Moon of the Blue Mustang

Book excerpt: “I was eight years old when I saw the Blue Mustang. This was in nineteen thirty-five. It is said he still roams the canyons, guarding the wild herds, protecting all the creatures of the high desert.” Conrado Koteen, Jicarilla Reservation, 1990. Cattle rustlers are plying their trade in San Phillipe—plaguing both local ranchers and the Jicarilla Apache reservation. An ultra-light plane laden with drugs from Mexico plows into a rugged mountain-side—setting in motion a struggle to control the drug trade in Northern New Mexico. Apache sisters, one a Jicarilla police officer, the other in Fish and Wildlife Conservation Enforcement, are confronted by a gunman while off the reservation. A tragedy ensues. The body-count climbs as Sheriff Cliff Lansing contends with drugs, death, cattle theft and a power struggle with the Forestry Service. The resources of his office are spread thin. Almost too late, he realizes more than one murderer may be involved. An Apache legend and family secrets weave their way through the action . . . unseen forces play their part . . . providing Lansing with a mystery he may never solve.