Welcome to Litsy!

Virgil Wounded Horse is an enforcer on a Lakota community when he is given an opportunity to get rid of the heroin coming into town. Things don‘t go as expected and family gets caught up. There were parts of this in the beginning that were clunky but I really warmed up to it as there was a real likability to this book. The characters, the daily life on the Rez, the Lakota ways and spirituality, and a fractured community doing its best to survive.

I really wanted to like this book. It could be a matter of timing. But especially after just finishing a book I found expertly written, this feels clunky. I tried giving it extra grace as a debut and read a little over 25% but it‘s not something I‘m moving past so I‘m going to bail for now and try again in the future.

Virgil Wounded Horse and his nephew Nathan live on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. Virgil makes his living as an enforcer, hired to right wrongs that neither the police nor the Feds choose to investigate. Drugs are increasingly a problem, and Nathan gets caught up in that madness, offered a deal if he participates in a sting. A good debut. Interesting characters. It gets a bit muddy toward the end, but I hope we see another Virgil story.

"...The hippies and the wasicu longhairs who come here, they don't get that part, that our people are sacred too, not just the land and the water."

He stopped for a second and looked out into the woods. "I think Indian justice means putting the oyate first, healing the community..... always remember the Lakota values, especially waohola, respect for yourself and respect for the community...."

I thought about the sound of the drummers at a pow wow, the smell of wild sage, the way little Native kids looked dressed up in their first regalia, the flash of the sun coming up over the hills. I wondered if I could ever really leave the reservation, because the rez was in my mind, a virtual rez, one that I was seemingly stuck with.

Virgil is an enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota dispensing punishment when the authorities don‘t. When heroin shows up on the reservation he is asked to hunt down the source. What he finds is a tangled knot of secrets, rivalries, corruption & more. Written by an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, this is a solid debut with the promise of more books to come.

Next

1. There are a couple road trips to Denver, but most of the tagged book is set in #SouthDakota on the Rosebud Reservation.
2. I‘m with @megnews and want to see the Dignity statue.
#RoadTripUSA2022
#TravelTuesday

#reviewcatchup

Virgil Wounded Horse is the resident vigilante on the reservation stepping in when the community is unable to prosecute and the federal government fails to take action. Then heroine shows up on the reservation and his nephew becomes entangled. I enjoyed this one even though I did see the ending coming. I hope we will get another Virgil book in the future. #Booked2022 #weathertermintitle

Ooph. I set a lower goal for 2022 to give myself space to read longer/denser books & boy howdy! I found myself in Dune (audio) & Magicians, both of which are really good, but long *&* dense.. when the last #LMPBC book for #round13 came. I picked that up for a little mental break. But, erm, it‘s intense & dark &… welp. I just need to finish one & pick up a cozy mystery! 🤓🤓

PS. Potential job opp dropped in lap: prayers & happy thoughts welcome!

Wow. I really really liked this. Yes, the “whodunit” could‘ve been more difficult to discern, but I don‘t care. I loved learning about Lakota culture and the difficulties the people face. The audio was phenomenal. Seems like this might start a series, which I am here for.

I wasn‘t particularly engaged in this as a thrill because some of the characters involved in the thrill seemed bumbling and almost comedic and I‘m not sure that was the authors intent. On the other hand, this gets a big pick from me for the setting, MC Virgil and his brother‘s relationship, and insight into reservation life for the Lakota tribe.

Some heavy history and politics thrown in with a solid thriller, if a little predictable in places. Will definitely be watching for more from this author.

So glad to have finally read this book. It was thrilling and eye opening. I loved how hard Virgil tried to save his nephew while describing life in the Lakota reservation in South Dakota. But what I appreciated that this book brought to life all the injustices and tragedies that Native American people still go through. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
#wgwordsearch 140pts #WinterGames2021 #teamgamesleighers +16pts @StayCurious #BookSpinBingo #18 @TheAromaofBooks

Anne Bogel (Modern Mrs. Darcy) has talked about mysteries that take place on two planes. There‘s the actual mystery and there‘s also the character development. This book has both, along with some “other stuff.”

Though I predicted a couple of the story beats, the actual mystery is solid and plausible. The MC and supporting players are relatable and nuanced.

