This is an absolutely beautiful book. It is moving and lovely, and I highly recommend it. Genuinely a wonderful read.

This book was so good! The author has written a captivating and thrilling novel. It is a page turner and I finished it in one night. The story and characters will keep you hooked. I loved getting a deep dive into Virgil and life on the reservation. I've been through South Dakota a few times and lived in Colorado and was interested in googling locations and details as I came across them in the story.

I am a mood reader and have a physical copy of this book. When the mood strikes I know I’ll be reading this and I am looking forward to that. I will update my review then.

Is a gorgeous examination of indigenous life and the way that indigenous culture weaves into the modern world. This book had me on my toes, the ending made me weep for the main character and the way that the story played out. You have to read this book!!!

Wow. This book was greatly enjoyable. I really enjoyed the characters, and the story/pacing/plot was also very good. I can't wait for more from David Heska Wanbli Weiden. #WinterCounts #NetGalley

Slow start but by the midpoint, I couldn't put this book down! The main character really grows on your throughout the book and while I didn't trust his judgement at the beginning, but the end I was ready jump in by his side! I think the entire plot line, setting, and characters were very illuminated and make me hope for more from this author. This book has also inspired me to seek out more Native authors.

Winter Counts is a marvelous crime fiction about a vigilante enforcer from the Rosebud Indian Reservation going after a drug cartel bringing heroin into the reservation. I loved how the author introduced lesser known legal issues with Native Americans and showed their impact. The reservation and the people were realistic in their portrayal. Virgil is a well-developed character and I loved his relationship with his nephew.

This is a Brulé Lakota Winter Count:
<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhduaK5nbYzKs2gJyFHbov7eRI1P6NcJEzzeT3l6v65hEBKIGXH07pVAZd28WTx4X6RdUNVfYZefBdzV03NFZg9CmaDyKDhx0Hu5DfGyT6SfuQI-fu8_BBJgn7c80qUjelSjIP6PfqbjaWqZaug3nFN9yas9Ig0IFaYdjlhKl8aOcO83B4b2EmMmv_9GQ=s400">
This cultural tradition, extremely briefly summarized in a Wikipedia article, organizes this novel’s ideas. Virgil Wounded Horse, our aptly and prophetically named vigilante-cum-enforcer hero in this thriller, touches on this fascinating piece of (half) his ancestry’s sense of time and place often enough to make the title of the book emerge organically in the reader’s mind. Virgil muses at one point, “Winter counts were the calendar system used by the Lakota, but they weren't like modern ones. I'd loved the little pictures in the calendars, each image showing the most significant event from the past year.” He muses again, at a later point, “Winter counts. This was the winter of my sorrow, one I had tried to elude but which had come for me with a terrible cruelty.” I think both are ideas of how he, his world, and his sense of self, are in motion at all times. It makes his entire life spent in action make sense…he’s not a Lakota insider, like ex-girlfriend Marie Short Bear, whose ancestry is flawlessly pureblood and perfectly in tune with the power structure within the Rosebud Reservation. He’s not an insider in the white world, either, being a mixed-race outcast from its racist system. It’s been a blessing in that any curse can be turned into an advantage if you’re looking for a way to do it. He’s got a place enforcing justice outside white and Native American legal systems, as required.

What this means is that the character is perfect for a thriller that needs telling to get people to care about the problems heaped on Outsiders, Othered people, by all systems of government. The tribal justice system (arguably distorted by its necessary accommodation to white codes) as much as any other. Virgil is outside, and that is the perfect place to be when the upper echelon needs something done that won’t “look good.” The value of face, of taking things at face value, is something white people with our media obsession have raised to virtual apotheosis; it’s far from untrue of other cultures, however. Marie Little Bear’s tribal leadership position means he can’t directly do the effective thing against the drug cartels hooking Native kids on heroin, with the well-known tragic consequences.

Had the plague not touched Virgil’s nephew, hard, he wouldn’t have agreed to take on the violent and greedy and frankly evil people. But when it’s family, things look different, don’t they. What happens on the reservation has its roots in the not-distant city of Denver. Marie and Virgil set out to confront the ills of their corner of the world by going outside that corner, by bearding the lion in his den, and they are not surprisingly at some disadvantages there. It is as revealing to consider their troubles and issues within the white world of Denver as to examine the world of the reservation in promotion, tolerance, and perpetuation of toxic social maladjustment.

I’m impressed by the way this thriller uses its author’s straddled worlds…he’s Lakota and teaches Native American Studies at the Metropolitan State College of Denver, so clearly he’s quite adept at code-switching…as a full and integrated world for Virgil Wounded Horse. We’re not expected to see Virgil as a man out of place in two worlds, we’re expected to see a man discovering his place in his own world. It is a fine distinction, but an important one. Virgil is an outsider in each of those large, obvious social constructs. He is making his own world, one in which he is the norm, as in the end that is what we all must do to “fit in.” Where the world doesn’t have a place for you, make one.

That is the gift of this read to the reader. Join Virgil Wounded Horse in his thrilling world.

This was a great debut and an introduction for me into Native American fiction. This book was very intriguing and had me hooked from the beginning. My pulse was racing by the ending!

Excellent novel! I was hooked from beginning to end and shocked when the whodunnit was revealed. Not only was the mystery intriguing, but the reflections on native identity, reservation life, and the abuse suffered at the hands of the United States were powerful and somber. I'm thankful this book exists.

Winter Counts is one of my new favorite recommendations. Own voices Indigenous novels are fantastic on their own, but adding the crime element was even better.

