The Spirit and the Skull
J.M. Hayes
Poisoned Pen, Aug 5 2014, $24.95
ISBN 9781464202841
The Earth Mother told Raven the Spirit Man to lead the People
across the land bridge into the promised land of plentiful bounty and
warmth. However, once they trek over the
Bering and begin heading south, one of the leaders Tall Pine dies. On the verge of becoming a woman Down insists
to Raven that someone murdered Tall Pine.
Although the fortyish Raven finds it hard to believe one of the
People would commit fratricide, Mother demands that her Spirit Man investigate
and identify the killer. Raven realizes
the only suspect is Down; a girl he is attracted to and wants once she becomes
a woman though he knows as the Spirit Man his tribe demands purity from him.
The prehistoric whodunit is entertaining, but superseded by a dramatic deep look at a tribe
during the Paleolithic era as armchair readers will feel as if we
journey with the People. A potent
cautionary environmental tale as each ripple impacts the future; the audience
will marvel at the contrast between the pristine Paleolithic landscape and Raven’s
vision of a time when his skull lies in a lab while mankind has destroyed Mother
Nature.
Harriet Klausner
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