Hour of the Hunter (Walker Family, #1) (2024)

Dnf'ed it after 20%. I felt so bored and got distracted so easily that I've decided to quit. Sorry to all the persons that love these series haha :x

HOUR OF THE HUNTER - NR
Jance, J.A. - Standalone

The hunter is free to kill again -- and hour by hour, he draws closer . . .

The brilliant psychopath Andrew Carlisle spent only six years in prison for the brutal torture–murder of a young girl of the Tohono O'otham tribe. The testimony of Diana Ladd -- a teacher on the reservation -- put Carlisle behind bars, and now she can't ignore the dark, mystical signs that say a predator has returned to prowl the Arizona desert. Because no matter where Diana and her young son hide . . . he will find them.

I normally like Jance's work but I hated this book. It was brutal and horrible.

Certainly doesn’t measure up to Jance’s other works, IMHO. I love her Arizona series with Joanna Brady best but have enjoyed her Seattle series with Beaumont, too. Don’t know exactly why this book didn’t resonate with me. It took me quite a while to get all the various characters straight as there was current and past episodes in the lives of them. I also didn’t care for the insertion of Indian mythology can’t explain why—just didn’t like it. I don’t think I even completely finished the book, but don’t think I missed much. That, in a few words, says what I thought of the book. Generous to give it three stars. There are other books in the series, but doubt I’ll read them.

I have read and enjoyed Jance's J.P. Beaumont and Joanna Brady series. I'm reading this series now because Jance is including Walker in the upcoming Beaumont mystery. I'm not impressed with this first in the series. Hopefully the next one will be better. I found so many of the characters to be underdeveloped and stereotypical. I found the violence to be unsettling. Jance handles violence much better in other books. I didn't mind the Native American legends that were intertwined with the narrative but sometimes missed their relationship to the plot.

I've been a fan of J. A. Jance for some time, but I just started reading her Walker series. I received a pre-release copy of Queen of the Night to review, but realized there were several other books in the series so I'm catching up, starting with Hour of the Hunter.

There is a definite distinction between this book and her others. While this is still set in Southern Arizona, it takes place in the mid-70's. There is also a tighter integration of native peoples into the story line, particularly the Papago. This includes a prelude to each chapter of a Papago mythology story that foreshadows the contents of that chapter. It was a nice touch and this draws the obvious likening to Tony Hillerman's works.

While a bit slow to start, I was surprised by the break-neck speed of the plot development in the later half of the book. I've found her other series to be paced with an even placement of action peaks and valleys. In this book, you're racing through the last half to see how it ends. This might be her most action-packed novel yet.

I also enjoyed the relationship of the two main characters; Diana and Rita. These are two women of different generations, culture and social standing that have established a supportive relationship fallen out of a terrible tragedy. It is only barely accepted by those around them, but it serves them well in the end.

Since Jance's books are so dependent on plot, it's difficult providing a thorough review of her works without including too many spoilers. To keep it simple, if you like any of her other series, you'll like this one as well.

This is more a criticism of the Free Fridays program rather than the story itself- why are so many Free Fridays books about serial killing rapists? I swear, half the free friday books I've read have been about serial killers.

A better showing than most, but not my cup of tea. I liked the flashbacks and native stories woven into the main narrative, but the main narrative is not what I would have liked to read. Also Davey is supposed to be six but is acting like he's 12? Come on. I may not be a parent and therefore unable to really judge, but it felt like Davey was WAY TOO mature for six years old. Anyway, not my cup of tea.

I usually dont review a book if I feel it deserves less than 3 stars, but I am making an exception this time. I did finish this book, and am sorry that I did. The brutal violence described in this book was unnecessary to the story. I found the Indian folklore inserted in the story distracting, and finally just skipped over it.
Having said that, the storyline did keep my interest, which is why I wanted to finish the story. But the violence against women overrode all of that.

Good suspense serial killer read.
This is definitely not my favorite from this author, but still very good.