**I received a complimentary copy of this via NetGalley**

As someone who has lived in South Dakota their entire life, a lot of the background information provided in was very familiar to me. For those unfamiliar, I hope they learn from the author and continue reading more about this area when the book is done.

Now, on the the book itself. While this wasn’t a ‘page-turner’, it was very well written. Virgil’s pain felt very raw and real. I very much recommend this book and hope to read more novels by this author in the future.

I had heard the buzz about Winter Counts, and as a fan of mystery/crime/noir fiction, and as someone who tries to read as many indigenous authors as I can, I was so excited to get my hands on it! Unfortunately, it did not live up to the hype for me, and frankly I'm having a difficult time putting my finger on why. It could be that I listened to it on audio and I wasn't a fan of how the narrator read some characters, but I also felt the characters and tone to be a bit uneven. As a small and rather irrelevant note, I appreciated the discussion of native cuisine and a return to specific ingredients and cooking methods. I love the food of the Indigenous groups near where I grew up (Cayuga, Onondaga), so I felt a fun nostalgia and comfort reading the parts of Winter Counts that discussed food. They don't dominate the book, but they communicate an important message about cultural autonomy and tradition. I will probably read Weiden again, because his skill and talent are apparent throughout Winter Counts. It just fell a bit short for me.

Below are a few somewhat brief $.02 opinions about books I've read or listened to recently but don't have time, inclination, or opportunity to review in full. Their appearance in this recurring piece generally has little to nothing to do with merit. Many of these books I enjoyed as much or more than those that got the full court press. I hope you'll consider one or two for your own TBR stack if they strike your fancy whether they struck mine or not.

BOOKS THAT BEAT MY PANDEMIC BRAIN

Winter Counts, by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Winter Counts is a knockout piece of crime fiction featuring a Native American protagonist written by a Native American author. Which is reason enough to pick this up, since Native authors are vastly under-represented and under-appreciated. Weiden's debut has been shortlisted for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel, and I wouldn't be surprised if he took home the prize. Set on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, Winter Counts centers on local enforcer Virgil Wounded Horse and his efforts to combat a local drug issue and save a family member in the process. Fantastic stuff and I can't wait for more DHWW and Virgil.

I really enjoyed this thriller about Virgil Wounded Horse, a vigilante on a Native American reservation who takes on a dangerous mission to track down the source of a heroin influx. His mission becomes personal when his nephew, Nathan, overdoses. There were some unexpected twists, intriguing supporting characters, a standout subplot involving indigenous cuisine, and authentic representation of Lakota culture (the author is an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Nation). Unfortunately the way crimes are (or are not) prosecuted on reservations in this story is true to life, which is further explained in the Author's Note. Winter Counts does contain a few "continuity errors," such as two people driving to a location together and then one of them leaving in his own car, which was not the one driven there in the first place. These pulled me out of the story but not enough to really detract from the overall reading experience. I hope that Winter Counts is just the first of many novels from David Heska Wanblo Weiden!

Recommendation note: Winter Counts has a similar vibe to the TV show Longmire, which is based on the mysteries by Craig Johnson. If you like one, you will definitely want to check out the other!

I really enjoyed this book because of the very realistic depictions of rez life and the struggles there. The author hit on the topics of addiction, health care, unemployment, and crime. I taught literature at the college level and one book I often taught was Adrian Louis'
Skins. This is very reminiscent of that book in theme and style.

Winter Counts gave me a serious sense of foreboding from the start. With an eye-opening look at life on the reservation and an intense third act, this slow-burn thriller did not disappoint.

This book is fast-paced with grit and depth. I found the author’s writing engaging. This really pairs well with the movement of the book. Even the fight/action scenes are done so well I could see them play out in my head.

I can certainly see why this book has now been nominated for an Edgar award. The prose is tight, the characters developed, and it truly provides insight into Indigenous culture and life.

Crime fiction may not be my “go to” genre, but I’ve certainly been finding favorites within it. The end of this book sets things up nicely for another novel in this world; I would buy it right now if I could.

Be sure to check this one out if like fast-paced books, gritty scenes, and the work of Stephen Graham Jones, S.A. Cosby, and David Joy.

David Heska Wanbli Weiden has created a masterpiece with WINTER COUNTS. There’s a reason this is getting loads of love, and I’m going to sing its praises right along with everyone else. The fact that David Heska Wanbli Weiden could craft such a perfectly thrilling, haunting novel while still giving the reader unrelenting, hard-hitting reminders of the effects of colonialism on youth is truly genius. Not only that, but we also see implicit celebration of culture and community. We see nuance in WINTER COUNTS’ characters. We get to know them deeply personally, and we understand the complexity - the potential for internalized struggles and also the internalized peace and joy - of humans’ identities.

And the plot! I don’t want to say too much, but I can say that this somehow at once fits and breaks all the expectations of a mystery. I'm so grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me this advance copy!

In #WinterCounts the author has wielded an engrossing thriller about claiming one’s identity and seeking justice as a Native American that is equally suspenseful and thought-provoking. Virgil Wounded Horse, is our protagonist who is a recovering alcoholic & a local law “enforcer” in Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota who gets sucked into the game of power and money. When drugs makes its way to his family, he id willing to takedown the chain of command to deliver justice! My favourite thing about the writing is Weiden has cleverly juxtaposed “a white way of looking at the world” with how things should actually be looked at - beautiful. Culturally accurate historical details rolled along with the state of order in marginalised Native American communities, this novel stands high amongst its peers and this debut deserves to be read.

Thank you Ecco & Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest opinion.