Murder on Easter Island

Daniel "Hawk" Fishinghawk Mystery #1

by Gary D. Conrad

Daniel “Hawk” Fishinghawk is the best of the best – a detective’s detective. Raised by his Cherokee grandfather to be sensitive to the subtle signs of nature, no clue goes by unnoticed, and each and every case he is faced with is quickly solved. When he is recruited by the State Department to assist with a series of gruesome murders on Easter Island, even his brilliant mind could never have predicted the power of the evil he would soon have to face. Every second moved him closer and closer to the hideous presence, and he knew – without a doubt – there would be no escape.

Genres: Mystery

209 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 2014

About the author

Gary D. Conrad lives with his wife, Sheridan, and their dogs, Karma and Buddy, in Edmond, Oklahoma. Gary is an emergency and integrative physician, and his interests include Tibetan rights, meditation, the music of Joseph Haydn, organic gardening, choral work and wilderness hiking.

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it, what can I say,loved how the author mixed historical facts with the modern times of Easter Island ,loved how Hawk the main character loved and respected his Grandfather's teaching about his people's past,and loved how Hawk also respected the historical facts that he learned about Easter Island.if you love historical facts,mystery, then you might like this.

[Marilyn Ratzlaff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very dark secret unlocks the mystery in Murder on Easter Island. Gary Conrad has managed to weave a riveting story which includes seemingly unrelated elements such as a brief history of Easter Island, ancient customs, moral obligations, tribal killings, modern police work and even a love story. This is a page-turner that will leave you guessing until the very end. It's fascinating, intriguing, and educational all at the same time. It will also leave you wanting more of Daniel Fishinghawk.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a complex story that travels from Oklahoma to New York City to Easter Island, Daniel "Hawk" Fishinghawk uses his skill as a detective and his keen intelligence to help solve difficult mysteries.

Daniel is considered the best of the best in the NYPD. The Commissioner is contacted by the U.S. State Department to assist the Chilean Government with a unique murder on Easter Island. A killer there has been killing tourists at night and cannibalizing their bodies.

Daniel gets right to work and learns the history of the island which the natives call Rapa Nui. He also learns the language from a legendary woman who is ninety-four-years old. She reminded me of granny on the Beverly Hillbillies with her gutsy attitude and determination.

The killing of tourists has been kept out of the news because of what it would do to the tourist trade but when another person is murdered and cannibalized, the news gets out.

The Chilean government sends a new detective out who brings in his own investigators and mostly ignores Daniel.

The story is divided into three books, in the first, the murders and investigation takes place; in the second book, Daniel goes into a cave like structure and is transported back in time. He learns what happened in Rapa Nui to cause someone to want to murder tourists to their land. He also falls in love and becomes a hero to the natives. Book three brings him back into current time to deal with the killer and Daniel's new life.

This is a paranormal type of story where the reader must suspend their view of reality to be transported to the fictional and supernatural world. Some of the action and the manner in which the time travel takes place wasn't explained to my satisfaction and I had difficulty with the story.

Free book for an honest review.

[P. Willow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder on Easter Island is an epic hero's journey through time. Daniel's journey begins as a challenge to solve a murder mystery but along the way he finds himself, his love, his parents and a new way of being in the world. This story reveals the importance of stepping up to one's opportunities and obligations. We also get to learn a great deal about fascinating Easter Island - its history, customs and culture. I highly recommend this book as both an exciting detective novel and a glimpse into historic Rapa Nui.

[Karen Hancock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans of the Daniel "Hawk" Fishinghawk Mystery series (actually there are only two novel so far) or just fans of Easter Island will want to pick up Award-winning author, Gary D. Conrad’s thriller,Murder on Easter Island, where the protagonist, Daniel “Hawk” Fishinghawk, who is a detective is brought in to Easter Island to help solve the cannibal type murders of several tourists.

The storyline is fascinating; Easter Island is one of the most remote places in the world, and most readers won’t have visited that area of the world, but after reading this may want to take a big trip there. Conrad has done an excellent job of researching the area so it seems real. He also does an excellent job of developing his characters. Hawk is the kind of detective that anyone solving a crime wants on his team.
Conrad has a knack for storytelling, and this one will keep the interest of every reader and keep them on the edge. There is plenty of building suspense, as well as twists and turns that are quite unexpected. The dénouement is certainly surprising.
All told, readers who like mysteries that occur in places like Easter Island that are remote and unusual will want to read this novel.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

[J.C. Hinchcliffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in one sitting!

This is a 5-star read offering wonderful descriptions of an old culture, well developed characters, twists and turns for sure, and a mystery that will keep you on the edge of your chair! Loved this book. More please, Gary Conrad!

[Carolyn Injoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murder on Easter Island, A Daniel “Hawk” Fishinghawk Mystery by Gary D. Conrad is a engrossing mystery about Detective Daniel "Hawk" Fishinghawk, a Cherokee Indian who investigates cannibalistic killings. It has touches of the paranormal that are frightening.

