From Publishers Weekly
Location figures powerfully in Hillerman's newest novel, but it isn't the Southwest of his Navajo mysteries (Sacred Clowns, etc.), nor is this a Joe Leaphorn story. In April 1975, Moon Mathias, managing editor of a small-town Colorado newspaper, begins a redemptive journey that takes him first to Manila and then across the South China Sea to Cambodia, just as Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge begin their reign of terror. Moon's brother Ricky, owner of a helicopter transportation service based in Cambodia, has recently died in a jungle crash. Their mother receives word that Ricky's baby daughter is being smuggled out of Vietnam to the Philippines. After his mother has a heart attack in the Manila airport, Moon takes over her mission, but the child does not arrive. Finding and contacting Ricky's acquaintances, Moon fights time, political exigencies and his ignorance of his brother's life as he tries doggedly to locate his niece. The effort involves an appealing cast, including a wealthy Chinese man seeking his ancestors' bones, a Dutch woman searching for her missionary brother and Vietnamese refugees, who join Moon on a suspenseful, albeit not quite credible, journey to a series of villages along the Mekong River. In the end, as the title suggests, Moon finds more than he'd known was lost. Hillerman's mastery of setting and his compassionate, patient characterization are fully present in this tale, which is otherwise somewhat formulaic. 350,000 first printing; $300,000 ad/promo; HarperAudio.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.
From Library Journal
Beginning with The Blessing Way (LJ 5/15/70), Hillerman has contrasted the contemporary cultures of Southwestern Native Americans with the dominant U.S. culture, creating best-selling mysteries in the process. Finding Moon is a dramatic departure, but it contains similar cultural contrasts. Set mostly in Vietnam during the fall of Saigon in 1975, it is the tale of Moon Mathias, self-described third-rate editor of a third-rate Colorado newspaper who, when his younger brother dies in Southeast Asia, discovers that there is a baby daughter missing somewhere in Vietnam. Reluctantly drawn into a search for the child, Moon is thereby drawn into a search for his own values. He leads a motley group of culturally varied misfits in his quest. With its vivid characters and a strong sense of place, trademarks of Hillerman mysteries, this tale will likely receive a strong reception in libraries everywhere.
--Roland Person, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., CarbondaleCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.
