"Spurred Ambition" by Twist Phelan

When I found myself halfway through Twist Phelan's new mystery, SPURRED AMBITION, a man whom I did not know walked by my table and expressed a measure of interest. 

"That's an excellent read," I told him without hesitation, watching him pick it up from the table and peruse the front and back covers.

Now, having read all 267 pages, I emphatically repeat for all readers of good stories and quality writing, ‘SPURRED AMBITION is an excellent book.'  Hannah Dain is an outstanding character.  Twist Phelan is a remarkable writer who always knows how to bring her best stuff to the storytelling table.

Everything begins simply enough with Hannah seeking to visit her sister Shelby.  However, with these two tempestuous sisters, nothing is ever that simple.  For one thing, Shelby has admitted herself into an alcohol rehabilitation center; for another, every attempt Hannah has made to see her, Shelby has thwarted soundly.

Hannah Dain, though, is one woman not easily denied.  This meeting with her sister is important.  She feels strongly about telling her family members of her decision to leave the family law practice, Dain & Dain, and take a job with the Tohono O'odham Office of Tribal Affairs. 

The job carries none of the same stature, nor influx of money Hannah knew working with her father and sister; but after learning that Richard Dain was not her biological father, and factoring in the already sour relationship that she had with him and Shelby, she decided it was time for a break. The job with the Tohono O'odham Indians would bring her that, along with the freedom to search for the man she never knew existed.

Interestingly enough, Hannah's search for her identity dovetails neatly into this new job with the Indian reservation, as the man who hired her, Tony Soto, is a strong advocate for Indian prosperity, having grown up on the reservation and experienced the conditions his people were subject to during those days.  His plans are to expand the already flourishing casino and develop the real estate of the reservation land.  Hannah is to serve as the attorney who will validate the figures he and his partners have prepared for the investors in the project.

Problems develop. A strong 'white power' movement protests any further expansion of Indian property at Pinnacle Peak.  A bothersome reporter seeks a scoop of illegal activity happening on the reservation-- and seems to be playing on the loquacious nature of Hannah's secretary Clementine.  Hannah's office is ransacked, lifting some important papers relevant to the private placement for which she was hired.  Tony is kidnapped.  Money involved in his deals goes missing. 

Right here I must state my forte of influence lies not in the realm of legal or business expertise.  Therefore the complexities of the deals inherent in the plot lie a bit outside my realm of comprehension. There is an egregious amount of money involved here that always invites corruption in one way or the other.  There a actions undertaken that transcend the simplicity of laws everyone can understand.  But this is part of what make SPURRED AMBITION so valid to any story-hungry audience.  Phelan never makes such knowledge a prerequisite to indulging oneself in the story that follows Hannah around.

Granted, understanding such legal and business complexities would make the story more full to any reader; but as the story is not about that aspect of daily living, i.e. big business, legal drama, it does not matter if one can explain what a private placement is; or figure out what is going on here when a corrupt lawyer is indicted for smuggling illegal aliens across the Mexican border. 

SPURRED AMBITION is not about that. 

It is, in my opinion, about identity.  Hannah is searching for her identity through a biological father she never knew she didn't have (as well as through a relationship with a father and a sister that was anything but congenial); Tony is searching for a just solution to the troubles inflicted upon the Indians through years of oppression by the white man (even though he never comes across as the typical ideologue); while Pena & Moreno, the partners through whom Tony works his investment deals, exemplify this theme through their split identity, i.e. one is assimilated into the American way of life; the other remains steadfast to the Mexican culture.

This is a story about finding out who you are and ambitiously pursuing that identity to establish who you want to be.  None better than Hannah Dain, a young woman flowing over with ambition and yet laden with flaws, is suited for such a role.

It is an amazing suffusion of the theme into the plot.  An astounding triumph, in my opinion.  SPURRED AMBITION has enough inherent character to be taken for a 500+ page classic people relish generations on down the road.