Wild Indigo (Jamaica Wild Series #1) by Sandi Ault

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The Barnes & Noble Review
Blending elements of outdoor adventures à la Jack London's White Fang, Native American-powered whodunits by Tony Hillerman, James D. Doss, et al., and Castañeda-style shamanistic vision quests, Sandi Ault's impressive Wild Indigo is, simply put, a page-turner of the highest order.

Featuring Jamaica Wild -- a headstrong resource protection agent for the Bureau of Land Management -- and her pet wolf cub, Mountain, the mystery revolves around the strange demise of a Native American man trampled to death by a herd of stampeding buffalo. Both the tribal elders and the FBI declare the death a suicide, but Wild, who witnessed the trampling firsthand, knows that something is not quite right. When she begins asking too many questions, the tribal council claims that she started the stampede and is solely responsible for the man's death. Suspended from her job pending an investigation, Wild vows to uncover the truth -- and stumbles headlong into ritualistic terror…

Ault's extensive knowledge of Southwest Native American culture aside, the real power behind this debut novel -- the thing that makes Wild Indigo such a unique and compelling read -- is the complex relationship between Wild and Mountain. Both human and wolf are outsiders, with no real home or family, and the intense bond that they share -- the pack of two that they create -- is as beautiful as it is bittersweet. Additionally, Ault deals with a myriad of sensitive themes like the preservation of indigenous cultures, psychoactive drug-induced mysticism, wildlife conservation, etc., with compassion and class. Paul Goat Allen

From the Publisher

Bureau of Land Management Agent Jamaica Wild has witnessed the death of a Tanoah Pueblo man who was trampled by buffalo. After the tribal government and local paper make allegations that Jamaica caused the stampede, she is determined to solve this mystery. But what is revealed is a greater secret regarding Tanoah Pueblo-one that threatens its future and its past.

The New York Times - Marilyn Stasio

Scenes of the high, dry, glittering landscape are as clean as a sun-bleached bone, and there are thrills galore when Jamaica is trapped in a flash flood that tears down the canyon walls of an ancient mountain sacred to the tribe. But Ault is no less artful at depicting the marriage customs, funeral rites and religious ceremonies that have drawn Jamaica to this tightly knit world and made her lose her heart to its people.

Publishers Weekly

At the start of Ault's strong debut, agent Jamaica Wild of the Bureau of Land Management is shocked to see Jerome Santana, a member of the Tanoah tribe of northern New Mexico, trampled to death by a herd of buffalo. It looks like suicide, but Jamaica suspects Jerome had been unwillingly drugged. A tribal elder and a child who also witnessed the fatal stampede go missing, and the authorities blame Jamaica for causing the death she tried to prevent. Jamaica combines a stubborn independent streak with an equally powerful longing to belong-a longing that finds expression in both her touching devotion to her wolf pup, Mountain, and in her warm ties to the Tanoah community and her mentor and medicine teacher, Momma Anna, Jerome's mother. Tinged with mysticism, this artfully told story should appeal to fans of Nevada Barr's National Park Service ranger Anna Pigeon as well as Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee series and Margaret Coel's Wyoming Wind River Reservation novels. (Jan.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Native American Jerome Santana is trampled to death by stampeding buffalo when he enters their pen. The only witness is Bureau of Land Management agent Jamaica Wild, who is studying Pueblo ways under the mentorship of Momma Anna, Jerome's mother. Soon the Tanoah Pueblo people blame Jamaica for Jerome's death, and it quickly becomes clear that she and her wolf puppy, Mountain, are marked for death by witchcraft. Jamaica must navigate her way in an unfamiliar culture to find the truth. Reviewers and readers will draw parallels between Ault's enlightening, well-researched debut, set in northern New Mexico, and the mysteries of Tony Hillerman, Nevada Barr, and Aimee and David Thurlo; this is fine because she is that good. Highly recommended for all mystery collections. Ault lives in the Rocky Mountains. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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