THE NIGHT REMEMBERS

Three wounded, troubled people seek self-understanding and human connection in a city beset by social problems. To escape her stalker ex-boyfriend, schoolteacher Angela Prescott has moved to Minneapolis, a place she's chosen precisely because she has no ties there. Her first friend is half-Sioux Tommy T, a precocious 12-year-old comic-book artist who's been forced to live on his wits since his mother abandoned him and his older brother was seduced by gang life. Tommy helps Angela find work as a waitress; meanwhile, her obvious helplessness has attracted the notice of Jesse Brown Wolf, a Sioux repairman who often retreats to a cave in the river bluffs to escape a complicated past and nurse his incapacitating headaches. Tommy has stumbled onto Jesse's underground dwelling but has never seen his face. Returning home late from work one night, Angela inadvertently walks into the middle of a dogfight being staged by local gang members, who are so inflamed by the gore that they attack her. Tommy calls on his mysterious friend for help, and Jesse—wearing a hat and a high collar to conceal his face—comes to Angela's aid, commanding the gang's respect with his strange power to pacify the dogs. Subsequently, Jesse acquires multiple identities: To Tommy, he is Dark Dog, a real-life version of a comic-book superhero; to Angela, he is Jesse, the repairman who befriends her as he fixes up her apartment; by night, not showing his face, he is also the ghostly figure Angela calls Jewel Eyes, who follows her and comes to her rescue when she's in danger. Eventually, Angela finds a meaningful new life as she becomes a surrogate mother to Tommy and begins to fall in love with her mysterious night protector. Eagle's knowledge of Sioux folklore and her descriptions of Minneapolis's underworld add a little zip to what is otherwise a standard-issue, relentlessly uplifting romance. (First printing of 40,000)