2 Bloggers 1 Book - Nightwing

 

Last month Stormi was participating in an Old School April Readathon on Booktube.  She asked if I would be interested in reading an older horror classic with her.  I agreed right away and thought it was a creature feature.  It wasn't quite what I expected though.  So read on for my thoughts and then hop over to Stormi's @ StormReads and see what she thought. 

 

TITLE: Nightwing

AUTHOR: Martin Cruz Smith

PUBLISHER: Simon and Schuster

PUBLISHING DATE: January 1, 1977

PAGES: 257   

SOURCE: Own

FROM GOODREADS: As darkness gathers, the sky is filled with frantic motion and maddening murmurs. In an effort to end the world, an unhappy, aging Native American shaman invokes the Hopi god of death. Those around him remain skeptical, dismissing him as crazy old man. Then they discover his mutilated, bloody body and soon other similarly disfigured bodies begin to appear. Horses, sheep, cattle—no living thing is safe. But what is causing the horrible deaths? Deputy Sheriff Duran is called back to the reservation to investigate. Immediately, Duran recognizes the significance of the shaman’s spell and, with the help of two scientists, he works to combat the supernatural scourge—before there’s nothing left to save.

MY THOUGHTS: I went into this book thinking horror and I am sure that kind of set my expectations up to high.  Sure, there are some gruesome scenes but there is just as much, if not more, reservation politics between the Hopi and the Navajo with a side of revenge thrown in.

Youngman Duran is the MC of the book. He was in the service for a while and then returned to the reservation.  He now works in law enforcement and is not sure exactly where he fits in.  He is semi-dating a humanitarian nurse who has been there for two years to help improve the medical services the natives are able to access.  One day Duran's good friend, 90 some year-old Abner, creates a mysterious ritual and is found dead the next day, appearing to be savaged by some animal.  You also have Chee, who wants the Hopi land to make it "whiter" and mine the minerals located beneath the land. And finally, you have Paine, a scientist.  His father was killed in a cave while trying to exterminate some bats and since he has become a loner obsessed with eradicating them.  And then finally, last (and actually least) you have the bats themselves.

This book didn't actually create a reading slump, but it did contribute to me starting four other books.  I think I was doing what I could to avoid finishing it. The few scenes which featured the bats were very gruesome, but there weren't enough of them for my tastes.  I did enjoy reading a lot about the indigenous customs and history, but the writing style was very heavy-handed, if that makes sense.

I finally forced myself to finish this book on Saturday and was I ever glad to be done.  It wasn't a total bust, but if you ever decide to pick it up for whatever reason, just know it's more of a suspense thriller than an actual horror or creature feature.

MY RATING: 3 PAWS