The Walker/Ladd series is a selection of mishmash. The plot was good, but like her others in the series she mixes up the past with the present and throws in Indian folk lore. I don't know if she is a wantabe Michael Slade, the master of combining historical events with a current day mystery, but she is failing. The first book I read in the series [which was actually #2] was too confusing to enjoy. The next one I read [the 3rd] and this one [the 1st] I managed to enjoy. But I still can not excuse the jumping back especially when so many of the characters are Indians with their Indian name, regular name and even at times another Indian name from when they were younger!! And after reading 3 of these books I do not understand how the Indian folk lore really relates to the stories.

Crime thriller takes place on and near Papago reservation in Arizona and Mexico. Andrew Carlisle, a sad*stic serial killer, is released early from prison, and proceeds to take revenge on the woman who put him there. Some graphic scenes, somewhat weak on the plotting, too many flashbacks, lots of interspersed stories of Indian folklore, the book is a bit of a disorganized mess. I wanted to find out if Carlisle would get what he had coming to him, and Jance managed to keep me interested, but those flashbacks and stories kept distracting me.

I've read many, if not most, of Jance's books, but this is the first Walker Family book for me. It's a great one and really shows her writing talent. It's more involved and definitely more intense than any of her other books, almost like a completely different author. It's a very dark story dealing with horrific murders and a murderer who is evil personified. As always, the characters are wonderful, with even more depth and emotional vesting than her other series, including the detestable villain. She does manage to inject bits and pieces of humor, and I especially enjoyed the folklore tales interspersed at appropriate sections of the story which are from the Tohono O'otham tribe located in the heart of Arizona country where I lived until recently, Pima and Pinal Counties. Jance worked as a teacher on the Reservation for five years, so she learned much about this beautiful culture, and her love of that culture shines through.

In brief, Andrew Carlisle spent only six years in prison for the brutal murder of a young Tohon O'otham girl. Now he is loose and hunting the woman responsible for the testimony which put him away, no matter how many he kills in order to find her. This is a suspenseful tale that really grabs you and doesn't want to let you get away from the book!

Being a big Tony Hillerman, Craig Johnson, and Kirk Mitchell fan I loved this book. Loved the Papago stories and how they were dispersed through the book. Came across this series by picking up book #4 at the library. Although written as a stand-alone the bread-crumbs given to fill in the backstory were enough to make me stop reading and seek out book #1. I'm glad I started at book 1 and would recommend that for the optimum reading experience.

This book also introduced me to a favorite style of writing; it's the first book I've read in years that so captured my attention I could read it while the TV or radio played. Finished it up on a trip to Michigan with radio and conversation going on. Jance's style (in this book) jumps times, places, characters from one paragraph to the next. I truly dislike books that jump these same things from chapter to chapter but jumping from paragraph to paragraph had the complete opposite effect. Never knew I'd enjoy this type of writing so much. Maybe that is why I do best multi-tasking as that's what this felt like to me. As soon as my mind would wonder about something, bingo, it was there and answered in the next paragraph.

Ive got book #2 ordered from library and hopefully it is as enjoyable as book 1 was.

This is the second novel I've read this month involving a woman being stalked and hunted. Both books involved native-American characters and traditions. Hour of The Hunter is based in southern Arizona on the Papago Indian reservation and has a substantial bit of information on tribal legends. It is also an excellent suspense thriller spanning the 60s and 70s. J.A. Jance may not be a fancy writer but she knows how to get the job done in this edge-of-the seat thriller.

Not one of my favorites. Jance drug the book on trying in some ways to mimic Hillerman. I couldn't wait to get thru it and almost stopped reading. For me, she didn't try to build empathy for one of the main characters and I just didn't really enjoy the book.

This book did not disappoint. J.A. Jance consistently writes great stories. This story takes place in Arizona and it is about a woman, raising her son with the help of an older Indian woman. These women lives were thrown together after an unthinkable tragedy. A man, that is responsible for their connection, is being released from prison and has revenge on his mind. As the reader is taken thru this story the author adds Indian folklore stories. I found these to be an interesting part of the telling of this story. How do two different people, different in their ancestory, their religion, their paths, blend the differences to try to survive? I found this book hard to put down and truly enjoyed the ending. I look forward to sampling more of this writers offerings.

