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"A terrific writer . . . Thunder Horse makes this reviewer want to race to the bookstore for the rest of the Gabriel Du Pré series" (Rocky Mountain News).Usually it takes more than one beer to make the Toussaint Saloon shake. When the earthquake hits, part-time deputy Gabriel Du Pré and his friends are lamenting the fishing resort a Japanese firm has planned for their small town. The floor trembles, the lights go out, and glass rains from the walls. When they emerge from the bar, they show more see a new landscape. Roads are mangled, mountains have shifted, and the spring where the Japanese businessmen had planned to build their resort is no more. In its place is an uprooted Indian burial ground—and a massive headache for Du Pré.
As local Native American tribes fight over the ancient remains, a fossilized Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth is found in the hands of a murdered anthropologist. Du Pré had just wanted a beer. Instead he found a murder sixty-five million years in the making.
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ckNikka The west is a great setting for these books... and gives you a chance read about an interesting cast of characters and a fun story line!
Littlemissbashful In both these stories the murders revolve around the mystery of uncovered prehistoric skeletal remains that threaten the accepted view of early American history and set off a chain reaction of academic in-fighting, money grabbing, cultural politics and murder. Although the two series these books are from are completely different in style they both feature strong local settings and native cultures trying to balance tradition and heritage with the pressures of progress, economics and tourism: Doss in Colorado with the Ute indians and Bowen in Montana with the French Métis and beleaguered generations of hard bitten ranchers. The books also feature Shamen both real and false but the mythology and mysticism do not overpower the stories and it is left open as to whether the visionary elements are made manifest or merely imagined.
Member Reviews
Protagonist: Gabriel Du Pré
Setting: the wilds of eastern Montana
Series: #5
First Line: "I thought Le Doux Springs was on state land," Said Du Pré.
After a serious earthquake shakes up the locals, Du Pré, the part-Métis Indian who frequently serves as deputy to county sheriff Benny Klein, gets involved in a story of greed that links ancient Indian residents of Montana with a Japanese group's plans to turn a spring into a commercial trout farm. There's a murder too: a snowmobiler is shot while carrying a valuable fossilized tooth of a T-Rex.
Bowen does more to define setting and character with the rhythms of speech than any other writer I can think of at present. Once I start reading about Du Pré, I'm immediately transported to his show more world, and since I don't have to experience the cold and snow of eastern Montana, I enjoy my visits there. The archaeology and anthropology were welcome additions to a tale of greed and fascinating characters. The letter of the law is not always abided by in Du Pré's world, and there's not always a tidy "wrapping up". Just like real life, eh?
Hopefully this is a series of books that will never see itself filmed by the PC gurus of Hollywood. Du Pré smokes too much, likes to drive his old police cruiser 100 MPH down Montana highways, and obeys the spirit of the law as he defines it. I find his brand of wisdom and independent spirit a breath of fresh, bracing Montana air. show less
Setting: the wilds of eastern Montana
Series: #5
First Line: "I thought Le Doux Springs was on state land," Said Du Pré.
After a serious earthquake shakes up the locals, Du Pré, the part-Métis Indian who frequently serves as deputy to county sheriff Benny Klein, gets involved in a story of greed that links ancient Indian residents of Montana with a Japanese group's plans to turn a spring into a commercial trout farm. There's a murder too: a snowmobiler is shot while carrying a valuable fossilized tooth of a T-Rex.
Bowen does more to define setting and character with the rhythms of speech than any other writer I can think of at present. Once I start reading about Du Pré, I'm immediately transported to his show more world, and since I don't have to experience the cold and snow of eastern Montana, I enjoy my visits there. The archaeology and anthropology were welcome additions to a tale of greed and fascinating characters. The letter of the law is not always abided by in Du Pré's world, and there's not always a tidy "wrapping up". Just like real life, eh?
Hopefully this is a series of books that will never see itself filmed by the PC gurus of Hollywood. Du Pré smokes too much, likes to drive his old police cruiser 100 MPH down Montana highways, and obeys the spirit of the law as he defines it. I find his brand of wisdom and independent spirit a breath of fresh, bracing Montana air. show less
Bowen defends the old ways with assault weapons and stereotypes. He defends the descendants of the native Americans and 19th-century immigrants, whose children are fleeing, whose cows are cold, and whose towns are dying (or dead). But his biggest enemies are those college professors and nonsmoking law abiders who have taken over the U of Montana area. Also he defends old dead mammoths hiding in the badlands. Finally, he writes great descriptions of bleak snowswept deadly landscapes.
Peter Bowen is consistent. This story had a bit more mystery than the other two, though it seemed a somewhat scattered way to solve it. The characters remain strong, the narrator excellent, and the historical details intriguing. Whether they are factual or fictional is unknown to me. Just as the characters are strong, the language, drinking and smoking is strong too.
always good
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Author Information
42 Works 1,334 Members
Series
Common Knowledge
- Original title
- Thunder Horse
- Original publication date
- 1998
- People/Characters
- Gabriel du Pré; Madelaine Placquemines; Bart Fascelli; Benny Klein; Susan Klein; Benetsee (show all 9); Pelon; Burdette; Booger Tom
- Important places
- Toussaint, Montana, USA
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 97
- Popularity
- 330,722
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.81)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 13
- ASINs
- 2
