The Stick Game

Gabriel Du Pré often is the agent of a 'cause' in his adventures in northern Montana. A Metís Indian, Peter Bowen often describes him as if he were on of the last warriors. Strong for his people, aided by the spiritual resources of Benetsee the shaman and the strength of his woman, Madelaine, Gabriel fights many foes, mostly visible enemies - other warriors on other sides of the argument. This story is different. The real enemy here is selfish greed and neglect. The victims aren't shot or stabbed. They are poisoned slowly, from before they are born by cyanide leached into the water from gold mines. There is an element of horror in this story that is only matched by Notches, the story of multiple serial killers preying on Metís women. But instead of dismembered bodies, these new victims are left alive but badly damaged - disadvantaged mentally, and often carrying severe birth defects as well. When a young boy, Danny, commits suicide in despair, Du Pré is drawn into a tragic story, where Indian tradition runs into the callous evil of a mining company, and once again ruin comes on the shoulders of progress. This is a beautiful book, in its way. Bowen doesn't shirk from the task of displaying all sides of a fragile culture that is literally being ignored to death. We see the alcoholism that has been the bane of Indian life, the poverty and the isolationism that have made the Metís into a cultural oddity rather than a valued part of the American heritage. But is through Du Pré's eyes that we also see the real nobility of a people who have much to offer and much of which to be proud. Their spirituality, and the amazing combination of storytelling and gambling called the Stick Game. This was the Peter Bowen novel that made me realize how strong a writer he really was. And how much he cares for the people he writes about. The Stick Game goes far beyond the sarcastic wit and suspense that are Bowen's trademarks and yields a story that has you deeply involved right until the end. He leaves you feeling justified, and more than a little re-educated. Highly recommended.

"Stick Game" and these reviews caused me to think about why I enjoy mysteries so much. Because the pure fact of the matter is, one reviewer is right: this is a mystery lacking in traditional plot and character development that I often praise in my other reviews (and have been critical when these elements are absent). But you know, all the way through this book I didn't care! Why? Because there is a stunning use of background, wit, and message. I was caught up in the pollution issue, the life of the Metis people, and the Robert Parker-like spare prose and dialogue. This book left me energised politically and intellectually, and aware of having experienced a thoroughly enjoyable weekend because of it.I encourage you to read it.

Aficionados of Peter Bowen's Gabriel Du Pré mysteries already know that life is grim in the Big Sky Country. It doesn't matter whether you're a ranch hand, a fiddler, a rich alcoholic, or just passing through. In fact the LL Bean-clad, Volvo-driving Yuppie tourists are the ones who usually take it on the chin, although Bowen only inflicts them with a verbal barrage in "The Stick Game." He is concentrating on more serious targets: alcoholism; and the mysterious illnesses, mutations, and deaths of children and animals on the Fort Belknap Reservation. Bowen's detective-hero, Gabriel Du Pré is a laconic fiddler who lets his music and his deeds speak for him. He and his long-time mistress, Madelaine are Métis descendants of the French Voyageurs and Plains Indians.Du Pré's rich friend Bart is also unusually laconic in this seventh mystery in the series. Most of his lines consist of one-word expletives. However, Bart's language can be excused since he is very stressed out by his friends' rude jokes about his new lady friend, not to mention the realization that he owns millions of dollars of stock in a local gold mining company that is injecting poisons into the water table. In what might be the most cheerful scene in "The Stick Game," Du Pré blows out the transmission on his old police cruiser, loses his brakes and goes shooting through a series of downhill, hairpin turns at eighty miles an hour. He and Madelaine narrowly miss an oncoming eighteen-wheeler, go twanging through a barbwire fence, and finally slow to a stop in a rancher's stock pond:"The water was only two feet deep."Du Pré mopped at his face with a greasy towel that lived on the floor of the cruiser. He could see."'Hey, Du Pré,' Madelaine laughed, `That was some fun yes! I am paying two dollars that ride at a carnival! Hah! We have good luck!'"'S__t,' said Du Pré."These are some tough people in Bowen's book. I think you'll end up feeling good about the life-affirming way that his characters deal with their problems. Rich Uncle Bart helps smooth the way for some, but this is a barbwire book---you'll find it poking you in some unexpected places.

Great book, a little out of the ordinary for Bowen as there is very little mystery, but the discussion of the ways the West is being used up for the profits of BIG BUSINESS while the residents, both Native American and the latecomers who love it is worth the price.. The fate of Du Pre's old police cruiser is a highlight not to be missed.