SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDGAR AWARD FOR FIRST NOVEL
“Winter Counts is a marvel. It’s a thriller with a beating heart and jagged teeth.” —Tommy Orange, author of There There
A Best Book of 2020: NPR * Publishers Weekly * Library Journal * CrimeReads * Goodreads * Sun Sentinel * SheReads * MysteryPeople
A groundbreaking thriller about a vigilante on a Native American reservation who embarks on a …
A groundbreaking thriller about a vigilante on a Native American reservation who embarks on a dangerous mission to track down the source of a heroin influx.
Virgil Wounded Horse is the local enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. When justice is denied by the American legal system or the tribal council, Virgil is hired to deliver his own punishment, the kind that’s hard to forget. But when heroin makes its way into the reservation and finds Virgil’s nephew, his vigilantism suddenly becomes personal. He enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend and sets out to learn where the drugs are coming from, and how to make them stop.
They follow a lead to Denver and find that drug cartels are rapidly expanding and forming new and terrifying alliances. And back on the reservation, a new tribal council initiative raises uncomfortable questions about money and power. As Virgil starts to link the pieces together, he must face his own demons and reclaim his Native identity. He realizes that being a Native American in the twenty-first century comes at an incredible cost.
Winter Counts is a tour-de-force of crime fiction, a bracingly honest look at a long-ignored part of American life, and a twisting, turning story that’s as deeply rendered as it is thrilling.
Winner, Spur Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and Best First Novel * Winner, Lefty Award for Best Debut Mystery Novel * Shortlisted, Best First Novel, Bouchercon Anthony Awards * Shortlisted, Best First Novel, International Thriller Writers * Shortlisted, Dashiell Hammett Prize for Literary Excellence in Crime Writing, International Association of Crime Writers * Longlisted, VCU Cabell First Novel Award * Shortlisted, Barry Award for Best First Novel * Shortlisted, Reading the West Award * Shortlisted, Colorado Book Award (Thriller)
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Based on some Bookstagrammer’s chat, I quickly snagged this one on audiobook.
What I loved:
Virgil is a local vigilante enforcer, paid to give justice for those that aren’t given it by the legal system.
The BIPOC representation. This book took place on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, so nearly all the characters were Native American.
Some big topics were discussed regarding Native Americans and the unique struggles that they face
I loved hearing about some of the Lakota traditions and beliefs
Great pacing; it kept my attention from beginning to end
What I didn’t love:
This marketed as a thriller but I didn’t feel much of that until toward the very end. I craved a bit more dramatic twists in the middle for a true thriller
: I loved the narrator casting for this book. The narrator had was sounded like a Native American accent, which really brought Virgil and his story to life. He was easy to listen to, even sped up.
Learned a bit about an not-well-known sector of American life. Pretty good mystery!
“Winter Counts;” the title says it all. Winter counts are the yearly calendars that Virgil Wounded Horse and family make, complete with a “theme” or description of the year and drawings to accompany the calendar. This year would be Virgil’s “Winter of Sorrow.” Virgil is somewhat of a fixer, a vigilante on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. When the usual avenues for justice on the reservation fail, he delivers justice in a different way. Things become complicated for him when his nephew becomes involved with heroin. The federal legal system uses and abuses the family, and Virgil struggles to save himself, his nephew, and the way of life as he knows it.
The strength of this novel is the culture that it reflects. The Lakota Nation is the main character of the book. The culture, heritage, ceremonies, beliefs and way of life are the foundation of the story. As the secondary account of drug abuse on the reservation unfolds, the escapades of the fictional characters reflect actual economic struggles and cultural pressures.
“Winter Counts” by David Heska Wanbli Weiden is a murky web of crime, financial impropriety, and above all deception. Virgil Wounded Horse is a troubled and complex character, and he drives the plot. In the end, the story is about these specific people on this specific trip. The book is a little formulaic at times, but the overall narrative is compelling, entertaining, and educational.
Great book well worth your time to read.