The “other stuff” is all about the Native community: good, bad, and ugly.

More ⬇️

Many sentences underlined, many thoughts pondered.
Virgil and Nathan are uncle and nephew, who‘s love for each other is easy to see from the start.
Virgil is a “hired thug” and Nathan is the lost boy trying to find his way.
Together they bring down the world around them, while rising up for one another.
While it is somewhat of a slow going book I really enjoyed it, and by the end couldn‘t get enough. Can‘t wait to pass this along for #LMPBC

Haven‘t read this, but love this quote.

A bit confused I looked up Indigenous horror book and this came up. This is not horror. I wouldn't even classify it as a thriller.
It is an incredibly well written and good book. It is mostly about Native society, about how the federal government ignores most crime they could help with and how tribes can be targets of drugs. But it is also a story about the love of family. Virgil's love and efforts to protect his nephew are heartfelt & well told

It is Indigenous Peoples Day here in the States, here is a pile of great books written by Native people in the US and Canada
I still need to read Braided Sweetgrass, My Heart is a Chainsaw and the tagged, hoping to get to them soon, also ordered 3 more books by Native authors to show support on this day, I hope others are also supporting their Indigenous people but buying direct from them, or through the library, or even just sharing links. 🧡

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Both entertaining and eye-opening to the ways the federal government continues to fail Native Americans. It‘s violent and action-packed, a story steeped in corruption and broken promises, but equally a heartfelt celebration of culture, identity, and community. #botmbacklist #botmbacklog #botm

When Virgil's sister dies, he becomes the guardian & only family of Nathan, his nephew. Nathan finds himself in trouble with the wrong people & Virgil finds himself on a collision course with his culture, his morals, & justice in his desperate quest to save Nathan.
The pacing in this novel is perfect. The build up is dramatic & tense with a ton of action in the final 30-ish pages. The tension was tangible as I flew through the last few pages. 4⭐

While I found the story satisfying, this is not the best crime novel/thriller I've read & I wish it wasn't marketed as such. There is certainly a crime to be solved & a great deal of action but to me this is more about the relationships & the very specific experiences of the Lakota of the Rosebud reservation. ⬇️

I couldn‘t put this one down. It‘s helped pull me out of an epic reading slump. It‘s set in South Dakota on a Lakota reservation and written by an indigenous author. Honestly, I hope they make a movie out of this. 🎥🍿

Federal law enforcement often declines to pursue criminal cases on reservations, and rez police don‘t have authority over serious crimes, so vigilante enforcers are hired instead. That‘s the situation in this thriller set on a Lakota rez in South Dakota, where a drug cartel has moved in with heroin. Lots of violence, and lots to think about too. #Audiobook read by Darrell Dennis. #Indigenous

It was like someone had vomited American flags all over the room. There was a framed flag, a flag made out of painted panels, two smaller flags on miniature flagpoles on the front desk, some American flag pillows, and red, white and blue curtains.
(Internet photo)

This thriller dives right in with violence, and keeps up a swift pace right to the end.

A story of drugs on the reservation in #SouthDakota, a vigilante tries to get to the bottom of the first signs of heroin overdoses in the town‘s kids. The feds tend to look the other way with most res crime, so Virgil takes it on himself.

I chose this for #ReadingTheStates2021. I don‘t read thrillers often, but I thought this was good. TW galore though.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ wow wow wow I loved this book!

Great thriller with a few unexpected twists. Solid writing that also showcases the injustices faced by people living on reservations. The characters are complex, well developed, and I became very invested in their stories.

I hope to read more by this author in the future.

I came close to filling my whole #BookSpinBingo card this time 💪 The last book: Winter Counts. The dialogue can be a touch clumsy, and sometimes an agenda rather than mystery seems to drive the plot in a fairly obvious way. But lots of action and interesting detail of life on the Rosebud Rez nonetheless. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Not as much of a thriller as it is an examination of reservation life, this is like Yellowstone meets The Wire.

This book was both entertaining and educational. I learned a lot about the American Indian culture. Their spiritual beliefs and ceremonies were very interesting to read about. The story contained a twist at the end that I didn‘t see coming. I main character was memorable. I also enjoyed reading about some of the tourist attractions in North Dakota that I had never heard of.

