Bad Medicine

This is THE novel for people to read if they want to know how it really is on the Navajo and Hopi Reservations--I can't understand how the author knows the voices and the feelings of these Indian people so well. This is a great book . . . believe it!

I read Bad Medicine immediately after finishing Tony Hillerman's "Last Eagle"...it was a wonderful week of reading and becoming immersed in Southwestern Indian culture. I can't help but want to compare the two novels, but that would be unfair: they are two entirely different fictional types, and they each must stand alone. Together, though, they are complementary experiences. Of the two, Ron Querry has a more lyric, almost poetic style. The plot is thinner than Hillerman's, and perhaps doesn't even do very well at bringing superstition, medicine, and folk healing together. That criticism (if it is one) is irrelevant to the impact of the book, with it's beautiful prose and sharp characterization. Of particular note is the chapter "Hashke", which takes place in the Short Mountain Cafe, populated by the smoking, vacant eyed waitress and the gum popping cashier in her tight plum-colored jeans and decorated fingernails. Like the rest of the book, it's great prose--evocative, precise, and moving.

A powerful book about a terrible time on the Navajo Reservation when an unknown disease was killing Indian people. Querry clearly knows that country well and makes the reader feel she's right there, too. A MUST READ for anyone who loves or wants to know more about the Four Corners region.

The Navaho are worried that a deadly viral disease is starting to attain epidemic proportions, killing many members of the tribe. Many of the elders believe it is evil witchcraft, but recently arrived physician Dr. Push Foster feels the lethal illness is more biological in nature. Push begins to investigate the virus and its underlying cause. Along with help from CDC, Push soon identifies the fatal virus as the hantavirus and even figures out the source. However, perhaps because Push is part Native American, he realizes that there is some BAD MEDICINE still going on that is outside the realm of science. BAD MEDICINE is a good Native American thriller based on the true story of the hantavirus outbreak in 1993. Push is an interesting character and the support cast from the Feds and the Navaho, add a bona fide feel of reality to the tale. However, the fast-paced story line is a bit hampered between science and mythology as Ron Querry fails to ties the two sub-plots into one coherent plot. Fans of Native American tales like Mr. Querry's brilliant THE DEATH OF BERNADETTE LEFTHAND, or epidemic disease stories like OUTBREAK will love this novel anyway because it is a well-written thriller with much insight into the Navaho culture. Harriet Klausner