When Spirits Walk

by Christine Gentry

Navajo deputy Sam Featherock is a rational man, but he cannot explain what he has seen. A wake of shattered bodies has left a bloody trail across the reservation within a week. The numbers of gruesome murders are accelerating at frightening speed. Is something supernatural involved or does someone want him to believe that to throw him off the trail? Tribal whispers say a Hopi witch is to blame¡ªa Skinwalker, who roams the night and causes havoc and death, but Featherock believes he stalks a more inhuman foe, an ancient spirit that has broken into our world to exact vengeance for past crimes. Native legend and myth have become frighteningly real. Everything Featherock knows and loves is in danger from a mysterious entity with the most evil of intentions. Nothing will stop Featherock from solving the mystery, but during the lonely dark of night, he learns there is only one truth. You can never sleep until you know what walks the land behind you.

Genres: Horror

270 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1988

Reviews

[Jack Tripper · Rating 2 out of 5]

This 1988 novel is in the running for the most poorly written professionally-published book I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a fair amount of Z-grade Leisure and Zebra trash from the era in my day. The entire thing is riddled with typos — actually, scratch that, as these weren’t really typographical errors, but just plain bad spelling and grammar, to the point that I’m not sure how an editor didn’t catch things like “potatoe” and multiple instances of “it were” or “they was” instead of “it was” or “they were.” Poor grammar is of course fine in dialogue or a character’s thoughts, but it plagued the entirety of the narrative, and I’m easily distracted by this sort of thing.

Which is a shame, too, as I love me some Native American horror, and this had all the makings of a good, spooky procedural-type mystery in the vein of Tony Hillerman’s “Leaphorn and Chee” series, only with the supernatural elements and gore cranked up to 11. It takes place on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico where, 50 years after a man sacrificed a rabbit to the rabbit gods so that they might grant his son good luck, bodies are turning up at an alarming rate, and in conditions that seem impossible for any human or animal to have accomplished. Sheriff Sam Featherock of the Navajo police is on the case, and he was a relatively well-written, sympathetic character who follows the clues no matter where they might lead, despite his rational, measured nature.

The terrible writing was hard for me to get past, however, even with the many insanely gory kills and intriguing curse-related mystery at the heart of it all. It also wasn’t very fun, which is what’s most important to me when picking up a cheesy paperback original with a ridiculous cover. In fact it’s pretty dour, overall. Still, it would have rated slightly higher if Critic’s Choice hadn’t seemingly decided it was fine to simply publish the first draft as is instead of doing any editing at all. The last book I read from this publisher, the excellent hardboiled detective/horror mashup The Brass Halo, didn’t suffer from any of these issues, as far as I recall. Maybe author James Nugent turned in a more finely-polished first draft.*

Despite all these issues, I can’t quite bring myself to give this 1 star, as I found Featherock to be a well-drawn, relatable character who I was rooting for. He did seem pretty similar to Hillerman’s Leaphorn to me, but this could just be due to the fact they’re both principled, caring Native American law officers on a reservation, and both face paranormal-seeming threats that go against their logical temperaments. Or it could simply be my fault, as I’d recently binged the first two seasons of the Dark Winds TV series based on Hillerman’s work (and read the first novel), so I was picturing actor Zahn McClarnon the entire time. Also, I did kind of dig the dark overall atmosphere (even if dour), but not enough to save this from being a bit of a mess.

1.5 Stars.

*ETA: Come to think of it, The Brass Halo was written in first-person, which makes it easier to overlook bad grammar, especially when the narrator is a 1930s hardboiled, tough guy type. So it’s not really a fair comparison.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, and surprisingly emotional, story. Would have been 4 stars except some of the writing was poor (words used incorrectly and various affronts to grammar).

[Joshua Hair · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you ever wonder how many ways a horror novel can go wrong then pick up this book. Review to come.

[Codi · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Egghead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magical bracelet
instigates gory carnage.
Beware the rabbit!