From Library Journal
When a sacred cedar tree is cut down on the Quinault reservation, the evil spirit of an ancient shaman, Xulk, is released. Thus begins a sequence of macabre events orchestrated by Aminte, a red-haired witch. Losing her husband in a mysterious accident, Hannah McTavish struggles to maintain the logging business while dealing with the environmental issues that threaten her livelihood. Jordan Tidewater, reservation sheriff, assumes her inherited role as shaman and undergoes Native American rituals that allow her passage into the spirit world. In her fiction debut, Stokes (The Castrated Woman: What Your Doctor Won't Tell You About Hysterectomy, LJ 7/86) artfully blends contemporary conservation concerns of the Pacific Northwest with ancient Native American folklore. A good choice for libraries with demand for Native epics such as Michael and Kathleen Gear's People of the Lakes (Forge, 1994) and Linda Lay Shuler's Voice of the Eagle (Dutton, 1993).--Mary Ellen Elsbernd, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland HeightsCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.