Living in NM most of my life, I have been exposed to Pueblo culture and have always been interested in Native American Culture. This book is about the plains indians, which I’m not as familiar with. The reservation situation is the same though. I won’t go into politics here and keep my review about the story. It was very good and had an unpredictable ending, but something was lacking for me to call it fantastic. Definitely worth reading though.
Based mostly in South Dakota on a reservation. This one easily kept my attention and informed me and showed me a part of American personally have not experienced. I Love it, you will too.
It’s a story that takes place on an Indian reservation in SD and deals with a teenager who gets on drugs, his uncle who tries to protect him, and a lot of deceitful people throughout the story.
A unvarnished glimpse into reservation life by an unlikely hero.
Really hoping to get more stories about this character! Winter Counts was dark and poignant, brining to the fore long standing issues experienced by Native communities. While serious, there were some really funny moments in this book as well.
Very authentic depiction of a “profession” I knew nothing about. Likeable and sympathetic characters.
This is an entertaining, well-written, informative, crime thriller, with likable engaging characters. It is a real page turner with mystery, intrigue and suspense. The Native American culture and spirituality are vividly depicted, and an integral part of this outstanding novel. I can almost hear the drums and practically taste the fry bread.
After his nephew, Nathan, overdoses on heroin, Virgil Wounded Horse sets to the task of tracking down drug dealer Rick Crow and ending the illegal trafficking of drugs on the Lakota reservation. Virgil is a man used to taking the law into own his hands, working as a freelance enforcer to deliver justice where the police can not or will not. What he’s not prepared for, though, are the complications involved in tracking down a drug gang, especially as Nathan’s troubles begin to multiply and he learns of the FBI’s involvement.
Winter Counts is a solid mystery, albeit a rather generic one, but one’s that is enhanced by its uncommon protagonist and its authentic exploration of Native American culture. David Heska Wanbli Weiden’s debut feels, at times, like a flip-side to David Joy’s August release, When These Mountains Burn, which also dealt, in part, with the opioid epidemic funneling through a Native American community. Where Joy’s book dealt with the trafficking of drugs through a reservation and out into the wider Appalachian region, Weiden’s is firmly entrenched in Indian life and the struggles of reservation living.
Weiden does a superb job exploring, and educating readers on, the tension that exists between Native American reservations and the United States government, and the various ways in which the latter turns a blind eye to the former. Federal law enforcement is charged with prosecuting all federal crimes on reservations, but never bother with anything short of murder or going after a foreign drug cartel that would win the FBI major news coverage. By law, tribal police are prohibited from handling felonies and can only prosecute misdemeanor offenses in tribal court. Crimes like rape, pedophilia, assault and battery, thefts – that’s where Virgil steps in.
Virgil Wounded Horse, however, is a man at odds with his own culture. The ceremonies and beliefs of his tribe couldn’t save his father’s life and, in fact, cost him the chance to be able to say goodbye to the man on his deathbed. Externally, he’s sworn off much of his Lakotan heritage and is an outsider for all intents and purposes, something that is only further complicated by his willingness to use violence to exact justice. He’s seen as a traitor by some, and little more than a paid thug by others. Internally, though, Weiden explores a man who is also deeply appreciative of Lakotan culture and wants it to be respected, not only by his fellow tribespeople, but by society at large, particularly in the news and media.
Weiden does an excellent job establishing all these various tensions and turning Winter Counts into a propulsive and supremely interesting, not to mention edifying, read. The only real complaint I have about it, though, is that in terms of the central mystery itself, there’s little in the way of new ground being broken here. While the perspectives and voices explored are wonderfully fresh, experienced genre readers will likely have answered a number of the core questions posted by Virgil’s investigations well before the climax, and Weiden’s red herrings all but have arrows with flashing lights around them. By the time Weiden makes a play for the grand reveal, there’s little surprise to be had.
As a mystery, Winter Counts falls a bit short, but where it really excels is in its exploration of Native American life and culture in the 21st Century, as written by a member of the Sicangu Lakota nation. In that regard, it’s a vital addition to the genre, giving us a fresh perspective on an under-appreciated culture from an OwnVoices author. I’m eager to see where Weiden takes Virgil next, and I’m looking forward to more of his commentary on life on the rez and in America.
