White Shell Woman, James Doss

"White Shell Woman" by James Doss is a good mystery with an American Indian myth and modern day results. White Shell Woman was a moon goddess that the Indians worshiped. She provided rain for their crops. The rain did not come for several seasons and the crops would not grow. The Anasazi Indians performed human sacrifices to make the moon cry. The moon cried fire and the Indians left, but not before they buried a treasure in the Wolf Mesa area. Charlie Moon was bequeathed a cattle ranch, Columbine, with five square miles of pristine grazing land and a lake full of trout. He was no longer a police for SUPD but a rancher. He became an investigator for the Ute tribe along with a badge, gun and enthusiasm for the challenges in front of him. The ranch foreman did most of the work so Charlie had some free time to devote.

Dr. Amanda Silk, an archaeologist, was watching over the Wolf Mesa site for the forest service, to keep pot hunters and treasure hunters away. On one walk, she uncovered an ancient petroglyph which pointed to where the Anasazi treasure was buried. This was great news and brought many professors with a PhD to study the rock carving. At the site of the treasure, the murder of a graduate student found in a grave and burnt, was the start of the myth of the fire tears of the moon. The FBI were called in and there was a search for the perp. Charlie did his own investigating, for the murder was on the Ute reservation.

Charlie Moon was hit on the head and nearly died. He was found in a grave covered with rocks and pine needles, about to be torched. The howling of a dog saved him. Doss has provided a fine mystery with the Indian Myths and a modern day solution. Doss knows American Indian folklore and puts it in a story of mystery with good results, that the reader enjoys.

Grandmother Spider, James Doss-Book Review

"Grandmother Spider" by James Doss is a mystical thriller full of suspense. Starts with nine year old Sarah Frank killing a spider and Daisy Perika, her guardian, tells her that the big grandmother spider will come from her home under the water of Navajo Lake and take revenge. The spider is huge and kills his pray by decapitating them, sucking the blood out of them and putting them high in a tree for future consumption. That night Daniel Bignight is called to the shore of Navajo Lake because an unusual orange light was spotted. In awe Bignight sees a huge shape in the sky, with legs dangling down and tangled in one is Tommy Tonompicket. The thing floats north in the wind and out of sight. Many calls come in to SUPD seeing this thing in the sky. Grandmother Spider is out and on the prowl!

Charlie Moon is the acting chief for the SUPD and is more realistic about what happened. On the shore of Navajo Lake there were two trucks and no occupants. The trucks are owned by Tommy Tonompicket and Dr. Pizinski. Pizinski works for RMAFS (Rocky Mountain Advanced Flight Systems). The RMAFS does work for the Air Force and is very secret about their activities. A couple days later Tommy is found in a tree and Pizinski was found wandering in the forest. They were put in the hospital but neither one had memory of the incident.

SPOILER: Charlie Moon was very skeptical about the spider myth and did his own investigating. With murder and mayhem, a lawyer was decapitated, Charlie comes up with the truth. The episode was produced by the launching of a hot air balloon in the shape of an octopus. Tommy and Pizinski floated north in the balloon and hit the roof of a lawyer which caused a sheet of ice to slide down the structure and decapitate him. Tommy was thrown from the gondola and landed in a tree, so there was a vengeful side, kill Pizinsky. Doss has done a good job with the mystical spider and the episode of the following events. A very good story that shows Doss is a knowledgeable person of the Ute myths. This book is worth reading, with suspense through out. The ending is a dream come true with Doss showing the reader tranquility and bliss.

The Shaman's Game, James Doss - Book Review

Jame Doss has written a very mystical story with "the Shaman's Game". The story begins in southern Colorado with the Ute Native American Indians and Charlie Moon, born and bread Ute and USPD policeman. The Shaman is Charlie's aunt Daisy Perika, a traditional Ute with mysticism and Indian beliefs being her way of life. Charlie is more modern in his approach to life, but still holds to the thinking of an Indian. Every year there is a ceremony of the Sun Dance, a dance of several days without water, that gives power to the one who finishes. The dance brings tragedy to the Utes when the finisher dies. His death was credited to a witch. Daisy is sure of this and starts proceedings to battle the witch. There is evil in the her midst.

Charlie Moon is a big man, handsome and in shape. He is sought after by most eligible women. Myra is the one who is lucky to be with Moon until he is approached by an old high school girlfriend, Delly. Charlie is just trying to do his job with the USPD and with the possible murder of the dancer, he could not understand the women and the feud that pursues. Charlie was caught in the middle. Delly got a job at the local paper and said she would work on the witch scandal and tell who the witch is after another Sun Dance ceremony. The Sun Dance begins and Doss holds the readers interest with the mystery of the witch and mysticism of the Indians. The dreams and omens that Daisy had only brings truth to the finale and Charlie is faced with some unanswered mystical questions.