PLOT
Samuel Hunter is the Insurance Salesman of your dreams. He transforms himself from client to client and can be all things to all people.
He can talk anyone in to anything.
His life is financially set and extremely well organized.
However, his dark good looks and smooth persona mask his past. He was Samson Hunts Alone, a full blooded Crow Indian who was forced to flee his reservation and his origins at the age of fifteen when he is wrongly suspected of a serious crime.
His comfortable life (and lie) is completely turned on its ear with the introduction of two characters.
Calliope Kincaid's life is the complete opposite to Sam's. Car trouble throws the two of them together and we see Sam totally drawn to her despite her disorganization and unorthodox lifestyle. She is stunningly beautiful, living in an almost communal setting and straight forward to the point of distraction.
She's also trying hard not to lose her daughter to her biker ex-husband.
The other main character is Old Coyote the Trickster. A shape shifting Indian deity who flips from dog to man repeatedly, he has come to Sam in order teach him the true meaning of his life and help him find who he really is.
Unfortunately, in order to do this, he must take away everything that Sam currently has. One by one, Coyote's antics strip Sam of his Condo, his job and the respect of all around him.
Between the mental journey that Sam takes due to Old Man Coyote, and the physical journey he takes with Calliope when her daughter is kidnapped, he finds a happy mesh between the life he currently has and the one that he was robbed of.
MY THOUGHTS
In Samuel Hunter you have the makings of potentially the most memorable character that Moore has ever created. A North American Indian Insurance Salesman who is torn between his roots and the chameleon persona he has to adopt in his modern life.
Instead he's not only “just average” but almost forgettable. He's certainly over shadowed by Tucker Case, Travis O'Hearn, Theo Crowe... pretty much every other main character Moore has ever created.
In fact you get the feeling that Moore introduces Sam almost as a vehicle for Calliope, Coyote and the supporting cast, who are way more interesting.
The character of Minty Fresh, for example, is so well fleshed out and memorable that Moore uses him again in a much larger role in his novel A Dirty Job
While this novel is most definitely the weakest that Moore has written (in M.H.O.), the supporting cast, the plot, the twisted humor and Moore's running theme of spirituality still make it stand out and worth the read.
Coming in at a lean and mean 489 words (and stripped of almost all my verbosity) I give you Coyote Blue.
More By Moore:
Fool
You Suck: A Love Story
A Dirty Job
Fluke: Or Now I Know Why The Winged Whale Sings
Lamb: The Gospel According To Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
Island Of The Sequined Love Nun
Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story
Coyote Blue
Practical Demonkeeping: A Comedy Of Horrors
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