To Bury the Dead - Hardcover

Laird, Brian Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312152248 ISBN 13: 9780312152246

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1997

Synopsis

On the way back to the O'odham reservation from Los Angeles, Gary Napoleon is shocked when the dead body of his dear friend Ryder, whom he is bringing home for an Indian burial, disappears and realizes he must find the body to fulfill his promises

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

Laird (Bowman's Line, 1995) returns with a new hero but the same emphasis on the wonders and dangers of the desert reaches of Arizona and New Mexico. Botanist Gray Napoleon, a Vietnam vet, is a loner, as well as a passionate defender of flora and fauna, with an old adobe house in Tucson and an undemanding job at the Desert Museum. His friend and war buddy Ryder Joaquin, a member of the O'Odham Indian tribe, has died in L.A. (shot to death, it transpires), and Napoleon has promised to bring the body back to Ryder's family for burial on the reservation near Tucson. Along the way, he makes a stop at a desert gas station, and, in a few short minutes, the casket disappears from the flatbed of his Land Cruiser. Looking for answers, Napoleon finds Ryder's family and their visitor Caroline, a Frenchwoman who had lived with Ryder in L.A. She rides back to Tucson with Napoleon, who's more determined than ever to find the body and complete his mission. That determination and all of his survival skills will be tried to the max, though, as he fends off hired goons and motorcycle gangs, is pursued across the desert, finds his house ransacked, his lawyer/sometime lover Maria held hostage, and more. The not-too-convincing motive behind it all carries echoes of many adventure-romances from the past, but the exotic venue, a prose style that ranges from lean to lyrical, plenty of suspense, and the fresh, intriguing character of Gray Napoleon are definite pluses. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

This roughly plotted mystery begins as Tucson, Ariz., botanist Gray Napoleon drives the body of his friend Ryder Joaquin back from Los Angeles for a proper Tohono O'odham tribal burial. When he stops for gas at a lonely desert town called Why, someone steals the coffin from the rear of his old four-wheel. Back in Tucson, two bruisers named Ben and Jerry beat him badly and demand to know what happened to the body. The thugs work for Torrance Power, an octogenarian who owns much of the land and many of the politicians in Southern Arizona. Power tells Gray that a precious Tohono O'odham calendar stick, made from a saguaro cactus rib and inscribed with symbols of important moments in tribal history, was probably in the missing coffin. Power threatens to harm Gray's Apache friend Maria Kazhe unless he finds the stick. But is it worth killing for? Something is, for Ryder's French girlfriend Caroline is murdered during a fire at the historic Congress Hotel. The answer may be hidden in Caroline's dying words and a cherished local landmark. Despite the cobbled narrative and some cursorily developed characters, notably Maria and Caroline, Laird (Bowman's Line, 1995) writes with knowledge and appreciation for the modern desert, where natural beauty and historic tradition seem locked in permanent battle with urban expansion.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0312152248
• ISBN 13: 9780312152246
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 179