Louis Owens (1948–2002)

Review: Bone Game by Louis Owens. 05/09/2017

This is the sequel to The Sharpest Sight . The book is well-written, and I could feel Owens insights to real life events that gave the story some realism, The characters were interesting and the story was understandable once I got use to his writing style. The story is woven back and forth from present murders to early Spanish Colonial events. Owens writing style of prose and symbolism imagery was slow at the start but as I read on I had no problem following where his story, past and present, was going. As a murder mystery Owens also enlighten the story with some humor among many visions and dreams.

The main character, Cole McCurtain a professor of Indian studies at Santa Cruz, California College is disturbed by dreams that date back to events with imagery of a Spanish priest who was murdered in 1812. At the present time of 1993 his dreams get worse as dismembered pieces of a woman’s body parts are discovered washing up on the shores of California. As the female students murders become frequent Cole starts drinking a lot of alcohol, eats very little and begins to hate his profession as his life goes nowhere. Cole’s not sure if his dreams and nightmares are related to the Native American past or present history.

His family, friends and even distant Choctaw relatives from Mississippi came to support Cole’s through the demons he felt were haunting him. His dreams were also visited by a black bear and a tall naked man whose body was all white on the left side and all black on the right side, which for some reason he called the mysterious Indian gambler. His Daughter, Abby who lived with her mother, came to stay with him and his transvestite Navajo friend encourage him to confront a myth of a centuries-old evil force that was unleashed by the Spanish missionaries of cruel treatment towards Native Americans.

Owens entwines the past and future together so the reader by now is saying, what does this have to do with the present murders? If I understood this right some of the dreams were real events happening in the present time and some events from the past murders and treatment of Native Americans were his dreams. Cole’s fear was so great that he combing them. The reader is not the confused person, it is Cole McCurtain, the main character who is confused…… (mer)

Review: The Sharpest Sight by Louis Owens. 03/28/2017

Louis Owens well-written story was powerful and with characteristic individuals in contemporary Native American fiction. He writes with accuracy, confidence and from the heart literature that keeps his readers intrigued. Owens uses mythology, beliefs, history and the culture of Native Americans (Indians) and Hispanic throughout his story. Entwined in the story he also covers the effects and flashbacks of individuals of the Vietnam War. I was interested in the psychic healing, police procedural, the exploration of self-discovery and the magical realism that Owens expressed with efficiently.

Attis McCurtain returns home from serving in the Vietnam War in a confused state that changed his life and the life of his friends and family members. He committed a horrible crime that led to the death of his girlfriend and was incarcerated in an insane facility until the night someone out for revenge was setting Attis up to escape, and he did. His best friend Mundo Morales who is Mexican-American, also a Vietnam Vet, and is now a sheriff’s deputy was headed home the same night and thought he saw Attis floating in the river. At that time he hadn’t known about the escape until Attis’s uncle Luther met Mundo at his home moments later and verified Attis was dead. Luther had a vision of what Mundo thought he saw in the river.

After the escape the FBI authorities got involved but Mundo met with Attis’s younger brother Carl do their own investigating in the disappearance of Attis. The small town of Amarga, Calf, where they all lived was mostly poverty stricken and some back woods feud issues that was only handled in one way. If you harm someone in their family they harm someone in your family. It was their way of living no matter who was the victim next in line. However, Mundo was going to try to prevent any harm to anyone and do what was right by the law.

The other out of town authorities didn’t care what happened and only wanted the issue hushed and dropped. The little town of Amarga was full of sinners, secrets and strong racism against its Native Americans and Chicano inhabitants. Louis Owens opens up the issues of prejudices, betrayals, violent crimes, and the forces of the dead Spirit’s hovering over the living. Owens created plenty of interesting individuals to keep the story flowing, some living others as spirits. Between the history, cultures, and the Spirit World Louis Owens did a wonderful job connecting it all together to make it unfold like reality.… (mer)

Interesting mixture of thriller and "literary" novel.

Dense and overwritten at times, as one might expect from a college-professor novelist. And the protagonist is a disillusioned middle-aged English professor who drinks too much and despises his students-- we always need more novels like that, right?

Only this English prof is a Native American, beset with troubling spirit visions. Now that is interesting.

By far the best aspects of the book are the various Native American characters and their adventures and perspectives dwelling in contemporary (circa 1996) America. This is the heart of the novel, and the thriller aspects are connected to it thematically. And yet, the thriller plot line feels layered on, and the thriller resolution feels contrived.

Still, because of its characters, humor, and authentic Native American voice, this one is worth the read.… (mer)