Grand Prize & First Place — CLUE Award for Best Suspense & Thriller Novel
Silver Award — IBPA Award for Best Mystery & Thriller Novel
Greed ignites a war. A killer forces a reckoning. And an explosive twist ending will leave you gasping.
A beautiful, pristine valley becomes a bloody battleground when a savage murder thrusts wildlife ranger Nick Drake and Sheriff Pudge Warbler into the center of a vicious war between legacy ranchers and predatory developers. This isn't just a dispute over borders; it's a lawless corporate land grab fueled by greed, intimidation, and cold blood.
As Nick and Pudge close in on a calculating killer, the syndicate strikes back, threatening everything the lawmen hold dear and forcing a brutal, final reckoning.
With their backs against the wall, Nick and Pudge face a devastating choice: Do they honor their oaths to follow the strict letter of the law? Or do they damn the consequences and use any means necessary to protect the people and the land they love? In an unforgiving territory where the line between justice and vengeance is buried in dust, solving the crime means triggering an all-out war.
What readers are saying:
***** “Smart, thrilling, beautifully written page-turners. A stunning love song to a remote land.”
***** “Prose that crackles like the unforgiving setting, building to a climax as powerful as a force of nature.”
***** “A masterful blend of high desert realism, historical tension, and deep respect for Native American culture, lore, and mysticism.”
***** “The storylines are absolutely riveting, keeping me up turning pages late into the night.”
***** “Nick Drake is wonderfully complex, gritty, and straight to the heart. A man to run the river of life with!”
