There are wonderful characters in supporting roles who jump up and down on the page demanding their share of the spotlight; they bring reality and dimension to Thumps' world. King's usual deft hand with description brings to life the best greasy spoon breakfast in town, the natural vistas, the interior of luxury condominiums and swanky hotel rooms posing as crime scenes for murders.

If you've read his work before you'll be prepared for the wise tribal elder not only having a wide-screen television and a satellite dish, but a burial ground for trailer homes in his back forty, who refers to computers as "the Nephews". It's all part of his attempts to de-mystify natives and remove the burden of being spiritual saviours that have been dumped on their shoulders by too many Europeans. 

"It's not hard once you understand how the Nephews think… They're just like little kids. They like to repeat everything you tell them… Some people are suspicious of computers because we didn't have them in the good old days… It's best to be up to date. Even in the old days the smartest Indians were the ones who were up to date." (Thomas King DreadfulWater Shows Up p184-185. Harper + Collins 2002)

Thomas King is a Cherokee and like most authors he writes about what he is, or the community he is, most familiar with. In his case that's the people of the foothills in the Rockies on both sides of the border who were living there when the settlers rolled into town. But these aren't "Native" books; they are books with Natives as the lead characters. These characters eat, go to the bathroom, have relationship problems, and worry about their children. Just like the rest of the world. Imagine that.

Sure his characters run into bigotry, express frustrations about the way governments treat them, but the former is a reality and the latter is the equivalent of Europeans complaining about taxes. Mostly they get on with being who they've been for centuries and working out ways to do that in the contemporary world. Sure they'd like better schools for their kids, a health care system that works, and a government that's not quite so willing to sell them down the rive to the highest corporate bidder, but that's not much different than the rest of us when you think about it.

But the real reason that so many of us keep coming back to Thomas King is his ability as a storyteller. It's hard to put into words what the difference between that and a novelist is, but the easiest way to know how well someone has succeeded in being a storyteller is to read the book aloud. If it sounds just as good aloud, if not better, than silent, you know for sure that you're dealing with somebody special.