Sunday, February 10, 2013

"Skeleton Man" by Tony Hillerman

On the front cover the New York Daily News is quoted saying, "...A yarn well spun."  I just love that phrase.  Where did that even come from?  The phrase creates an image in my mind of sitting in front of a fire, cuddled in a warm blankie with a cup of pumpkin spice hot cocoa...and of course a book that I would call "a good yarn".

I'd never heard of this author, but apparently he is a New York Times Bestseller and has a lot of books out. Here's the synopsis from the back cover:

"In 1956, an airplane crash left the remains of 172 passengers
scattered among the majestic cliffs of the Grand Canyon-
including an arm attached to a briefcase containing a fortune in gems.
Half a century later, one of the missing
diamonds has reappeared...and the
wolves are on the scent."


I really wanted more character development and a more interesting and intriguing story.  I was confused too many times to be hooked into the plot.  It was slow going in the beginning, then picked up in the middle, and then fizzled a bit at the end.  It was a very quick and easy read, though, which was good since I wanted to get through it and move on to other books.  When I was about half-way through, I thought that I'd probably not read another book by this author.  But, then as the mystery unfolded and resolved at the end, I wondered if maybe if I should give Tony another go.  A good friend recommended this author to me and so I think that I'll give Mr. Hillerman one more chance to impress me.

Stars:  2 1/2  (Actually, I'd give the first 1/3 of the book 2 stars, the middle 3 stars, and then the end 2 1/2 stars).
Prude Police:  It stayed squeaky clean and only had mild language-a few scattered little baby swear words.

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