Karen Kay Red Hawk's Woman

Red Hawk's Woman

Karen Kay

Berkley, Jun 2007, $7.99

ISBN: 0425216039

The Lost Clan tribal bands are cursed to live in the ephemeral realm between life and death because their ancestors killed four of Thunderer's children. Two days a year the Chosen One will live on the mortal plane as he is the tribe's only hope for them to escape the curse, but the crosser must perform a heroic sacrificial deed by the time he is thirty or the tribe remains locked in the shadows.

In 1848 during one of his trips onto the mortal plane the least likely Chosen One Red Hawk meets and is attracted to Effie Rutledge, but though time runs out on these two youngsters, neither forgot the other. Effie, a daughter of an archeologist, has made it her life's work to find four artifacts that she believes will free the Lost Clan and bring back Red Hawk to her. In 1866 Effie and Red Hawk meet again though she does not recognize the adult him as the star of her dreams. He panics as his time for being a hero is almost gone, which means never again seeing his beloved Effie. Together they search for a way for Red Hawk to complete his quest on time even as the gods try to prevent him from achieving his goal.

Moving on into the second half of the nineteenth century, Karen Kay keeps fresh her delightful Indian romantic fantasy even as the premise remains the same as the previous stories in her saga (see THE SPIRIT OF THE WOLF and THE ANGEL AND THE WARRIOR). Red Hawk is a strong protagonist tasting failure as his clock is running out yet also feels optimistic due to Effie although he also knows he may have give up love to save his Lost Clan. His desperation Hail Mary with his beloved assisting and keeping him safe from the wrath of Thunder makes for an entertaining tale.

Harriet Klausner