Old grudges, tribal traditions, and outside influences collide for a Kiowa woman as forces threaten her family, her tribe, and the land of her ancestors, in this own-voices debut perfect for fans of Winter Counts.
Mae is a long way from home. Fresh out of college and making a name for herself in Silicon Valley. Having left home a decade ago, she might not have gone back if her grandfather, James Sawpole hadn’t left her a mysterious voice message that he needed her now. And that is how Mae ended up on a plane headed for Oklahoma. Outside of Lawton, the land has always been Kiowa and Mae never felt as though she fit in. Her hair wasn’t stick straight, it was unruly and curly. Not like the traditional features of her cousin Denny.
She may have had a bad feeling about things, but she is only at the airport and already things are odd. Where is her Grandfather? And why are so many of the leaders there? Something is not right. And after a circuitous route to town, she is even more suspicious. These people she has known her entire life are acting very strange. And that’s before she finds a dead body.
Illegal fracking is messing up the groundwater and the tribal lands. Greedy oil developers hoodwinking people out of their land. And people in their own tribe sell off their ancestor’s artifacts. One, in particular, is the Jefferson Peace Medal. Stolen from the museum with only one suspect. Her Grandfather.
But just exactly where is he? Setting out into the Wildlife Refuge, Mae is determined to find out the truth and find her grandfather. But this story is complicated and this vision quest may kill her as well.
I live in Oklahoma and reading this was an honor.
NetGalley/ November 08, 2022 Crooked Lane Books
Pirate Patty Reviews 
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