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  • Stargazer

  • A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel, Book 6
  • Written by: Anne Hillerman
  • Narrated by: Darrell Dennis
  • Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (10 ratings)

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Stargazer

Written by: Anne Hillerman
Narrated by: Darrell Dennis
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Publisher's Summary

Murder, deception, Navajo tradition, and the stars collide in this enthralling entry in New York Times best-selling author Anne Hillerman’s Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series, set amid the beautiful landscape of the American Southwest.

What begins as a typical day for Officer Bernadette Manuelito - serving a bench warrant, dealing with a herd of cattle obstructing traffic, and stumbling across a crime scene - takes an unexpected twist when she’s called to help find an old friend. Years ago, Bernie and Maya were roommates, but time and Maya’s struggles with addiction drove them apart. Now Maya’s brother asks Bernie to find out what happened to his sister.

Tracing Maya’s whereabouts, Bernie learns that her old friend had confessed to the murder of her estranged husband, a prominent astronomer. But the details don’t align. Suspicious, Bernie takes a closer look at the case only to find that nothing is as it seems. Uncovering new information about the astronomer’s work leads Bernie to a remote spot on the Navajo Nation and a calculating killer.

The investigation causes an unexpected rift with her husband and new acting boss, Jim Chee, who’s sure Bernie’s headed for trouble. While she’s caught between present and past, Chee is at a crossroads of his own. Burdened with new responsibilities he didn’t ask for and doesn’t want, he must decide what the future holds for him and act accordingly. 

Can their mentor Joe Leaphorn - a man also looking at the past for answers to the future - provide the guidance both Bernie and Chee need? And will the Navajo heroes who stud the starry sky help them find justice - and the truth they seek?

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

©2021 Anne Hillerman (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Narration by Dennis is distracting.

Although " Stargazer" is an interesting book, Dennis's reading style and poor pronunciation of Spanish words and attempts at voicing conversations, was terribly distracting for me.

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  • J. Wizinowich
  • 2021-04-15

What happened to the previous narrator?

Anne Hillerman's books are a wonderful legacy from her father Tony and are thoroughly enjoyable. However, the change in narrator was a mistake. He is very inauthentic and he mispronounces Hawaiian words. Mauna Kea, the vowels in the first syllable pronounced like ow in owl means mountain and the second word, kay a means white. The reader pronounces is moana, which means deep ocean. This may seem small, but it is discourteous to those of us who have made Hawaii our home.

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20 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Amanda
  • 2021-04-20

Bring back the old narrator

ETA: It looks like this new guy is Native, and I approve of casting in accurate ethnicities--but still. It's less fun. And like the other reviews have said, he mispronounces things.
* * *

When Christina Delaine began reading the Hillerman books, I was sad that she had replaced the guy who read the 20 or more before. But I quickly changed my mind.

She brought a new life to the characters and story. She read those Native characters in a true way that sounded like so many Natives I have known and loved.**but another reviewer said that her accent was Soiux, I'm from the north so that makes sense that I responded to the accent** I thought she actually *was* Native because she did so well.
So, this newest book comes out with yet another narrator. I was sad, but gave it a go.

This one so much less fun. He even pronounced some of the words wrong (Mesa, Canyon de Chelly, etc). I can't remember which word it was, but there was one said several times on a single page. The narrator was saying it in a weird way, so I paid attention. At first I thought that he chose to have that character pronounce it that way, or whatever, but then he slipped and pronounced it the way I'm familiar with. When we notice errors and inconsistencies, we lose the immersion into the story.

I say, bring back Christina Delaine.

Oh yah, and I like the story, just like the rest in the series.

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16 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Patricia O'Rourke
  • 2021-04-29

OMG! WORST NARRATOR EVER!

Somewhere in Navajo country there is a high school student who could do a better job of narrating this book. Please! This narrator is awful, can't pronounce English or Spanish and lousy at different characters' voices. WTF???

I have all of the audiobooks in the Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series. This is the first time I have ever not loved a Hillerman book.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Rick
  • 2021-04-18

Pronunciation by Narrator Sucks

Great tale, great plot, great subject, and great setting. Unfortunately as someone who’s lived most of my life as a guest in Navajo country, I’m qualified to say that pronunciation of Navajo words and places is annoyingly off. I’m sure a Navajo speaker or even a biligana familiar with the places and tongue could be found to narrate Hillerman’s tales. A Navajo accent where appropriate would be a bonus.

Anne Hillerman’s first two tales were spoken with a Sioux accent - also annoying.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Susan
  • 2021-04-16

Disappointing outing from a favorite author

Not sure where the editors were on this one, but frequent references to "bad guys," mistaking "ambiguity" for "ambivalence" and usually well-rounded minor characters (Bernie's sister & mother, etc.) reduced to cardboard-cutouts on the other end of a cell-phone call rendered this whole outing flat. Plus switching to a male narrator who made everyone seem rather thuggish in tone further detracted from usual enjoyment.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Patricia Scherf
  • 2021-04-17

Hillermans does it again

love all of the Navajo police who have become like people I know. love the descriptions of the area and the stories with in the story. Not at all happy with the reader. His voice was the same for all the people but Joe. He miss pronounced words. I found it very annoying and distracting.

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8 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Constant reader
  • 2021-04-25

Miscast

The narrator was terribly miscast. He sounds like a 17 year old energetic American guy, perfect for My Side of the Mountain or something. He couldn’t correctly pronounce place names (Canyon de Chelly) or Spanish (I don’t even mean really speak Spanish but understand how Americans in English say “Mesa,” which to him is Messa, butchered Bosque, etc), said Moe-on nah Keea for Mauna Kea, turned Jaguar into Jagwire, and gave Leaphorn four incompatible ways to pronounce English. Is there no director or editor?? Meanwhile, the story is obvious and thin, plot wise, and I was hoping that Bernie would be more developed, that we would know something about how and why she prayed or cared about Mama, but nothing. Bad book, terribly narrated.

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7 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Kindle Customer
  • 2021-04-21

Disappointed

Laughing girl has turned to sulking girl. No humor. Narrator can't pronounce western words, "mesa".

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Karen
  • 2021-04-28

New narrator a huge disappointment

I was very disappointed with the new narrator. I often got confused as to who was speaking, as his various characters sometimes sounded the same. Even characters he attempted to distinguish did not sound consistent throughout the novel. His many mispronunciations of common geographic locations was unforgivable. Where was the audio director? I found his voices for Louisa and Lt Leaphorn particularly irritating. Please bring back Christina Delaine!

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6 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Sharon Eklund
  • 2021-04-29

Narration Fraught with Errors

The narrator mispronounced many location names; for example, Canyon de Chelly and Dátil. Also Atacama Desert in Chile in Author’s Notes. Need more quality control on narration

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4 people found this helpful