Book Review: A Town Called Why, Rick Lenz
Thriller/Mystery: A Town Called Why, Rick Lenz
In the new novel A Town Called Why, Rick Lenz combines genres into an action-packed thriller/mystery/fantasy/literary fiction story that takes a deep look at some of the realities of being Native American in modern Arizona.
Frank Gaines is a police detective in Arizona. Half Apache, half white, he is a friendly man and a solid detective. He is, however, not convinced of his own bravery. Yes, he has done things described as “brave,” especially in the line of duty. He is unsure whether those things count. After all, he only did what was required by the circumstances. Is that bravery, or is it something else?
To help him sort this out, and to help him understand his ancestry better, he is seeing Sunny Kacheenay, an Apache therapist in his town. Sunny is very close to her grandmother, Shana, who is deeply connected to the old ways. Sunny is also seeing non-Indian clients, and keeps an office in a building owned by Jason Flint, an unpleasant and unscrupulous businessman.
The stories of these characters flow in and around each other. Flint is using a racist law to seize lands belonging to Apache. A relative of Gaines commits suicide: and in the Apache tradition, Gaines is obligated to seek out the person whose actions caused the suicide and execute him for the murder of his relative. This, of course, would be an awkward thing for a cop to do. Geneva Wright, a client of Kacheenay and sort of girlfriend to Flint, struggles with her own identity and her love/hate relationship with Flint. And in the midst of all of this, two characters–the deceased child of Sunny Kacheenay and a wolf who may or may not be that same child in another form–visit the dreams of Gaines and the visions of Shana.
The book is set in the backdrop of a culture that has overwhelmed, oppressed, and still failed to extinguish the Apache people. Although the Apache of 200 years ago might not grasp the technology and the language of today, their modern descendants continue to fight for their culture and traditions. It’s fair to say that the laws and treaties of the US and Arizona do not give any advantages to the Apache, Hopi, Navajo, or other tribes in the area. It’s even more accurate to say that on the rare occasions when the laws do favor the native tribes, many whites simply ignore them or break them without hesitation.
Apache, like anyone else, become cops and therapists, criminals and artisans, athletes and doctors and truck drivers and pilots and soldiers and all of the other jobs and professions of modern America. They often do so, however, informed by the heritage and stories of their ancestors. Sometimes their work is informed by their education and training. Sometimes, perhaps, they are assisted by the occasional mystical wolf that visits their sleeping and waking dreams.
Our thanks to Reedsy for our copy of A Town Called Why, provided so we could review it for the book’s publication in April, 2023.
Book Review: A Town Called Why, Rick Lenz