A very slow and disjointed story. I tried to push through it, hoping it would redeem itself. After 319 pages, I called it quits. Too many good books out there to suffer any longer. I've read the first 10 books of J. A. Jance's Ali Reynolds series, which I greatly enjoyed. This book, and the remaining 4 books in this series (Walker Family) are going back to my local used book store.

Too much jumping around from past to present to traditional tales. 2.5

Two-haiku review:

Killer is released
Killing again, wants woman
That sent him to prison

Complicated tale
Of Native Americans
Very violent

Loved it. Enjoyable read and history lesson with an occasional twist.

I.m giving this a 3.5. I have read several of J.A Janice’s series but not this one. It is about a vicious killer who is released to kill those he left behind. It was hard to read at first till I got used to the fact that the author didn’t space between paragraphs, often leading to another character. I enjoyed learned learning more about Native American customs and traditions. I want to read the next to see where this series lead.

Hour of the Hunter by J. A. Jance

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS:
-Print: COPYRIGHT: January 1, 1991; PUBLISHER: William Morrow & Company; ISBN 978-0688096304; PAGES 370 ; Unabridged (Amazon Hardcover)

-Digital: COPYRIGHT: (1/1/1994) March 17, 2009; PUBLISHER: William Morrow reprint edition; FILE SIZE: 1001 KB; Unabridged (info from: Amazon: Kindle edition)

*Audio: COPYRIGHT: 20 Jan 2005; PUBLISHER: Books in Motion; DURATION: 15 hrs (approx.); Unabridged (INFO FROM Libby, OC Public Libraries)

Feature Film or tv: Not that I’m aware of.

SERIES: Walker Family Mysteries, Book 1

CHARACTERS: (Not comprehensive)
Diana Ladd- Widowed mother of a 6 year old boy
Davy Ladd (Olhoni) – Diana’s son
Bone – Black and tan mutt – predominantly Irish Wolfhound
Iona Anne Dade – Diana’s mother
Max Cooper – Diana’s father
Andrew Carlisle – Convicted as accomplice in a rape and murder of a teenage Native American
Gina Antone – Young Tohono Oʼodham Native American
Rita Antone {Nana Dahd / Dancing Quail} – A Tohono Oʼodham Native American-Gina’s grandmother
Gabe Ortiz (AKA Gihg Tahpani {Fat Crack}) - Rita’s nephew
Juanita Ortiz – Rita’s sister
Looks At Nothing – Tohono Oʼodham Native American
Ron Mallory – Assistant Superintendent at a state prison in Florence Arizona
Brandon Walker – A Pima County homicide detective
Louella Walker – Brandon’s mother
Toby Walker – Brandon’s father

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
-SELECTION: Don and I had the pleasure of seeing the author, J.A. Jance, speak at a library luncheon where this book was brought to our attention as having been the first book published. (Now, how had I missed that?)

-ABOUT? When a young Native American woman is killed and the perpetrator is sent to prison for just 6 years and then released with the prison’s assistant superintendent commenting on his departure that, in his opinion, he should never have been imprisoned for such an act to begin with, we gain an understanding of the low social status of those in this Native American community; many of the Tohono Oʼodham Native American customs are also highlighted.

-LIKED: Great characters and insights into the lives of the Tohono Oʼodham Native Americans. Great plot.

-DISLIKED: Nothing comes to mind.

-OVERALL: I enjoyed becoming familiar with the good characters, and was anxious that they overcome the bad ones.

AUTHOR: J. A. (Judith Ann) Jance -- (born October 27, 1944) "J. A. Jance is the New York Times bestselling author of the J.P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, the Ali Reynolds series, and three interrelated thrillers. Born in South Dakota, and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, she lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona. – “About the Author (inside the digital version of this book)

NARRATOR: : Gene Engene -- "Gene Engene is an award-winning reader with an astounding catalog of audiobooks to his credit. He is best known as J.P. Beaumont in the J.A. Jance mystery series. Gene is a veteran stage actor, director, and is a retired Professor of Drama at Eastern Washington University." -- Books in Motion

