A review by speculativebecky
Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
4.0
Winter Counts is a 2020 debut in the crime/thriller genre which follows Virgil, a tough guy enforcer of vigilante justice on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. His latest job has him tasked with hunting down the drug dealers who’ve brought heroin to the reservation, a job which quickly becomes personal as his nephew gets involved.
It’s been ages since I’ve had the itch to read a thriller, and I was impressed with how compelling and readable this book felt without riding on flashy manipulative twists (which are great in their own right if I’m in the right mood, don’t get me wrong). To me it had a more noir feel, the slow unfolding of the plot less driving than the fantastic characters, paired with astute commentary on life on the reservation. Specifically of note is the way that the lackadaisical approach to justice taken by federal authorities who decline to prosecute felony offenses on reservations creates strife and ultimately gives rise to private vigilantes like Virgil. At the heart of this novel are the gorgeous relationships between the characters, and exploration of their relationships to Lakota traditions. I’ve never read a thriller quite like this one, and I very much recommend it to regular or reluctant readers of the genre.
Cw for graphic violence and death, rape, child sexual abuse, suicide, overdose, death of a child.
It’s been ages since I’ve had the itch to read a thriller, and I was impressed with how compelling and readable this book felt without riding on flashy manipulative twists (which are great in their own right if I’m in the right mood, don’t get me wrong). To me it had a more noir feel, the slow unfolding of the plot less driving than the fantastic characters, paired with astute commentary on life on the reservation. Specifically of note is the way that the lackadaisical approach to justice taken by federal authorities who decline to prosecute felony offenses on reservations creates strife and ultimately gives rise to private vigilantes like Virgil. At the heart of this novel are the gorgeous relationships between the characters, and exploration of their relationships to Lakota traditions. I’ve never read a thriller quite like this one, and I very much recommend it to regular or reluctant readers of the genre.
Cw for graphic violence and death, rape, child sexual abuse, suicide, overdose, death of a child.