From Publishers Weekly
In this uneven, but ultimately effective first novel, 13-year-old Bryce Willems and his 10-year-old stepsister Megan move with their parents to Pinon Rim, a once booming Arizona mining town in the midst of a "renaissance" caused by the influx of artists like Bryce's father. But strange things are starting to happen in the sleepy community: a Navajo boy is found drowned, an old man and his dog go berserk, killing a sheriff's deputy. Then Megan, exploring a cave behind the Willem house, inadvertently unleashes the full fury of a powerful ancient spirit of the underworld. Bryce learns the Navajo legend of the spirit and also discovers that the spirit's wrath and not the failure of the Wizard mine, made Pinon Rim a ghost town a century before. He must find a way to stop the cycle before history repeats itself. The novel's first half drags, burdened by too many characters and too much exposition, so that the ominous events that are meant to build suspense are nearly buried in verbiage. Nonetheless, all the laboriously spun threads furiously unwind in a hair-raising, fast-paced climax that makes the rest worthwhile. Zell has a sure touch when presenting Navajo lore, and his young characters are exceptionally well drawn and engaging.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Fourteen-year-old Bryce and his sister Meg have moved to the small Arizona town of Pinon Rim, where their father hopes to regain his lost artistic inspiration. The area has a long history, with regular cycles of wealth and destruction. Bryce sees immediate similarities between the newly prospering art colony and the booming gold mine town of the last century--eerily, even the faces in old tintypes look familiar. Something caused the old Pinon Rim to explode in violence, and Bryce senses another explosion coming soon. It's all due to a mysterious Spirit that periodically tries to take over, using an innocent human as a catalyst. All this is rather murky, but the author's narrative skill keeps the pages turning. Still, the final confrontation is too confusing, too many questions remain unanswered, and the price of winning is too high to satisfy readers of this first novel.
- A.M.B. Amantia, Population Action International Lib., Washington, D.C.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
