Ella Clah

Change surrounds Navajo Police Special Investigator Ella Clah. The father of her child seems ready to be more of a father, though it will alter the rhythm of all their lives and may hurt his political career. Ella's mother, Rose, has rediscovered her passion for politics and struggles to guide her people on the best way to walk in beauty. The Dineh seem to be ready to bring casino gambling to the Rez, despite the risk that the character of the Navajo Nation will be forever altered. Speaking eloquently against the proposal, Rose becomes a national celebrity. Ella has no time to think about how these changes will affect her and her two-year-old daughter. The Navajo Police Force is combating an increasingly violent wave of vandalism, always two steps behind despite their best efforts. Events come to a head with the terrorist takeover of a coalmine and power plant on the Reservation. Ella must keep the terrorists from blowing up the power plant-but how can she focus on being a cop when her daughter is missing?

Before the new nuclear power plant can be built, the power company must help the Navajo reclaim a long-unused uranium mine. The plan is to collapse the old shafts and refill the area with new soil, but the first explosions trigger unplanned subsidiary collapses. Ella Clah, attending the dedication and purification ceremony, acts quickly when she sees a young child sliding into the exposed tunnels. She saves his life but is herself trapped underground. A few days later, Ella, little the worse for her nightmarish near-death experience, is checking out reports of vandalism and arson. It seems that gun control advocates on the Rez have made some enemies-enemies who soon kill for the first time, when an arson fire claims the life of the wife of a Navajo Councilmember. The home of local radio host George Branch-who may have incited the fatal arson-burns to the ground, destroying all of Branch's personal possessions, including his extensive gun collection. Ella's investigations are hampered by what happened to her at the uranium site. Both her brother Clifford, a Navajo medicine man, and her cousin and fellow Navajo Police officer, Justine Goodluck, are convinced that Ella wasn't just unconscious when she was rescued. To all appearances, they say, Ella was dead. Justine believes that Ella's survival was a miracle; Clifford says that his hataalii abilities showed her wandering wind spirit the way back to her body. Regardless, traditionalist Navajo are reluctant to be near or even speak to Ella, fearing that since she was dead, she has been contaminated with chindi and become evil. Even some of her fellow police officers are uncomfortable in Ella's presence. If she cannot interview witnesses and can't work with other cops, what is Ella to do? She finds solace in the unquestioning and unchanging love of her young daughter and the unflagging support of her brother, who nonetheless recommends an older hataalii who may be able to perform a special blessing ceremony for Ella. Still, it's clear that Ella's life has been changed, perhaps permanently, and that she may no longer be an effective police officer.

In White Thunder, the tenth Ella Clah novel from Aimee and David Thurlo, Ella must find a missing FBI agent who interrupted a Sing. FBI area supervisor Simmons asks the Navajo Tribal Police to help locate Andrew Thomas, a federal agent who disappeared after interrupting a Navajo ritual being performed by a group of medicine men or hataaliis. Simmons voices his displeasure when Special Investigator Ella Clah is assigned to the case; he believes that Ella became an FBI agent, more than a decade earlier, due to affirmative action-and that she left because the job was too tough for her. Ella ignores Simmons' pettiness, knowing that finding the missing man is the highest priority. She won't allow family issues to get in the way, so she asks her daughter's father to become a full-time parent for the duration of her investigation. She even questions her brother, a hataalii himself, about Agent Thomas. Could a medicine man have punished Thomas for disturbing the Sing? Startlingly, Ella receives a disturbing cell phone call that seems to be from Thomas himself. He's trapped in a dark place, lost and hurt. Ella realizes that time is running out. With the hataaliis cleared, Ella follows up on Thomas's investigation into Social Security fraud. She is disturbed to see evidence that seems to point to her old friend and Thomas's immediate superior, FBI agent Blalock. Could Blalock steal money and assault one of his own men? Ella can't believe it. The fraud trail leads through a maze of paperwork, banks, government offices, mortuaries, and into the Navajos' most dearly held-beliefs about death. Only by finding the truth-and fast-will Ella be able to save Andrew Thomas. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

What seems to be a carjacking gone wrong leads to the death of Jimmy Blacksheep, a Navajo member of the New Mexico National Guard recently returned from Iraq. When Navajo Police Special Investigator Ella Clah receives a mysterious package in the mail, she begins to suspect that Jimmy's death is part of something larger. Complicating the case is the fact that Jimmy's brother, Samuel Blacksheep, is also a cop, on the Farmington PD. Samuel is also ostensibly investigating Jimmy's death, but Ella wonders why Jimmy sent his secret message to her rather than his own brother. If Jimmy didn't trust Samuel, perhaps Ella shouldn't either. When even the FBI's experts are unable to figure out the dead man's message, Ella realizes that she must use Navajo lore, not cryptography, to decode it. Tantalizing clues link Jimmy's death to his military service-but what could the medic have seen in Iraq that would make him a target for murder back home? Ella's personal life seems just as complicated as her case. Her mother, Rose Destea, marries her long-time beau, Herman Cloud, and moves in with him. While Ella is delighted to see her mother happy, she cannot help but worry about making sure her daughter, Dawn, is safe and cared for at all times. Dawn's father asks for a change in custody arrangements that will reduce Ella to a weekend mother-a much easier fit with her workload but something that will take a terrible toll on her heart.

Ella Clah has found her place on the Navajo Reservation, in her tribe, her clan, and her family. She has seen the Diné at their worst-and at their best-as they balance the modern era with the traditional Navajo way of life. The Navajo are building a nuclear power plant on the Reservation. Though the tribe voted for the plant, there are those who believe that nuclear power is inherently dangerous-and particularly so for the Navajo, due to past uranium mining operations that contaminated land and water and sickened many Navajo workers and their families. A group of activists is determined to do whatever is necessary to stop the plant-assault, sabotage, domestic terrorism. When a fellow Navajo Police officer is injured in an attack aimed at Ella's boyfriend, Ella vows to do whatever it takes to find the terrorists and bring them to justice. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

As a people, the Navajo seek to walk in beauty and find a balance between modern and traditional culture. As a mother, a daughter, and a member of the Navajo Nation, Ella Clah finds her own way to walk-but as a police officer, she seeks both justice and truth. When Never-ending-snake begins, Ella is returning from a trip to Washington, DC, where she has been presented with a lucrative offer of employment with a private security firm. The catch? She would have to leave the Reservation. And while Ella has lived off the Rez before, it would be a life-altering experience for her daughter, Dawn. Before Ella has a chance to even begin making up her mind, gunfire sends her and her companions diving for cover. Who is the target? War hero and alternative fuel lobbyist Adam Lonewolf, politician and tribal attorney Kevin Tolino, or Ella herself? As a Navajo Police Special Investigator, Ella has made more than one enemy. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.