Rare Earth

by Cecil Dawkins

Gin Prettifield, who is part Indian, knows northern New Mexico's Sangre de Cristo Mountains. But she's never had to deal with an enraged bear or with the mangled body of a dying man.

But when she leads a forest ranger to the scene, they come upon a mystery in this land of enchanted mesas and mountains.

Can the dead walk? Is a murder, by an act of magic, daring Gin to unearth a crime?

Only the Indians, who have witnessed many curious comings and goings on their ancient earth, understand the gathering confrontation between good and evil, terror and love -- a confrontation that can only end in the chill finality of death.

218 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 30, 1995

Reviews

[Eugene · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK so this is not my normal sort of review. Reading this felt like a psychedelic trip. One could imagine a team authorship of Timothy Leary, Hunter S. Thompson and Andy Warhol…the constant jump cuts to other characters in other places, the sometimes very peripheral connection of said characters to the main story, the plethora of weird people with weird backgrounds and weird behaviors who were part of the main story, and…you get it.
That said, author Dawkins did pull it all together in the end to give an understandable if not totally plausible or entirely satisfactory resolution. This is the third of four mysteries Cecil Dawkins wrote, all with a revolving cast of main characters and all in New Mexico environs, and most all somewhat interconnected with each other so while it does sort of seem a “continuum” it doesn’t really seem like a series; I do have that fourth entry (Turtle Truths) and I will read it. I wonder what that will feel like…definitely a magical mystery tour thus far.

[Jasmine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very slow book in my opinion. I did not get into the plot at all and it was slow moving. I also did not like how it just hopped to different characters with not a very smooth transition.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is perfect to read while your plane is taxing up the runway and you can't use your ipod. Distracting enough to let the person next to you know you don't want to engage in chit-chat, but easy enough to put down so that you can listen to Wolfmother once you're airborne.