Hands-down one of my favorite reads of the last couple of years. Winter Counts is a taut, tense, page turner of a mystery that’s impossible to put down. Excellent writing and an understated, dry humor that I absolutely adored make for a truly immersive read that’s so grounded in the setting that you’ll feel like you were there. The pace hums along without a single word wasted, no sentence out of place or clunky.
Each of the characters, from the sympathetic though hugely complicated protagonist to the love-to-hate villains, are rounded out with depth and backstory to bring the tale to life. Deep point of view anchors us intimately in the lead’s perspective. Speaking of backstory, it’s handled with such a deft hand that reading background material is almost like getting extra story-in-story and a delight to encounter. There’s a romantic subplot that seamlessly executed and fits logically into the main storyline without feeling forced or awkward. Basically, I loved every single thing about this story and would recommend it to anyone searching for their next stellar read.
In this fast-paced mystery, David Heska Wanbli Weiden paints a vivid and sometimes brutal picture of the life and injustices suffered by the modern Lakota people. Virgil Wounded Horse struggles with his own heritage and history while fighting to protect his nephew and his community. Come for the action. Stay for the depth.
Beautifully narrated by Darrell Dennis.
October 5, 2020
Excellent!
Great start to a series? I can only hope! Wonderful characters that you get to care a lot about, getting caught up in a tangled mess. The solving of which is edge of your seat, read Faster(!) great!
This may be one of the best books I’ve read this year! And it’s a debut! Can’t wait for his next work.
Virgil is a fully fleshed-out character, his losses and grief, along with his victories and growth. If this were to become a series (I think it would work well as a series, and with the excellent reception the novel has received I think there is a chance of that occurring), I hope to see more of Nathan, and hopefully learn about Aunt Audry. We don’t actually hear anything about her, but I think the only remaining family Virgil and Nathan have (and the only woman family member) would be an excellent character.
Recommended for fans of character-driven mysteries and gritty crime fiction.
One issue I have with the book is that there is a brief mention where chronic pain patients are lumped in with drug abusers. Not true, ableist, and harmful to chronic pain patients and other disabled people. Finished the book and read the acknowledgments section, where the author states he relied on Dreamland for his information about opioids and heroin distribution systems. I never read Dreamland because I heard that it’s ableist and stigmatizing of chronic pain patients. Checkout the Goodreads 1 and 2 star reviews if you want more information.
As this has come up, I’m going to note that for really fantastic disabled representation, I highly recommend Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong, and Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig. If you run out and buy/borrow Dreamland please also read these two books. Even if you don’t, please read these books. Also read Haben by Haben Girma and The Pretty One by Keah Brown.
Content Warnings SPOILERS for Winter Counts:
suicidal thoughts; mention of past successful suicides; racism; xenophobia; rape; pedophilia; ableism (chronic pain patients lumped in with drug abusers); drug use/overdosing on heroin; child death.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions in this review are honest and my own. #WinterCounts #mystery #OwnVoices
Gritty and true to contemporary life on many rural tribal reservations.
cultural-exploration, history-and-culture, reservation, thugs, drugs-issues, suspense, violence, Lakota, crime-fiction, criminal-injustice-system
Life on the rez is hard. Harder than other small town life, but the encroaching drug problems are there, too. Even though my people come from Europe, I can still be outraged by the way The People have been and still are betrayed by the governments of North America as highlighted in this novel. The tough guy/protagonist is a wonder and he tells some very uncomfortable truths about the treatment of non-whites by law enforcement, especially the Feds. But you should have known that already from reading in the media about the crimes against Native women, especially but not only the Cree. The book is written tightly and with an intensity that kept me reading with as few interruptions as possible despite my discomfort with some graphic parts. There are many good things, too, like descriptions of the moral codes and rituals of the Lakota. Excellent!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from HarperCollins Publishers/Ecco via NetGalley. Thank you!
The full-throttle, can’t-put-it-downness of this novel is a fact. Winter Counts is a hell of a gripping debut, perfectly plotted; David Heska Wanbli Weiden is a major new voice in crime fiction, indigenous fiction, and American literature.