James B. (Kilroy) reviewed The Shape Shifter (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee, Bk 18) on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Joe,Jim, and now Bernie...Who could ask for more. It is unfortunate that there will be no more as alas, Tony has passed away. The last book is just as wonderful as all the others, and solving a mystery from the past brings us a nostalgic journey into familiar excerpts from previous stories, appropriate I think for his last work. I for one will miss him.
Helpful Score: 2
If you're looking for more great Tony Hillerman, this book is one for you. Hillerman's main protagonist (Joe Leaphorn) is back from retirement and researching supernatural occurings that seem to happen around an antique Navajo rug.
Helpful Score: 1
I have followed the Legendary Lieutenant throughout his "career" and so was really looking forward to this book of his supposed retirement (though we know that's impossible.) I enjoyed the usual atmospheric stuff and the Navajo cultural things, but found the character of Joe Leaphorn implausible for the first time. He has been a straight arrow his whole life and career. To be a month into retirement and bending rules did not sit well with me nor make for a believable story. Read it, certainly. But it's not a sequel that made logical sense to me.
Dale V. (dvnashville) reviewed The Shape Shifter (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee, Bk 18) on + 12 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I love all the Tony Hillerman books... fascinating insights into Native American culture, great scenic descriptions, characters you care about, interesting and captivating plots.
Surprising and gripping!
I enjoy all of Tony Hillerman's Navajo mysteries. They are an easy read, and I enjoy the descriptions of the land in New Mexico and Arizona.
Ronald A. (rarendt) reviewed The Shape Shifter (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee, Bk 18) on + 107 more book reviews
I have read all the Tony Hillerman books published prior to this one, and must say there's a law of diminishing returns at work here. I loved his books when I first started reading them, and after the first ten or so I still really liked them, but I only just barely liked the last two. He seems to have run out of things to say, and spends more and more time going on about Navajo spirituality, and less and less time giving his readers an entetaining read with an interesting plot. In this one, I had the mystery solved in the first half of the book, but had to plod through the rest of it just to see how he was going to work it out. Won't spoil the ending for you by going into detail, but Joe Leaphorn's actions toward the end of the book were uncharacteristic. Hillerman mentions often that Leaphorn is retired, and often just tired. I felt like the author's personal feelings were bleeding through into his main character. Looking at his picture on the back cover reminded me that Tiony Hillerman is a WW2 veteran, and has a right to be a little tired himself - and his prose is startinjg to show it.
Andrea W. (noc-shift) reviewed The Shape Shifter (Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee, Bk 18) on + 298 more book reviews
TOOK ME AWILE TO READ THIS ONE BUT LOVE THIS AUTHOR AND HOW HE CAN WEAVE MODERN DAY WITH ANCIENT STORIES FROM OUR PAST CAN NOT WAIT TO GET MY HANDS ON ANOTHER BOOK BY THIS AWESOME STORY TELLER
