Snake Eyes

Seattle PI John Denson (who never met a piece of bacon he didn't like) and his partner, Cowlitz Indian William Prettybird (who never met a mushroom he didn't like) find themselves in Enterprise, Ore., combatting an outbreak of anthrax, better known as hoof-and-mouth disease. They have been hired by the lawyer of Monty Hook, an outspoken anti-environmentalist rancher whose cattle have inexplicably become infected. Meanwhile, the odious Reverend Thaddeus Hamm Bonnerton, a right-wing preacher who spices his rants with environmentalist frenzy (e.g., proclaiming the hole in the ozone punishment for the sins of livestock farmers), is back in town for a revival meeting and for his high-school reunion. Cows die, people are murdered and Denson and Prettybird have to sort it all out--Denson employing the chat-and-chew method while Prettybird relies on hallucinogenic encounters with his beloved animal people. It's hard not to like the two detectives, and Hoyt (Red Card) is observant and funny writing from Denton's point of view. But, with a dearth of truly viable suspects, Hoyt needs either more satire or more suspense to carry his weak plot. (Dec.)