and turns in the next few books in the series.

I'll certainly be back with Jodi Luna in New Mexico when the next book comes out. show less

Blood Mountain by Alisa Lynn Valdes is the 2nd book featuring Jodi Luna, a Fish & Game Warden for the state of New Mexico. I found this second book as captivating as the first. In this outing, Jodi is sent by her political savvy boss to attend a weekend elk hunt on the ranch of the richest man in New Mexico, Jodi’s purpose is to please and elicit a huge campaign donation.

Although the people who are awaiting her at the ranch are ignorant, rude and overbearing, Jodi does her best. The show more weekend gets off to a rocky start as a snowstorm moves in, knocking out the power and bringing frigid weather. One of the guests goes off by himself and ends up with an arrow in his back. His body is found by the only neighbour who didn’t sell out to the billionaire and she allows her pet bear to snack on the body. Everything does eventually get straightened out but not before Jodi’s daughter finds herself in trouble.

With plenty of suspects to chose from, the identity of the killer as fun to try and figure out. I was a little disappointed in Jodi as she is very prone to letting her emotions rule over her reason, but her daughter Mia kept her head and behaved as I hoped a heroine would. These are fun and very readable stories and I have my fingers crossed that there will be more Jodi Luna books. show less

The dirty girls are back, and there sure are a lot of them - Cuicatl (formerly known as Amber), Usnavys, Sara, Elizabeth, Lauren, and Rebecca. Cuicatl is struggling to revive her music career, which seems to have hit the rocks due to the inaccessibility of her latest songs, while Usnavys is up to no good in an irritatingly predictable subplot (though she redeems herself by the end of the story). Sara is caught up in her (literally) murderous ex-husband Roberto, while Elizabeth gives in to show more her passion for Lauren, and later regrets it. Rebecca, the primmest of the group, comes to terms with her infertility, and seeks alternate options.

While the cast of characters at times feels like a circus, Valdes-Rodriguez's gift for engaging characterization and tight plotting are on full display here. At times I was amazed by the stupidity of the women's behavior, particularly Usnavys and Sara, but the author keeps her characters self-aware and they learn even more about themselves as they go along. It sounds like there may be a sequel in the works. show less

I really enjoyed this memoir. I found the author's candid writing style, and gradual discovery of herself as a woman, fascinating. Her explanations of the various forms and ideals behind feminism (1st wave feminism and modern feminism are two VERY different things!) were enlightening, especially in contrast to the more traditional values her "cowboy" faces her with in their relationship. Watching her go through the self-realization that her feminism had messed up her life in more ways than show more one, and being able to become a woman who can appreciate and enjoy the natural differences between men and women, was enlightening and entertaining. show less