Genre:
Suspense/Mystery/Adventure/Native American
Description:
“When her lifelong best
friend, Maggie, entrusts a USB drive into Tashina’s care, she tells the rookie
FBI agent to give it to an unknown David if anything happens to her. He’ll find
her, Maggie assures her. Hours later, Maggie is dead, and Tashina’s family and
friends are under surveillance. She has nowhere to run but to the home of her
mother’s people, the Lakota Sioux on Pine Ridge Reservation. In her journey
from California to South Dakota and back again, the half-Lakota Tashina learns
not only what is on the USB drive but also what it means to be half-Indian and
half-white in a world where both sides still nurse old grievances. A mission to
honor a friend’s request becomes a period of discovery for the woman
disparagingly called ‘white-girl.’”
Author:
“Grace Jelsnik lives in
North Dakota with her husband of fifteen years, their three children, two dogs,
and three cats. Her romances emphasize the give-and-take emotional interaction
between two characters, addressing the sparks that lead to heat, not the heat
itself. She takes pride in writing clean romances for both young and old
readers, novels her daughter can one day read without embarrassment, and enjoys
inserting comic elements into both plot and dialogue.”
To see more books by Ms.
Jelsnik you can visit her Amazon Author page or Goodreads.
Appraisal:
I like to read stories that include Native American elements, more often than not mysticism is brought into play. That is not what you will find in this novel though. What you will get is a solid view of Sioux culture and history. Tashina’s parents recognized her warrior spirit at a young age and sent her to spend summers with her grandfather on the Pine Ridge Reservation so she could have a solid foundation in her Native American heritage. However, her cousins never let her forget they considered her a white girl because she wasn’t a full-blood Sioux. The story is told through Tashina’s point-of-view so we are given insight into her inner thoughts as she works through her inner dilemmas; justifying her FBI identity, her somewhat privileged white upbringing, and her Sioux heritage. I found these story arcs particularly engaging and fascinating.
Ms. Jelsnik has woven Tashina’s journey with a powerful story arc about
a homeland terror plot that could have a global impact. This includes corporate
espionage on the highest level as well as potential corruption in other federal
agencies. Tashina’s only ally is a man named David she had never met. David is
an unusual, interesting character. He was raised by a man who was not his
father and who instilled discipline and loyalty to mold him into an ideal
agent. Tashina has her suspicions as to which agency, she has good instincts
that serve her well throughout the story. David was secretive and detached; he
also had good instincts as well as survival training. He was quick to observe
that Tashina was trapped between two cultures, being an Indian at heart but
white in practice. Their relationship was guarded and felt realistic. Their
dialogue was comical at times as they played off each other like an old married
couple.
I don’t usually read political intrigue type novels full of espionage,
but this one seemed well researched, plausible, and frightening. I wouldn’t
call White Girl a relaxing read, but I did enjoy it and
wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it if this is a genre you enjoy.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
FYI:
Original review posted June 17, 2016.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No significant issues were noted.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
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