Hour of the Hunter (Walker Family Mysteries, 1)

A critically acclaimed master of suspense, J. A. Jance, the New York Times bestselling author of Fire and Ice , transports readers into the beauty and mystery of the American Southwest . . . and into the very heart of terror. The hunter is free to kill againand hour by hour, he draws nearer . . . The brilliant psychopath Andrew Carlisle spent only six years in prison for the brutal torturemurder of a young girl of the Tohono O'odham tribe. The testimony of Diana Ladda teacher on the reservationput Carlisle behind bars, and now she can't ignore the dark, mystical signs that say a predator has returned to prowl the Arizona desert. Because no matter where Diana and her young son hide . . . he will find them. ** From Publishers Weekly Drawing on Native American life and lore as it describes the hunt for the killer of a Papago Indian girl, Jance's contemporary novel delivers suspense through rich layers of flashbacks and gritty characterization. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews A hodgepodge hardcover debut in which two Native American medicine men, an Arizona lawman, a young widow and her son, and a Papago basket-weaver/wise woman are inexorably drawn into confrontation with the evil ohb, a university professor-turned- serial-killer, who upended their lives six years before when he tortured and murdered the basket-weaver's granddaughter and then stage-managed a suicide/frame-up for his distraught accomplice Garrison Ladd. Now he's stalking Ladd's widow Diana and son Davy, but his old MO (biting off nipples) used on a new victim has set the sheriff's department on his trail, while his malevolent spirit has energized the Papagos. There will be another murder, an attempted murder, dreams, emanations, and a near-fatal dog- poisoning before everyone converges on the Ladd house for a gruesome resolution. Disconcerting time shifts and a plethora of Papago parables (can anyone outdo Tony Hillerman?) fail to disguise the fact that this is nothing more than potboiler melodrama, with the hapless reader bombarded first by the lurid, then by the mystical. -- Copyright 1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Calc Series Group : Walker Family Calc ESN Part 1 : 01 Uncomma Title 2 : Hour of the Hunter Calc New Series : Walker Family.... Number of Words in Auth: 3 Formats : EPUB ESN Combined : 01 ES Name : Walker Family ES Cover Quality : ICBF Quick Search : J. A. Jance Hour of the Hunter Has Cover : Yes All Identifiers : amazon:0061945382, barnesnoble:w/hour-of-the-hunter-j-a-jance/1100240171, fictiondb:ja-jance~hour-of-the-hunter~64384~b, goodreads:462976, google:jlbMbslshAAC, isbn:9780061945380 Test Text Series Index: 1 Single Author : J. A. Jance Raw Title : Hour of the Hunter Sorted Author by LN, FN: Jance, J. A. Enter Series Index : 01 of 05 ES Group : SIPZ_E Title Length : 18 Torrent Summary : New Torrent Title Parm A : Hour of the Hunter Calc ESN Part 3 : 05 Any Num n Name : Family Calc ESI Combined : 01 of 05 Record ID : 103 Enter New Series (Calced): SIPZ_E.Walker Family.Cmd.01 of 05..ICBF Test Compare Series to Entered: eq Uncomma Author : J. A. Jance Calc ESI Part 2 : of ES Genre : Cmd Calc ESI Part 3 : 05 Compare Author : eq Calc ESI Part 1 : 01 Calc ESN Part 2 : of Test Search : Hour of the Hunter / J. A. Jance Num of Aut : 1

The hunter is free to kill again -- and hour by hour, he draws closer...

Publishers Weekly

The author of the J. P. Beaumont series moves into new territory with this mystery that draws on Native American life and lore. Six years in Arizona State Prison have turned convicted rapist/murderer Andrew Carlisle into a killing machine. Along with his student Gary Ladd, former professor Carlisle was accused of killing a Papago Indian girl, and Ladd committed suicide rather than face the charges. Shortly thereafter, when crucial evidence in the case disappeared, Ladd's widow, Diana, and Rita Antone, the murdered girl's grandmother, pressed for Carlisle's conviction. Planning revenge on those who put him behind bars, the newly released sociopath goes on a murder spree as he tracks down Diana. Warned by the clairvoyant Antone of Carlisle's impending assault, Diana marshals her defense forces--including a blind Papago medicine man and a detective with a score to settle with the killer. Leaving a trail of corpses in his wake, cross-dresser Carlisle eludes the police and prepares to victimize his own family. Jance's novel delivers suspense through richly textured layers of flashbacks and gritty characterization, and, although the relationship between the mystical Papago folklore and the rest of the plot is not as clearly developed as readers might wish, it is an intriguing thematic focus for Jance and her fans. (Nov.)

Every summer, in an event that is commemorated throughout the Tohono O'odham Nation, the Queen of the Night flower blooms in the Arizona desert. But one couple's intended celebration is shattered by gunfire, the sole witness to the bloodshed a little girl who has lost the only family she's ever known. To her rescue come Dr. Lani Walker, who sees the trauma of her own childhood reflected in her young patient, and Dan Pardee, an Iraq war veteran and member of an unorthodox border patrol unit called the Shadow Wolves. Joined by Pima County homicide investigator Brian Fellows, they must keep the child safe while tracking down a ruthless killer. In a second case, retired homicide detective Brandon Walker is investigating the long unsolved murder of an Arizona State University coed. Now, after nearly half a century of silence, the one person who can shed light on that terrible incident is willing to talk. Meanwhile, Walker's wife, Diana Ladd, is reliving memories of a man whose death continues to haunt her. As these crimes threaten to tear apart three separate families, the stories and traditions of the Tohono O'odham people remain just beneath the surface of the desert, providing illumination to events of both self-sacrifice and unspeakable evil

Every summer, the Queen of the Night flower blooms in the Arizona desert—a sacred event commemorated throughout the Tohono O'odham Nation. But this year, one couple's celebration is prematurely destroyed by gunfire . . . and the sole witness to the carnage is a little girl who has lost the only family she's ever known.

Dr. Lani Walker recognizes the trauma of her own childhood reflected in her devastated young patient. Joining Dan Pardee—a member of the unorthodox Shadow Wolves border patrol—Lani vows to keep the child safe while tracking down a ruthless killer. Meanwhile, Lani's adoptive father, retired homicide detective Brandon Walker, sees a break in his investigation of the long unsolved murder of an Arizona State University coed—while his wife, Diana Ladd, relives terrible memories of a man whose death haunts her still.

J.A. Jance is among the bestif not the best. Chattanooga Times In Queen of the Night , New York Times bestselling author J.A. Jance brings back the Walker familyintroduced in Hour of the Hunter , terrorized in Kiss of the Bees , and last seen in Day of the Dead . A multilayered thriller, gripping and unforgettableevocatively set in the breathtaking Arizona desert Queen of the Night is a chilling tale of murder past and present that connects and devastates three separate families. Six years after her husband killed himself after being accused of murdering an Indian girl, Diana Ladd relies on a Native American wise woman and a local police detective to protect her and her son from her late husband's partner, recently released from prison The traditions of the Tohono O'odham people are woven into the fabric of three families as Dr. Lani Walker and Pima County homicide investigator Brian Fellows join forces to protect a little girl who witnessed her mother's murder The New York Times bestselling author brings back the Walker family in a multilayered thriller in which murders past and present connect the lives of three families THE ROOM WAS square and hot, and so was the man sitting at the gray-green metallic desk.