Andrew K. (kuligowskiandrewt) -
The late Tony Hillerman left his traditional setting of the Navaho reservation, along with his company of players, to examine the last days of the Vietnam War.
In summary, Colorado-based reporter Moon Mathias learns that his mother suffered a heart attack while waiting to board a flight. Compounding the surprise is that his Miami-based mother was in Los Angeles, about to head to Manila aboard Philippine Air. A little investigation revealed that Moon's late brother fathered a child before he passed away in a helicopter crash on the Vietnam / Cambodia border, their mother was going to pick up the child and bring her to America, and that the baby also never made it to the rendezvous in Manila. Searching for the child, Moon also heads to the Philippines, and (I doubt this is much of a spoiler for anyone) into the confusion and violence in the Mekong Delta that was April 1975.)
This was an enjoyable "read" - I quote it because I listened to the audio version and the intersperses of "news releases" from the fall of Vietnam enhanced the story that was being told. BUT I felt I missed a lot because it was an abridged version. Some of the transition between scenes felt sloppy, and I had the feeling that a lot of the material that helped to clear up who Moon Mathias believed he was as a man, and who his brother, mother, and those who encountered him believed him to be, was eliminated by the abridgement editor. (Oh, why did I violate my usual rule of "avoid abridgments"?)
RATING: 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars for those sites that cannot handle fractions of a star. And I believe that the person who performed the abridgment managed to also cut out a half to a whole star from my rating, as well.
In summary, Colorado-based reporter Moon Mathias learns that his mother suffered a heart attack while waiting to board a flight. Compounding the surprise is that his Miami-based mother was in Los Angeles, about to head to Manila aboard Philippine Air. A little investigation revealed that Moon's late brother fathered a child before he passed away in a helicopter crash on the Vietnam / Cambodia border, their mother was going to pick up the child and bring her to America, and that the baby also never made it to the rendezvous in Manila. Searching for the child, Moon also heads to the Philippines, and (I doubt this is much of a spoiler for anyone) into the confusion and violence in the Mekong Delta that was April 1975.)
This was an enjoyable "read" - I quote it because I listened to the audio version and the intersperses of "news releases" from the fall of Vietnam enhanced the story that was being told. BUT I felt I missed a lot because it was an abridged version. Some of the transition between scenes felt sloppy, and I had the feeling that a lot of the material that helped to clear up who Moon Mathias believed he was as a man, and who his brother, mother, and those who encountered him believed him to be, was eliminated by the abridgement editor. (Oh, why did I violate my usual rule of "avoid abridgments"?)
RATING: 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars for those sites that cannot handle fractions of a star. And I believe that the person who performed the abridgment managed to also cut out a half to a whole star from my rating, as well.
