319 pages of excellent storytelling, without sex or excess violence. The main character is a small-town newspaper worker from Colorado who is suddenly thrust into the final days of the Vietnam war by his dead brother. Moon Mathias is a Vietnam veteran who has his life back in order, or so he thinks, until a telephone call that lets him know his brother, who was running a charter helicopter service in Vietnam, is dead. Things go from bad-to-worse for Moon. He finds out his brother has a child that he left behind in Cambodia. Moon's mother, who wants to see the grandchild she has never met, has a severe heart attack and is hospitalized. Moon is off on an unplanned journey halfway around the world, from Colorado to The Philippines, to Vietnam in its chaotic end of the war days, and into Cambodia where the Khmer Rouge are rampaging. Into international danger, intrigue and mystery. The locations he visits and the people he meets are all vividly painted by Hillerman as beautifully as in his Navajo mysteries. Get out a good world atlas to follow the action and really immerse yourself into this story.
Moon is a man who sees himself as sort of a "loser". He had a brother who was more likeable, more successful and more admirable. That brother is now dead. He suddenly has the task to find a niece no one knew about who is somewhere in southeast Asia at the time the area was literally collapsing with the Communists winning.I began reading this book because I needed a mystery/suspense novel set in Vietnam for a UN book challenge.The suspense aspect was there because while everyone else around them were fleeing frantically OUT OF Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, Moon and his companions were blindly going in-country. The believable aspect of this endeavor was just was not there for me. I also was expecting more of Hillerman's beautiful prose. Although it is a novel self-discovery I finished the book somewhat unsatisfied.
What do You think about Finding Moon (1996)?
This is a tony Hillerman that's not about Southwest Indians. It's set in Vietnam, Cambodia and SE Asia at the time of the fall of Saigon. Like his other books his male main characters are sort of the opposite of studly heroes. They have personal doubts - particularly about their success with women - they are doing things out of loyalty, and even in a war zone do not solve every confrontation with a gun, knife, or broken chair leg. It reminds me that Hillerman is a good story teller and it's nice escapist literature, particularly if you remember the days that Saigon fell.
—Cathy
This was the only one of my friend and mentor Tony's books I hadn't read. I wish I'd found the time to read it while he was still living. I didn't even know Tony had served in Viet Nam. Finding Moon is loosely based on his experiences there, and Moon is loosely based on Tony. It's an exciting, suspenseful read, and one of those great books you won't want to put down until you've finished it. I highly recommend it.Karen Mabry Ricehttp://karenmrice.weebly.com/Author of Ghost WalkSoon available from4rv Publishing, LLC http://www.4rvpublishing.com/
—Karenrice Rice
Surprised by the South Asian location, instead of the American desert, but still enjoyed Hillerman's storytelling.Moon Mathias has an assignment that turns to three needles in a giant dangerous haystack. He must find his baby niece, an urn containing bones (or is it drugs?) and the would be martyr brother of the beautiful and sophisticated folk art buyer that wants Moon to continue his late brothers work. He really doesn't want any of these assignments but he feels obligated to live up to the mythical status his late brother bestowed on him. His own take on his life is that he has been a disappointment and failure, especially to his mother and this is his last chance to prove otherwise.
—Cheryl
