RIVER SONG <i> by Craig Lesley (Laurel: $8.95) </i>

Craig Lesley’s haunting novel captures the divided life of Pacific Northwest Amerindians. Danny Kachiah and his son, Jack, members of the Nez Perce tribe, grapple with the alienation, alcoholism and despair of contemporary Native American life; they also must confront manifestations of the traditional spirit world, including night ghosts, water devils and a mysterious, whistling apparition who guides them through fire and water. The hypnotic descriptions of Danny’s waking visions make the everyday world of car trouble and truck-stop food seem pallid and inconsequential. The tension between these worlds leads father and son to a greater understanding of each other and their relationship to the mythic past that permeates their lives.