Excellent. WELL WORTH READING.

Holy Moly. What a ride! I haven’t read anything quite like this series before and I absolutely loved it. Written by BB Griffith, an author that I can’t believe I’ve only just discovered, the Vanished series grabbed me from page one. Beginning with Follow The Crow, book one introduces Navajo cop, Ben Dejooli. Six years ago his younger sister disappeared. His best friend, Joey Flatwood is involved in the mystery surrounding her death, but after refusing to reveal anything, is banished from the Navajo tribe. Now crows are following Ben and he knows things won’t end well for him.

I read this entire series in succession. Usually I take a break between books in a series, but as soon as I finished Follow the Crow, I hopped straight onto the next. How could I not? Between the love triangle, Navajo culture, talking crows and those nasty realm-jumping creeps in suits, there was no chance of me waiting to find out what happened next. There’s a lot to love in this series. Griffiths characters read as real, flawed people that had me rooting for them within the first few pages. The backdrop of Navajo culture and traditions is absolutely fascinating, especially for this white Irish lass, and I loved how Griffiths wove it so effortlessly throughout the story. The supernatural world Ben finds himself in is another well-blended element of the series. As fantastical as it is, it never felt too far-fetched.

Tension is at a constant simmer from page one in this series. There’s a whiff of mystery and superstition hovering the whole time, especially when the crows appear. (I now find myself pausing whenever I see crows gathering in my own neighbourhood. Gulp)

First person is not my favourite perspective, but Griffiths does it masterfully and with each of the characters taking it in turn to narrate the chapters, it kept the story fresh and me fully engaged. The love triangle between Ben, Caroline and Owen is so good. No spoilers, but I got the ending I hoped for.

Overall, a really different and gripping read. I’ll definitely be reading more from this author and am delighted to have found him. Five stars for the lot!

Griffith starts this series out in the style of Hillerman. Gripping, believable, and balanced. A good amount of research is reflected in the story and characters, enough that these characters might join the Leaphorn and Chee club.
Writing about First Angry is a daunting task; legend and tradition tell us that capturing him is not a challenge humans are up to, even if we steal his warnings. With the changing of the Keeper the story slows and loses the energy it started with. But, maybe this is just the work of the Trickster?

I found the story interesting and full of suspense but I had two issues with the books. First the writer writes all of the characters from a first person point of view, which is fine if the character voice is unique and compelling and easily identifiable as that particular character and I feel like the author missed the mark on that. All the characters read pretty much the same to me and I found that really frustrating. The second issue I have is that the book is based in Navajo culture and religion and a lot of the setting takes place on the Navajo reservation. Only one primary character is Navajo and the other three seem like "the great white hope" to swoop in and save the day and I find that really problematic.

Side by side

I love the way the magic and the spirituality in these books exists side by side with the mundane everyday lives of the characters. I lived in the general area, northern Arizona, when I was a child. Those landscapes and people still live in my heart, just the way they live in the books, and magic lives and breathes through them.