A sci-fi mystery set in the land of the Hopi captured my imagination and I simply had to pick up my earbuds and listen in.

Una Waters grew up on the Hopi reservation and the story opens when she is a child on Flight 564 when a strange phenomenon is spotted outside the plane. It is her first encounter with strange circumstances and it is a call for help, years later, that brings her full circle to home, to her Hopi heritage, and another set of strange circumstances.

My knowledge of the Hopi is limited to where they live, Kachina dolls that represent gods, blue corn, and a bit of their mythology about coming from another dimension through a hole in the ground that I gleaned from other stories. Needless to say, I was thrilled that A Gleam of Light had a Hopi heroine and delved into the Hopi people, their circumstances, their history, and their beliefs with a careful attention to accurate detail. I was not disappointed at all when the plot slowed to explain.

I enjoyed how the story was both the sci-fi mystery I was anticipating, but also a journey of the heart for Una. She left her Hopi past behind when she fled the reservation after losing her parents and as a result, she lost a bit of herself. I liked that the story emphasized her struggle for what she felt were two separate people inside her and slowly she came to have peace and understanding.

There was some danger and suspense as Una searched for answers of what brought the military to the reservation while protecting her people who were caught up in the trouble and I was happily startled to see some familiar, if much older faces, of some people Una met briefly in the past take pivotal side roles.

But, as much as I enjoyed A Gleam of Light, I do have to admit that it could be a struggle because of long sections of monologue, but also how the suspense deflated each time circumstances allowed Una out of what should have been tight spots. I also felt that there should have been more attention to character development for those around Una. I couldn’t quite connect to them as a result of not having enough on them. Maybe this comes in future books.

Kat Bohn was a new to me narrator. I took a bit to get used to her style. Eventually, I settled in but I had to do this each time I left the story and came back to it. I thought she did well at the Native American accent though I couldn’t tell you if it was southwestern or not. I thought she did well with male voices and there were several though some didn’t quite match the age of the person or so it seemed to me. I thought the Native music and drums between chapters was a nice extra in the excellent production side of the book.

All in all, I enjoyed A Gleam of Light and am curious about what comes next for Una though a listener could treat this as a standalone story just fine. I recommend this one for those who don’t mind a story split between sci-fi suspense, descriptive details, and thoughtful passages.