My indie book club‘s pick for February. There was nothing inherently wrong with it - it was an entertaining story and I learned a ton about Lakota customs and culture. Having said that, the writing was sort of “simple” 🤷🏻‍♀️ and I sussed out the twist probably 50 pages in. It was fine.

Virgil Wounded Horse is the vigilante within his community in the Rosebud Indian Reservation, stepping in to “right wrongs” law enforcement have no interest in pursuing. Though it‘s fiction, many of the issues presented are based on reality for life on reservations, as explained in the author‘s note at the end. Excellent storytelling and a great #audiobook 🦬

Fabulous story!!!

Bk1 of Feb is done! A #BookspinBingo #Pop21 #ByAnIndigenousAuthor #ReadHarder2021 #ByANativeAmericanAuthor #NerdReading2021 #DebutAuthor #PickYourPoison #Pageathon #CloakDaggerChal #PrettyMessChallenge #DebutAuthor #PennyPerPage #325cents #LitsyAtoZ2021 #LetterW #BookishBingo #RedCover This was a brilliant book! Set on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, it‘s about Virgil Wounded Horse, a tribal enforcer who provides the justice cops won‘t.

Currently in my very overcrowded library on this Summer Wednesday afternoon(though it‘s not exactly a sunny day, it‘s still ridiculously humid!)trying to finish my 1st Bk of February still. It‘s a great book so far, I‘m just struggling with a looming slump. God knows I have ppllleeeennttyy of awesome books to choose from. Maybe that‘s the problem, too much choice🤔 Does anyone else have that? Indecision brought on by an abundance of riches?

Currently working on Bk8 of #JumpStart2021 & #JoyousJanuary It‘ll also cover a lot of prompts in the other year long challenges I‘ve got going. Though I‘m currently being distracted by the new season of A Discovery Of Witches!🧙🏻‍♀️

This book was a great thriller with a complex and deeply flawed protagonist at its center. There are twist and turns throughout the novel that hit on social issues that Indigenous people have faced in America. It has all the highlights of a good thriller with a voice only David Heska Wanbli Weiden can bring!

I liked to learn about Native American culture in this story! I love a bounty hunter moment. The plot was so different from what I usually read so I appreciate it for that too.

Another book that was well worth the long library wait!

A nice mystery novel with a core of vigilante justice, set on an Indian reservation. There are so many conflicts — the Native police force vs the Feds, a desire to keep culture alive vs a desire to leave and assimilate, and the battle against drugs and addiction that so many reservations are fighting.

I really hope this gets a full series and not just one or two books.

#DashingDecember

I absolutely loved this book! It was one of my favorites from 2020. Had it all vigilantism, indigenous culture, revenge. I was here for all of it. Highly endorse

I loved this as a thriller, but I loved it much more as a window into Native American culture and identity. So happy to be posting about it on the day Deb Haaland's nomination was revealed. ❤️

@KatieDid927 , @StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego , @mcctrish , @Jadams1776 - Thank you for the beautiful Christmas cards!!! They truly made my day.

@Heideschrampf - thank you so much for the beautiful card! It is my first card ever from Germany!

⭐⭐⭐⭐ It was a great book, though it felt like more of a crime book than a thriller. Virgil is an "enforcer." People call him in to help them seek justice when the federal government refuses to prosecute major crimes that occur on the reservation. When heroin shows up, Virgil is called upon to put a stop to it.

https://apple.news/Al9XIvfidQN2QoOk2LFbyWg

In my exploration to broaden my reading, I picked this up. This story takes place in a reservation, where Virgil Wounded Horse is a vigilante that enforces punishment to those that the police will not take care of. His nephew gets caught up with drugs, and Virgil tries to find out who gave them to him.
It has opened my eyes to the indigenous way of life.

Anxiety was crazy high in November, so I only got through 4 books.
I haven‘t been able to focus on reading in weeks, so I shifted to audiobooks while keeping my hands busy making Christmas gifts.

3 🎧 audio
0 🖥 ebooks
1 📚physical books
Fiction: 4
Nonfiction/essays/memoirs: 0
BIPOC authors: 2
Female authors: 2
From my shelf: 0
#monthlywrapup #novemberstats