Cold Heat

Set against the backdrop of the New Mexico desert, introduces an eclectic cast of characters that brings the American Southwest to life. There’s Officer Jaime Red Claw of the Alta Sheriff’s Department, who discovers skeletal human remains on his day off. There’s fifty-two-year old Bernice Begay of Show Low, Arizona. She creates handmade Native American rugs and blankets and sells them with the help of her two sons Milford and Dilford. Bernice’s cousin, Tessie, is a basket weaver. Their lives intersect with that of twenty-one-year-old truck driver Kyle West—known in the Yah-te spirit Bak-Chi-Hlo—and seventeen-year-old Evan Withers, who is introduced to the interesting world of truck driving as he travels from New York to Mexico. A sequel to this novel examines the second-class citizenship experienced by Native Americans while focusing on the special qualities of Indian heritage, culture, and families.