GENRE:
Fiction; Literature, Thriller; Suspense

SUBJECTS: (Not comprehensive)
Papago Indian Community; Tohono Oʼodham Native Americans; Psychopaths; murder; suicide; Origin stories; Widows; small towns

LOCATIONS:
Arizona

TIME FRAME:
1943, 1963, 1967-1968, 1975

DEDICATION:
“To Bill, who brought us “the Bone,” and to Diana Conway wherever she is”

EXCERPT: (From Chapter 1)
“Davy Ladd scampered eagerly out of the room. Bone, black as a shadow and almost as big as his six-year-old owner, waited patiently outside the door. The two of them raced through the house looking for Rita. Davy was quiet about it, though. He didn’t shout or make too much noise. Rita had taught him better manners than that. Children were never to shout after their elders It wasn’t polite.
He found Rita in the backyard loading boxes laden with finely crafted handmade baskets into the bed of an old blue GMC. She stopped working long enough to wipe the running sweat from her wrinkled brown face.
“Well now, Olhoni,” she said, standing looking down on him with both hands folded over her faded apron. “What did your mother say?”
Only Rita called Davy Ladd by the name Olhoni, which, in Papago, means Maverick or Orphaned Calf. That name, the one he called his Indian name, was a jealously guarded secret shared by the boy and the old woman Not even Davy’s mother knew Rita called him that.
“I can go, Nana Dahd,” he told her breathlessly.
Dahd was Papago for “Godmother,” but the title was strictly honorary. Davy had never seen the inside of a church, and there had been no formal ceremony. Like her name for him, however, Nana Dahd was a form of address Davy used only when the two of them were alone together.
Davy clambered up into the truck. He helped shove the last box of baskets down the wooden floor of the short bed to where part of a livestock rack had been spot-welded to the outside wall of the cab. He held the boxes tightly while Rita used rope to lash them firmly in place.
“She says I can go to the feast too. Shall I wear my boots? Should I get a bedroll? Can Bone come?”
“Oh’o stays here,” Nana Dahd told him firmly. “Dogs don’t belong at feasts. Go get a jacket and a bedroll. Even with the fires, it may be cold at the dance. You’ll want to sleep before it’s over. I’ll fix lunch before we go.”
“Oh, no,” Davy replied seriously. “I won’t fall asleep. I promise. I want to stay up all night. Until the dance is over. Until the sun comes up.”
“Go now,” Rita urged, without raising her voice. That wasn’t necessary. The child did as he was told. He sometimes argued with his mother but never with Nana Dahd. Finished packing, Davy stowed his small canvas bag in the cab of the truck and then made his way into Nana Dahd’s room.
He found her busily patting a ball of soft white dough into a flat, round cake. When the dough was stretched thin enough, she dropped it into a vat of hot fat on the stove’s front burner. Within seconds, the dough puffed up and cooked to a golden brown. Meantime, Rita patted out another. Davy had often tried working the dough himself, but no matter what he did, the ball of dough remained just that—a stubborn ball of dough.
Davy hurried to his place at the bare wooden table, while Bone settled comfortably at his feet. Rita placed a mound of thick red chili on the popovers, folded them over, and brought them to the table on plates. In the center of the table sat a small bowl piled high with cooked broccoli. While Davy wrinkled his nose in disgust, Nana Dahd ladled a spoonful of broccoli onto his plate next to the steaming popover.
“You know I hate broccoli,” he said, reaching at once for the popover.
Rita was unmoved. “Eat your vegetables,” she said.
Davy nodded, but as soon as Rita turned her back, he slipped the broccoli under the table to a waiting and appreciative Bone. The dog liked everything—including broccoli.”

RATING:
4 stars

STARTED READING – FINISHED READING
6-23-2023 to 7-2-2023

My previous experiences with Jance: I have read all of the Joanna Brady series, which I mostly like because the characters are relatable and the setting is done so well. Unfortunately the plot can be stretched too far at times. I have tried the Ali Reynolds series and disliked it. I found the character less relatable, the stories even more far-fetched and the setting less textured. My only experience with the Beaumont series are where the books overlap with the Brady series, and I was disappointed by that flirtation. I didn't believe Brady would have participated in it.

