Reckoning At Salamander Springs

Book excerpt: Famed artist Gio Bernardo Rossi dies of an overdose poolside at his Hollywood Hills mansion, a victim of excess and his own success. He finds himself inexplicably haunting a tiny, remote cabin hidden in the low desert of Southern California. The cabin is occupied by a powerful young shaman and shape-shifter, Sofia Rodriguez, who has the ability to see and communicate with the ghost. The relationship between ghost and shaman is contentious at times. But their differences are forgotten when Sofia’s aunt, who also happens to be Gio’s ex, is kidnapped. They join forces to find the aunt and trace her disappearance to wellconnected drug kingpin and real estate developer, Teddy Coner VI. They uncover Coner’s sinister plot to turn the sleepy desert town of Salamander Springs into a Vegas style enterprise, which he intends to use as a cover for his illicit drug dealings with points south. The unlikely duo of ghost and shaman manage to rescue Sofia’s aunt. But the town remains at risk. The battle between shaman and real estate mogul involves a canyon that shifts back and forth in time and a prospector and infamous bandit from the 1800s, Jack McManus, who becomes Sofia’s ally. The fight escalates to an explosive showdown that pits two powerful shapeshifting shamans against one another, while the fate of the town and the fragile desert ecosystem hangs in the balance.