I found it riveting & couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I gave it five stars.
In addition to the murder investigation, this book touches on the the history of Easter Island/Rapa Nui via Hawk's interaction with "Crazy" Tiare, a ninety four year old resident of the Island.

"The youth should never die before the elderly, he bitterly thought. But that’s the way life is. There are no guarantees — ever."

Regarding Hawk, a co-worker exclaimed: "I’ve heard he’s smart as hell — could be in Mensa if he wanted — a speed reader who digests over five books a week--"

Tourists were being killed on Easter Island. While they kept the story secret, there had been twenty four people killed. They all took place after dark. The Detective Chief in New York needed to send his best man. That was Hawk. Hawk had been ready to turn in his resignation before this occurred. Hearing the information about this case, for the first time, Hawk was baffled. He did not like the feeling.

"Daniel asked, 'What about the symbols I saw on the wooden planks?” “That is called rongorongo — Rapa Nui’s own unique script. As you saw, many different symbols are engraved in the wood. Rather than represent a true language, these designs stand for concepts or ideas. While researchers have made progress in trying to crack the code, the exact meaning remains a mystery.'"

Daniel knew that it was time for him to heal from his fear of heights. "His grandpa had applied the balm of love all those years ago, though now he had to do it himself. He began silently saying to himself, over and over: “Breathing in, I am aware that I am fearful. “Breathing out, I smile at my fear and send it love.” Time no longer mattered as he sat in deep meditation, and the jeering voices disappeared from his awareness."

I received a complimentary .pdf from Rainbow Books & NetGalley. That did not change my opinion for this review.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, Murder on Easter Island is FULL of surprises. The blurb doesn't do it justice and certainly doesn't prepare one for the supernatural element. The story has three "books". The first book is the intro to Detective Daniel Fishinghawk who seems to be portrayed as a Cherokee Sherlock Holmes. He can see clues that elude everyone else and comes up with a totally crazy idea of who the NY serial killer is, and of course, is right. As the blurb does mention, he is sent to assist the Chilean police with a serial killer on Easter Island.

Book 2 takes us away from a conventional mystery and delves into the supernatural element. WTH!?! was my first reaction. If supernatural stuff is not your forte, you'll probably bail at this point. I, however, am a big fan of paranormal and urban fantasy so I kind of perked up and was prepared to roll with it and see what would happen. Without giving away spoilers, it's not very fantastical once you except what happens to Daniel at the start of book 2.

Book 3 basically is a wrap up with the killer being taken care of and Daniel's situation resolved. The very ending is a little sappy for me.

The mystery and story was complex, I don't think you'll predict what's going to happen (if no other reviews provide spoilers). The author provides lots of historical information about Rapa Nui (the native name for Easter Island) without it being preachy or reading like a historical text. The author packed a lot into a book that's a little over 200 pages.

I got a whole lot more than I bargained for when I requested Murder on Easter Island from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

[Tammy Hornbeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first book to read by this author. I was fortunate enough to have met him at a writer's group meeting in Waurika, Oklahoma. He is as fascinating as his book was. The context of the book was unique and the characters were very well developed. I am usually good at figuring out "the bad guy" and thought I had until the end and was totally surprised! I especially found the supernatural element to be extremely clever and surprising--the way he used it was new and fresh. Great book and I look forward to reading more from him.

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a giveaway on Goodreads. The story is unique, rich and has that spark of a great book. The characters were well thought out and realistic. Though it did get somewhat rushed toward the end, it was still done well otherwise. And the suspense was done really good as well. I definitely recommend for those who want to read a good mystery/suspense mixed with a surprise element to it.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book through a Goodreads.com Giveaway.

Murder on Easter Island was easy to pick up and impossible to put down! The journey to solve "who did it" and "how it was possible" keeps you guessing until the last page. Twists and turns keep you on your toes and I doubt even the most intuit readers will be able to foresee the outcome! A must read for any mystery or historical non-fiction fan!

[Rachel Sakitis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Daniel "Hawk" Fishinghawk has been sent to Easter Island to help solve the murder of tourists. His journey takes him back in time to the 1700's to find the murderer. This book if full of surprises right up until the end.

I would certainly recommend this book to all my reader friends.

[Kevin Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murder on Easter Island is an intriguing adventure filled with unexpected twists and turns, as delightful as they are unexpected. Don’t miss this satisfying read!

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book fro Good Reads. This was a excellent read. It kept my attention right up to the end. Enjoyed this book very much.

[Lona]

The author cleverly explores the history and culture of the peoples of Easter Island through a modern day "who done it" mystery and the Cherokee worldview. Very enjoyable!

