David Cole (3)

I've enjoyed David Cole's Laura Winslow series for its edgy main character, its depiction of the desert, and for some of the hard-hitting issues the author brings into his stories.

"Laura Winslow" is a false identity for this woman hiding from a dangerous and painful past on the reservation. She constantly fights her addiction to Ritalin, which makes her thoughts jump all over the place until she can't concentrate. Since Scorpion Rain is written from Laura's point of view, I sometimes felt show more as though I couldn't concentrate and that my own thoughts were skittering around inside my skull. That's the best way for a writer to get readers inside his character's head.

Because of her past and because of her addiction, Laura has trust issues-- especially concerning the government. She should believe in herself more, but it's difficult. Her past is always going to haunt her; her past is always going to be her weak link.

Scorpion Rain is a twofold mystery. One concerns the kidnapping of Laura's friend Meg. That mystery is solved, and we are given our answers. However, the second mystery (which I won't give away) is not answered, which bothered me a bit.

Laura also bothered me, and I wasn't rooting for her success to the same degree as I have in the past. It has me wondering if I've outgrown this character in the time since I read the previous book (Stalking Moon). I hope not because this has always been one of my "go to" series. I'll just let Laura percolate away in the back of my brain for a while before I pick up the next book. It's waiting patiently for me on my to-be-read shelves. show less

First Line: One of my cell phones rang at 4:15 in the morning.

As a brilliant computer hacker, Laura Winslow knows of many ways to fly beneath the radar to avoid detection. Through the years, she's used many of those ways herself. As a youthful member of A.I.M. (American Indian Movement), she did things that have the government still searching for her. Her ex-husband stole their daughter, and Laura is still trying to find her, but at least she's overcome her addiction to ritalin. The smoother show more her life is, the more she'll be able to concentrate on what matters most to her.

This part-Hopi hacker-investigator has been hiding out in the Arizona desert, but her latest job puts her too close to the Mexican border at the same time that a large-scale illegal border crossing is taking place. Laura is now in the hands of federal agents who will expose and arrest her unless she agrees to help the government in uncovering a massive operation trafficking in human lives. Innocent women have already died in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and Mexico, and unless Laura can discover the truth in a labyrinth of internet chat rooms and cover-ups, she may join them.

I enjoy this series and always recommend it to other crime fiction readers who enjoy mysteries in that mid-range between cozy and hard-boiled. Author David Cole imbues his books with a strong sense of place-- not through painting word pictures of breathtaking scenery, but through plots that deal with issues that are crucial to the area. His main character, Laura Winslow, is also one of the best in the genre.

Superficially, Laura is a character that many readers would prefer to ignore. Her background can easily make them uncomfortable. Laura's history-- and her growth and transformation-- is exactly what makes her such a wonderful character.

She's hiding from the federal government due to her participation in the American Indian Movement as a teenager and young woman. For the most part, she was following in her ex-husband's footsteps and not any real threat to life, liberty and the pursuit of the American Way. In a very real sense, her participation has already cost her her daughter.

Laura also became addicted to ritalin, and drug addicts also make most people uneasy. In the first book in this series, Butterfly Lost, she is still addicted and fighting it, which made her a very jumpy and unpredictable person. By this third book in the series, she's succeeded in kicking her habit, but she can still be unpredictable. Laura Winslow is a woman who evolves from book to book. She grows, she changes, she becomes stronger and more focused. It's this transformation of a character that has me hooked on these books. Laura is becoming a person who's willing to take control and stop hiding. No matter how conflicted she is, Laura always opts for doing what's right.

From the border towns of Nogales to the city of Tucson, Cole leads us through a maze of clues to the people smuggling women into the U.S.-- and the futility that comes with catching them. It's every bit the same as cutting the head off a hydra.

David Cole is a very talented storyteller and the creator of a marvelous character in Laura Winslow. It would thrill me to bits if more readers would discover-- and appreciate-- his books like I do. show less

I'm so glad I found this book while on holidays. The main character is Laura Winslow, a 40 year old, part Hopi Indian, computer hacker who has mostly given up hacking because she has seen too much violence while on assignments. She was hooked on Ritalin for a while but now her drug of choice is long-distance running. Her business partner convinces her to take one more hacking contract because the contact asked for her by name. Her live-in partner, meanwhile, is called in by the police for show more his expertise as a forensic anthropologist to determine if bone fragments found in a new development are human. The same marshal is involved with both cases and soon so is Laura. This is not a whodunit story as it becomes obvious fairly early on who the perpetrators of the murders are. The suspense hinges on whether Laura and the marshal can track them down and stop them before more people are killed. In true suspense style that question is not resolved until the second last chapter.

All in all I enjoyed this book and I will be looking for more by David Cole. I especially want to read the earlier books in this series to understand some of the references made in this book. show less

A number of years ago I read a book by David Cole and I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to read more. I put his other books on my wishlist but until I went to Uncle Edgar’s Bookstore in Minneapolis I was never able to find more. This is the first book that he wrote in 1999 and although there is a little too much going on, a common failing of first novels, it was very interesting.This book is set in northern Arizona which I have visited but my experiences there were quite a bit different show more than what is portrayed in this book. This book shows the reality experienced by native Americans struggling to come to terms with modern white society while retaining their own culture.Laura Winslow is a Hopi Indian about 40 years old who left the reservation as a teenager with her boyfriend Jonathan Begay. She and Jonathan spent a number of years involved with AIM and had a child together. Jonathan became increasingly violent and Laura tried to leave him. Instead he left her and took their daughter, Spider, and has never resurfaced. Laura is a whiz at finding people by computer but she has never been able to find either Jonathan or her daughter. She worked with a bounty hunter but just before this book started they parted ways. Now Laura has to get out in real life to find people, something she is not very comfortable with. She has been hired by a Hopi man to find his granddaughter, Judy, who went missing two weeks before high school graduation. Soon Laura is driving all over northern Arizona hunting not just for Judy but also other missing girls and stolen artifacts. All clues point to rodeo bull riders being the culprits but there are hundreds of them and not much to distinguish which ones were the perpetrators. Coping with real life makes Laura abuse her prescribed Ritalin which certainly doesn’t make life any easier. This book is the start of a series and I will certainly be reading more of them. show less