It's January of 1974, and relentless winter winds on the Mojave Desert bring trouble to Smoke Tree. The trouble includes the brutal murder of a man in the witness protection program, the shooting of a sheriff's deputy, and the arson-fueled destruction of Smoke Tree City Hall. Hauke Hunter, a lateral transfer from the San Diego Sheriff's Department also arrives with the north winds, as does a troubled and troublesome orphan from the Big Smoky Valley in Nevada, As one of his deputies lies near death, Captain Carlos Caballo, known as Horse throughout the Lower Colorado River Basin, has his ...

In the foothills of the desert mountains west of Smoke Tree, someone has murdered Caleb and Eunice Clovis. They were impoverished squatters living a life of bare subsistence far off the beaten track in a miserable lean-to made of discarded lumber and cast off building materials. Who would want to kill them? And why? There seems to be no motive for the crime. Lieutenant Carlos Caballo, known throughout the Lower Colorado River Basin simply as “Horse,” is charged with solving the crime. A crime that might not have been discovered for months or even years except for a minor twist of fate. ...

Kiko Yoshida works as a Keno runner at the Serengeti Casino in Las Vegas while dreaming of a career as a singer and dancer. She catches the eye of a big-time mobster who demands to have her sent to his room. Casino manager Eddie Mazzetti promises her a part in “The Flower Drum Song” when it comes to Las Vegas if she will be the mobster’s escort for one evening. Kiko shows up at Frankie “The Whale” Pescatore’s executive suite expecting to be his date at a fancy dinner with politicians and executives of the gambling industry. Within minutes, she realizes she has made a terrible ...

A TEENAGE GIRL, HER FACE SUDDENLY DISFIGURED BY PARALYSIS, TURNS HER BACK ON THE WORLD AND DISAPPEARS DEEP INTO THE DESERT. HOW LONG CAN SHE REMAIN HIDDEN? A MYSTERIOUS NATIVE AMERICAN IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO HAS EVER SEEN HER AS SHE WANDERS THE DESERT ON MOONLIT NIGHTS, AND HE KEEPS HER SECRET. KEEPS IT, THAT IS, UNTIL A DRUG CARTEL PLANE CRASHES NEAR HER MOUNTAINSIDE HIDING PLACE, PUTTING HER IN DANGER. Two federal agents, one from ATF and one from the FBI arrive in Smoke Tree. They seek the help of Captain Carlos Caballo of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department in finding thieves...

Things are getting complicated in Smoke Tree, the dusty Mojave Desert town hard by Highway 66 and the Santa Fe Rail Line on the banks of the Colorado River. In June of 1964, three men descend on the town: one puts down roots, one finds the light, and one descends into deeply twisted evil. Captain Carlos Caballo, commander of the Smoke Tree Substation of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, is responsible for policing an area larger than many states. He has to deal simultaneously with a joint Army-Air Force exercise that has flung 100,000 military personnel across his area, a ...