Book review: 'The Ravenstone Chronicle' by J. Harper Haines offers plenty of action, but a fleshed-out cast of characters forms the heart of this compelling new thriller set in Alaska.
“Sam was seven years old when his Athabascan uncle, Redshirt, first showed him the Ravenstone,” author J. Harper Haines writes in the opening paragraph of her novel “The Ravenstone Chronicle.” “A feather design had been carved on both sides of a flat piece of black whale Bayleen. It was about four inches long. The dark red eyes looked like garnets and Sam thought they were from Wrangell near Juneau where a lot of garnets were found on the beach.
It occurs early enough in the book to offer this spoiler: Herb is the victim of the efforts of the three Alaska Native men who are in Goldspring to find the Ravenstone. Hired by Carl Clyne, a shady art dealer with galleries in Seattle and Anchorage who wants the invaluable object for his collection, the trio fails to locate the amulet, so of course they’ll be coming back.
Haines has taken some liberties with Alaska in composing this book. Goldspring lies a couple of hours up the Steese Highway from Fairbanks. Accessible by car, train and plane , it’s not clearly patterned on any actual town in the Interior, but it allows Haines to create something of a Koyukon hub. There the modern conveniences that Alaskans take for granted but village residents generally don’t are readily available.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Utah district bans Bible in elementary and middle schools 'due to vulgarity or violence'The Good Book is being treated like a bad book in Utah.
Read more »
Utah district bans Bible in elementary and middle schools 'due to vulgarity or violence'The Good Book is being treated like a bad book in Utah.
Read more »
Utah district bans Bible in elementary and middle schools 'due to vulgarity or violence'The Good Book is being treated like a bad book in Utah.
Read more »
Utah district bans Bible in elementary and middle schools 'due to vulgarity or violence'The Good Book is being treated like a bad book in Utah.
Read more »
A Genetic Chronicle of the First Peoples in the Americas“As you read this genetic chronicle, please do not lose sight of the dignity of the human beings who lived this history and the rich complexity of individual existences that are lost in the telling.”
Read more »
The Book Ban Debate Came to This Surprising U.S. TownThe vote was in Connecticut. And not only that, it was in Newtown, a town whose very name is an horrific reminder that a single AR-15 is more of a threat to children than all the books in the world.
Read more »