White Horse by Erika T. Wurth

"There was something strange, mysterious even, about the White Horse tonight. Normally, it was merely an Indian bar. My Indian bar. But there was a milky, dreamy quality to the red lights swinging over the pool tables, like the wind from the open doors was bringing them something new, something I’d pushed away for as long as I could remember" - Erika T Wurth, White Horse

Meet Kari James, the narrator of White Horse by Erika T Wurth.  Kari is a 35 year old Native American woman living in Denver.  She loves Steven King novels, heavy metal music and when not waitressing can be found taking care of her disabled father or at her favorite bar The White Horse.  

Kari's life is lonely but considering her younger years:  drugs, bad boys, suicidal thoughts, the overdose of her best friend, the stability that Kari has found in her 30's may be unfulfilling but it is calm which is how Kari likes it.  But then Kari's cousin Debbie walks into the White Horse with a bracelet she found that belonged to Kari's Mom: 

"My mother. The woman who had abandoned me when I was only two days old. The woman who my father had been so devastated over he began to take long drives, a bottle of Jack between his legs. The woman who had made it so that I had to care for my dad like a baby, instead of the other way around, after he’d gotten into an accident that had left his body but taken his mind"

But the moment Kari touches her mother's bracelet she feels an energy.  Her mother is trying to tell her something.   Kari starts seeing visions and worries that she is going crazy.  But the visions push her to investigate what really happened to her mother Celia.  Did she abandon Kari or was it foul play?  And if so by who and why?

Erika Wurth is a very talented writer. Kari James is tough, brave and a good person in the way she cares for her father and looks out for her cousin Debbie.  The book did drag for me though because Kari doesn't have light moments or a sense of humor which is understandable considering her past.  

But it did make it hard for me to warm up to Kari until the last part of White Horse when she finds out what really happened to her mother, Celia.  And in the end you sense that Kari may finally be able to put her demons to rest.  I would say that for me this is a 3.5 read and Erika Wurth is an author to keep an eye on.