First Line: I leaned back in the seat of my old Ford Pinto, listening to the sounds coming from the Depot, the reservation's only tavern.
Virgil Wounded Horse skates along by working an endless variety of temporary jobs, but his real occupation is as an enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. When the American legal system denies any Lakota on the reservation justice, they can hire Virgil to dispense his own-- painful and memorable-- brand of punishment.
Then heroin makes its way to the reservation and threatens Virgil's only family, his fourteen-year-old nephew, Nathan. Now it's personal, and Virgil enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend to learn where the drugs are coming from and how to make them stop. It's a journey that will force Virgil to face his own demons and to reclaim his Native identity.
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As a rule, I avoid crime fiction involving drugs, but something told me that Winter Counts would be different. I was right. One of the greatest tools in a writer's arsenal is voice, and the voice of Virgil Wounded Horse immediately drew me into this story. You wouldn't think that a character whose main occupation is beating people to a pulp would interest me, but Virgil isn't your stereotypical violent musclebound oaf. No, Virgil has a strong moral compass which is easily seen when he's offered $5,000 to do a job for a member of the tribal council. $5,000 is more than Virgil makes in a year, but Virgil doesn't jump at the chance to earn all that money because the entire situation doesn't "smell right" to him.
Virgil, his teenage nephew Nathan, and Virgil's ex-girlfriend Marie show the effects of reservation life on three different types of people. Virgil represents what can happen to a poorly educated person on the reservation. Nathan shows us the dangers of reservation life for the young, and educated Marie shows us how many Lakota are trying to improve life on the reservation. All three characters are well-drawn and utterly believable.
Not only did I find myself immersed in the story, but Winter Counts was also a learning experience for me. I had an idea that the American legal system did Native Americans no favors, but I hadn't realized just how abysmally the law treats them. It should not have come as such a surprise. But the law wasn't the only area in which I learned new things. Winter Counts is rich in Lakota history, spirituality, culture, and food. (By the way, do not call the Lakota "Sioux"-- it's another one of those Caucasian derogatory terms.)
The only thing that kept this book from being one of my Best Reads of the year was the fact that, for a mystery, the identity of the chief bad guy and other elements were much too obvious. But with a character like Virgil and the other riches that the author serves up in Winter Counts, that's a small complaint indeed. I highly recommend this book, and I look forward to Weiden's next novel.
Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
eiSBN: 9780062968968
Ecco Books © 2020
eBook, 336 pages
Standalone Thriller, Native American mystery
Rating: A
Source: Purchased from Amazon.
