JOSEPHINE ASHTON – författare

RIDE the WILD WIND -Sheriff Robert Gallegos - Friends and Enemies: #1 of a series. Genre: historical fiction,rural southwestern, mystical realism; time: mid 1960's, flashbacks to WWII; location: fictional, Aragon Valley, New Mexico, along the Rio Grande, close to El Paso, Texas & the Juarez, Mexico border; readership: Adults; Tony Hillerman (rural N. New Mexico, Navajo law keepers); Craig Johnson (Sheriff Longmire, rural Montana). Sheriff Rob, tall, handsome, strong, quiet, friendly, Native American/Hispanic/ & who knows what, 40 something, ex WWII Marine Sgt, is determined, Colt .38 at his side, Winchester in his Sheriff-emblemed truck, that the Juarez, Mexico crime cartel stopping at nothing to take over his Valley - will not, on his watch, succeed. But robbery, broken windows, rape and murder invade like poison weeds. He and his WWII ex Marine lawman friends - Santa Fe, El Paso, even Juarez, begin to uncover something even more ominous. No paid deputies, office next to his two person jail cell, apartment above that, as many friends as enemies. he meets over coffee at Connelly's Cafe, a Lucky Lager at Sam's Tavern's Friday night dances, shares a "e;sixties"e; smoke at Tim Sanderson's Thursday night poker game. Tim boards & "e;gentles"e; horses, Phillipe Montez runs his Basque father's Red Stones Vineyards & Winery. Together, the three 'musketeers;' share a bloody secret unknown to even la Senora Bella Aragon or her beautiful granddaughter Lara, both of whom rule the town founded by their ancestors from Aragon, Spain. A man's man,duty first, love where it finds him, companion is Old Lady Sara Tree-Root Tampoya, part-Hopi Medicine Woman communicator with Grey Lady Between the Mountains, bringer of passages of life and of death, he struggles to stay centered in the present, decipher the past, understand who he really is. The wild red-dust wind gallops day and night along Main Street; male monsoon rains flood the Rio Grande threatening the vineyards, & everyone, including the sheriff, has both a love and loss back-story, memories & secrets. All shades, hippies, & lovers are welcome in the "e;born multicultural"e; county, but crime cartels, real estate developers & Nazis are not. While romantic relationship tends to elude Rob; mystery, crime , standoffs, sensuality abound. Story is his, but as much, he would tell you, the story is his valley's, A "e;Cast of Characters,"e; research information, & other language words and conversations translations are provided.