John Fortunato

John Fortunato's Dark Reservations has good pacing, a solid mystery, and an evocative setting. Unfortunately, the book is The Joe Evers Show, and I never warmed up to the character. I found Joe to be whiny and mired in a pity party of "everyone's so mean to me." I did get tired of the squad's attitude toward him, but when I finally found out what Joe had done, I could understand why they felt the way they did. His alcoholism also seemed to be an on-again-off-again thing.

Wanting to know the resolution of the mystery and being familiar with the setting are the two things that kept me reading Dark Reservations. I've enjoyed other books which had unlikeable characters, but Joe Evers was a bit more than I wanted to handle.… (mere)

[Dark Reservations], John Fortunato’s debut, won the 2014 Tony Hillerman Prize. For those who read and appreciated Hillerman’s mystery series set on the Navajo Nation, Fortunato’s book admirably carries the torch. The prize is awarded mostly annually to a debut book featuring a mystery set in New Mexico. None of the winners have reached Hillerman’s place in mystery fiction, but there’s some solid work there. What Fortunato adds is his background as an FBI agent who worked the rez – so, there’s a built in credibility to the book.

An old car, laced with bullet holes, turns up on the rez. When Bureau of Indian Affairs Special Agent Joe Evers begins digging into the car’s history, he unearths an old corruption case that went unsolved.

The book is a solid police procedural, and an accurate portrayal of the place and people. There’s no stereotypes here, just conflicted and complicated people. The diversity in perspectives, driving the twisting plot to resolution, is a welcome difference from what’s available in the genre.

Bottom Line: A prize winner and a solid police procedural featuring a diverse place and people.

4 bones!!!!!… (mere)