Fear of Landing
An Abner Dueck Mystery
David Waltner-Toews
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-349-3 (1590583493)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-349-4 (9781590583494)
Publication Date: June 2007
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): On the islands of Java and Bali in the early 1980s,
Western governments are pouring millions of dollars into development
schemes even as Indonesian strongman President Suharto violently
stifles dissent.
For Canadian veterinarian Abner Dueck, the "spice islands" are an
exotic locale for the seemingly mundane work of examining dead cows and
working with old friends. Dueck's life changes abruptly when some of
the cows die under mysterious circumstances, and he meets a mysterious
young Chinese woman; soon after, two of his friends-one Canadian and
one Indonesian-are murdered.
Mennonite Dueck marshalls the energy to battle Indonesian politics and
the attempts of local businessmen, military rulers, and international
"advisors" to manipulate development projects to their own ends.
And to unravel the mysterious deaths of both cattle and people, Dueck
must first understand the long shadow that the 1966 massacres cast on
Indonesian life, as well as the complexities of their music, and the
demands and intrigues of love and conspiracy, death and mystery, and of
course, cultural heritage and personal identity.
Review: Fear of Landing,
by David Waltner-Toews, introduces Abner Dueck, a 35-year-old Canadian
large-animal veterinarian, who volunteers to go to Indonesia as a
disease investigator for farm animals. What he finds on the beautiful
“Spice Islands” are American cows mysteriously dropping
dead at odd times and seemingly for no reason. There is a total
breakdown of the Indonesian politics, he is told, since the 1966
massacres. The country's rulers, or lack thereof, play an important
part in the cattle mystery, plus in the death of two of his friends,
one Canadian and one Indonesian.
Abner, unlike the multitudes of the people in Indonesia, lives in
splendor. He has a car, and his own home with living room, kitchen,
bedroom and bath. He makes friends very quickly and trusts everyone.
When he does an autopsy on a recently deceased cow, his life becomes
endangered. He is not permitted to do that again for fear he would know
what and possibly who are killing the cows. He must challenge the
attempts of the local merchants to manipulate the diseased cows for
their own benefits. He meets and falls in love with a mysterious
Chinese girl. The Chinese are not welcome in Indonesia because they are
perceived to have too much money and power. When his friend from Canada
is killed, he rushes to a fellow veterinarian for help and advice, only
to find that he too has been killed also. He goes to the police who say
nothing except that his visa has expired and he must be out of the
country in five days. In those five days, Abner searches and finds the
answers he needs.
Fear of Landing is a
book with might and magnetism. The narrative up to and including the
solution to the deaths of both the men and the cows is dynamic. Abner
Dueck is a wonderful, complex character and, with the combination of
exotic locales where he can practice his profession, this promises to
be a very intriguing mystery series.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Fear of Landing and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
Fear of Landing
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), June 2007
ISBN-10: 1-59058-349-3 (1590583493)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-349-4 (9781590583494)
Omnimystery keywords for Fear of Landing ...
Location(s) referenced: Indonesia.
