Bone Game

Owens, who teaches English at the University of New Mexico, takes a second turn at fiction in this sequel to The Sharpest Sight, a tense blend of fantasy and mystery centering on American Indian lore. Relying on his own Choctaw heritage, the author tells the story of Cole McCurtain, whose life is coming apart at the seams. Cole no longer enjoys teaching American Indian Studies at UC-Santa Cruz. He drinks a lot, eats little and sorely misses his daughter, who's living with his divorced wife (to whom he owes substantial alimony). To top it off, he can't sleep because his dreams are haunted by images of a mysterious, malevolent Indian gambler. Matters turn dramatically worse when someone starts murdering female students. Are the killings somehow related to Cole's nightmares? To his dismay, it appears that it is his destiny to face the gambler and to solve the slayings. At first he is aided by his only friend at Santa Cruz, a transvestite Navajo. But soon Cole's daughter arrives, then his Choctaw family, and together they confront a centuries-old evil force that was unleashed by Spanish missionaries' cruel treatment of Native Americans. Owens expertly mixes genres and blends in generous amounts of Native American history. To his credit, he also leavens his grim but gripping tale with substantial humor. (Oct.)