Talking God (audiobook) by Tony Hillerman











Originally published in 1989.
Read by John MacDonald
Duration: 6 hours, 35 minutes
Unabridged
Talking God is good, but not the typical Tony Hillerman book. Rather than being based in the Four Corners area, this one mostly takes place in Washington, D.C.

Navajo Tribal Police Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee investigate a body found in Gallup, New Mex
Tony Hillerman
(1925-2008)
ico. Some digging into the case discovers a trail that leads to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. and Navajo artifacts that are on display there.

It is interesting to see D.C. through Navajo eyes, but we do spend a lot of time in the mind of the bad guy as well, which is to the detriment of the story in my mind.

Chee's personal life features prominently as he re-connects with his on again-off again love interest Janet Pete, who is now an attorney in D.C. Leaphorn's painful loneliness and a general feeling of loss pervades throughout the book.

I would have rated the book as four stars, but I am reviewing the audiobook. My audiobook was read by John MacDonald and I cannot think of a worse pairing than MacDonald's voice and Hillerman's writing. It's not that MacDonald isn't clear - he's easy to understand. But, his voice sounds like Eastern establishment, not Western. This audiobook lasted about 6 hours and 35 minutes.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on May 2, 2008.

Note:  a new audiobook version of Talking God has been released with a different reader. I have not listened to the new version, but this book deserved another chance. This link leads to the new audiobook on Amazon.com because I cannot find a link to the edition that I listened to. 

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