[Ebby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly this is like a 1.5 and it’s only that high because I feel like I learned a lot about Easter island. It was just stereotypical written by a man with the way the man character was perfect and everything worked out for him and the way the women were viewed through the eyes of a man. The writing also seemed like an amateur, because everything was explained in fancy language and full detail, so the reader didn’t have to do any work. The story did not flow at all because of that. And you think you’re gonna go back in time to an isolated people and they are going to have words in their language for modern things? Puh lease.

[Sonia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The reading flows well, but the plot is indeed bizarre. It is more “mystery” than procedural crime, I probably misjudged it. It begins like an usual detective story, but then takes an unexpected, supernatural twist that wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, especially as there are no real suspects or motives. I but found the story of Easter Island/Rapa Nui, its legends and traditions and its population very interesting and I liked the spiritual side of the main character, Daniel Fishinghawk, detective with a Cherokee heritage. It wasn’t boring, in spite of its weirdness, but I don’t think I’m going to read the next episodes of the series.

[Kathy Stibal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book captured my attention from page 1. I found it hard to put down. I enjoyed the twists & turns that were unexpected. I thought I had it figured out and then the story went in a totally different direction....loved it!

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was divided into 3 "books" and was a different than most murder mysteries, however it was entertaining.

I received this book free from Goodreads First Reads.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

ARC/Paranormal Mystery: I want to thank Net Galley for letting me have a copy of this book for an honest review. I didn't hate it, but I can't recommend it either.

First, a disclaimer, I'm a big, big fan of Easter Island. I read articles and watch all things Easter Island on TV. I hated on Matt Lauer when of all places he could have gone in world, he had to rub my nose in the fact he was hiding on my island. I have a National Geographic cruise catalog on my desk at work and I'm trying to talk my boss into expensing $13,000 to let me be a travel writer for our newspaper. (He's not budging).

So, as far as Easter Island is concerned, I am willing to forgive a lot. I forgave Daniel's coworkers in NY who were the Keystone Cops, I forgave that there was no description of the 26 hour flight to Easter Island, and I forgave that 26 tourists were brutally murdered and I didn't make the news. (I'm sorry but these people had families and someone would have contacted Inside Edition). There was a lot of narrative about the island's history and I liked the relationship Daniel had with the old woman. I even had a guess about the murderer, which I was kind of right. All was going well.

And then I got to Part 2. The book turned into Michael Crichton's Timeline (one of my favorite books) and while the plot wasn't bad and I love time travel books, I hated part 2. Daniel can speak fluent native language from 1770 because he'd been spending the past three weeks learning the modern dialect. I should of known something was going to happen like it did because Daniel is a modern Sherlock Homes in the first chapter and not seeing any small clues to break the case, for the rest of the book.

For Part 3, it got even worse. Daniel doesn't figure out the conspirator (I did) until he's in trouble. He was guessing the victim's erectile dysfunction in the first chapter and now he can't figure out why someone is hold a taser towards him(?). Then to top it off he makes outrageous conditions on the government that I haven't seen since Bruce Willis told Billy Bob Thornton the shuttle crew didn't want pay taxes... ever.

[Paul Franco · Rating 4 out of 5]

What for the first half is a murder mystery, albeit in a different locale than most, turns into something completely different at the halfway mark. Catching the bad guy becomes secondary to the detective, yet eventually he does. . . except he doesn’t; yeah, plot twist. Elements of science-fiction, metaphysics, and even romance come into play. I’m not convinced the mixing of genres works here; I definitely would have preferred a straight mystery, though it doesn’t hurt the story that much.
There is one glaring problem: the author is convinced that if the government keeps a lid on the murders, no one will know. But since all the victims were tourists, it stands to reason their relatives would come around asking questions, or at least ask the media to look into it. But other than that it’s a successful mystery, if you can roll with the jarring change halfway through.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very good Murder Mystery book by Agatha Christie. Here we have one of her NONE Marple/ Poirot Novels, always fun, interesting different.

Whilst on the train heading home, Luke Fitzwilliam chats to a lady who is convinced people in her village are being murdered. He fobs it off as the talkings of a crazy woman. Seeing her death in the papers the following day, THEN the death of the doctor she named, he hightails it to investigate “who done it”.

This is an oddly gripping book that does keep you guessing with a huge amount of twists and turns at the end.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book in a GoodReads Giveaway and read it some time ago. I just realized I failed to write the promised honest review, sorry. I made note that it was a pretty good read. I mostly remember the interesting bits of history of Easter Island, which I really knew very little about. I think it lost me a little with the paranormal portions but it definitely is worth a read. Enjoy and thanks for the book Gary Conrad!

[Deborah Gebhardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. This was my introduction to author Gary D. Conrad and to character Daniel "Hawk" Fishinghawk. It is also an introduction to the peoples of Easter Island and the start of the career of Daniel "Hawk" Fishinghawk, Jr. Private Investigator of the Strange and Mysterious.

[Phyllis Gauker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting facts to learn about the early history of Easter Island, but a rather implausible plot, with the main character going through a time warp back to the 1700s. But they all lived happily ever after