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hoodster's review
3.0
This is more like 3 1/2 stars. It would be four stars for a normal writer, but it is definitely three stars for Welch. I almost wouldn’t have even known it was by the same author of fools crow and charging elk, both of which are absolutely five stars on any scale. Perhaps he had difficulty writing about the modern day, but for whatever reason it just doesn’t have the same incredibly real feel as those other two novels. Still worth a read, although the suspense generated early in the book doesn’t really lead to much of a payoff.
writtenechoes's review
3.0
I rather like Welch's prose but I didn't like how he jumped around in regards to POV. It was third person POV throughout the book but he changed the subject often. We got at least 10 different characters POV's but there was never a new chapter to mark this. One paragraph would be Sylvester and then the next sentence would be Patti, it frustrated me a lot. I did like the idea of Sylvester's life but I thought the extortion plot wasn't essential. It could've been a lot stronger had it just been about his struggles as a lawyer and budding congressmen.
margaretefg's review
3.0
Sylvester Yellow Calf is a complicated character, abandoned by his parents, raised by loving grandparents who were very connected to his Blackfeet tribe, a basketball star in college, and as the book opens, he's a lawyer at a fancy private firm in Helena. Making his way up in the world. He's sort of involved with a former Senator's daughter and is contemplating a run for Congress. Then...he gets tangled up in the life story of Jack Harwood, former accountant turned bank robber who is languishing in prison, not sure he will survive. There's lots of casual racism towards Sylvester, and the other Indians in the book. What I liked about this book was how it left some things messy...Sylvester sort of gets back in touch with his roots, but there's plenty of ambivalence about it. Still, there are some oddly flat, stereotypical parts to the story, and some completely incredible sequences. And the scenery...reading Montana landscapes oddly comforting while staying in place in Phila.
This book is on the Little Free Library Pandemic Reading list.
This book is on the Little Free Library Pandemic Reading list.
cocoawolf29's review
4.0
Though not my typical read, but an interesting book none the less. Reading it for my American Indian History class, there were fascinating insights from a modern day Indian living in the world as a lawyer. It also gives some terrifying light into the world of the prison system as well. A quick read, and thought provoking on many levels.
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