So, when I discovered this short series I decided to give it a try. It is quite distinct from the others. Set almost 50 years ago, it has a grittier and more distinctive feel with respect to time. Also, it centers more on the native populations and even brings in bits of the culture and food. I was a big fan of that element in the storytelling. Jance includes a prelude to each chapter which includes a piece of Papago mythology which she uses to foreshadow the events of the chapter. I loved this, as it creates a rich sense of place, time, and culture. It connected me to the people.

Centering on the stories of two women, one older Native woman and one younger white woman, and the boy they both love. It is obvious from the start that they have a unique and caring relationship, and as the story progresses we get to know how complex the connection is. I believed their relationship. I hope they will be back in book two, but I doubt it.

The pacing of the story was a bit irregular. Slow in the first half and incredibly quick in the latter half. It is full of action, and will keep you turning the pages.

I'd ignored this first of her AZ-based series because it seemed neglected, probably pointless – there were only 2 or 3 when I started reading her, over a span of better than a dozen years. I'm now glad I did. This was way darker than expected, and that's not even taking into account a very rough ending. There isn't really much to the story (which in this case is a blessing), mostly just a few days of piecemeal progression until it takes over for the final 15-ish%. The rest is a mash of character development flashback from two cultures and Tohono O'odham legend, and set primarily on the Tohono O'odham Nation just west of Tucson. And that's very much its strength... it's seriously compelling material, at least for this guy who spent a year and change right next door. Really makes you wonder what the hell happened though: it's easily her best, head and shoulders above the two subsequent series.

Compelling read, otherwise I wouldn't have plowed through the horrendously bad typos in the last half or so. I can only think that the Kindle edition was created by OCR scanning the book and the type must have been smudged. Consistent weird stuff 'hi' instead of 'in', 'ban' instead of 'that'. Like I said, weird.

As a suspense novel, setting aside the crappy production values of a Bix Six publisher, it's fairly decent. The heroine acted stupid only occasionally, the hero didn't save the day, and the little snippets from Papago (native american) folktales were fun to read.

I'll give it a little extra for Best Sidekicks: An old Papago woman, a six-year-old boy, a blind medicine man, and a huge dog named Bone.

Normally I like Jance's books and have read several of hers set in Arizona so when I saw a free book offered for the Kindle I was excited. Yeah well, you get what you pay for. I didn't like this book at all. There were numerous typos (I guess from it being scanned), which I found very distracting. That would have been bearable had it not been for the subject matter. Jance spent too much time going back and forth between the story line and old legends. I don't mind legends, just not when they become distracting. As for the story, it was very grim and dark. Again normally I don't mind that too much, but I guess I wasn't expecting that from Jance. So the whole story just felt off to me.

I'm used to J.A. Jance's Sheriff Joanna Brady series, so this book was a pleasant surprise. Much rougher and edgier than the Joanna Brady series, Hour of the Hunter was a well-plotted, exciting book. A few minor issues -- the ending seemed to arise out of nowhere, very abrupt after the lead-up. And the final punishment for the criminal wasn't nearly harsh enough. All the same, a nice change from Jance's series.

If you liked this book, particularly the native American references, you'll love Tony Hellerman's series.

Yuck!!!I was expecting a story and characters along the line of Joanna Brady or J.P. Beaumont, instead was presented with an imitation of a Tony Hillerman novel without likable characters like Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn...I do like the native American mythology woven in throughout the story...it did pick up and the characters became fleshed out a little more and became more sympathetic...I will continue the series because the earlier Yuck!!!has become an Okay!!!

Sheriff Brandon Walker, while trying to catch a serial killer, another tragedy brings him in contact with a woman he’d loved years ago but couldn’t be with. Hour of the Hunter has many plots and all of them work well together. What I especially liked was the use of American Indians stories to make transitions.
Gene Eugene did okay as narrator.

Of the four series written by JA Jance, this is my least favorite.

I have all three in hardback, though...

Love her writing but the story was so creepy and the fact that it takes place near where I live was even creepier! But of course I'm reading the next one in this series. :-)