Monday 5 September 2016

New Release ~ The Keresa Headdress #Archaeology #crime @larrydshack


It is with the greatest pleasure that I welcome back one of my favourite authors onto the blog to showcase the re-release of one of his fabulous books…

The Keresa Headdress
By
Larry Shackelford

It’s just a routine case at the FBI’s Salt Lake City offices. The young woman’s boyfriend is missing, possibly dead. Agent Karen Adams thinks he’s probably just out with another woman—but then the Royal Canadian Mounted Police come calling. Why would they care about a wayward addict cheating on his girlfriend in Utah? Soon, Karen is involved in a case like nothing she’s ever seen, navigating through an international criminal network of drugs, sex trafficking, murder, and the black market trade of priceless archaeological relics. Her new partner Marcus “Playboy” McCoy—handsome, charming, and almost unbearably crass—is equal parts help and hindrance as she navigates a seamy underworld in the Utah desert. But she also finds assistance from some unusual sources: a graduate student in archaeology, a dissatisfied sister-wife from a polygamous commune, and an undercover Canadian Mountie. Together they become entangled in the web of international crime and the only way out is to find the most priceless artifact of all: the legendary Keresa Headdress. 

Book Extract

“We’re getting close!” Tommy said enthusiastically as he bent down and picked up a hand-chipped piece of red chert that had been formed into a straight, sturdy point. Admiring the ancient stone, Tommy gently turned the piece in his hand under a flashlight, marveling at the intricate contours. “Now that’s a pretty nice awl somebody made about a thousand years ago, probably used for sewing pieces of leather together,” he declared with a pronounced lisp. 
“Tommy, we don’t have time to collect every little piece of history! Wendy is expecting us back this afternoon, so let’s hurry up and get to the granary. Locomotive Rock is very close and I want to collect the good stuff and get out of here before daybreak.” Jimmy scolded.
Tommy carefully placed the awl in his left front pant pocket and continued walking through the thick green juniper trees and the deep cheatgrass. He beamed with excitement when he and Jimmy finally broke into a clearing and spotted the massive landmark. Locomotive Rock was a series of sandstone formations that looked exactly like a locomotive.
“Another hundred yards and we hit pay dirt. It’s easy money, man, easy money in the bank, and a lot easier than moving meth.”  
Jimmy and Tommy quickened their pace through a cattle trail as their hearts raced with the anticipation of discovering their pending prize: an undisturbed, pristine, archeological treasure. Overjoyed with the idea that they were soon going to be rich, neither of the young men was aware that two other men were shadowing them in the stillness of the night. The dim moonlight illuminated the cloud-covered sky, and made it easy for the men to conceal their pursuit of the hopeful pothunters. 
Silently hidden behind the dense pinyon pine and juniper brush that covered Utah’s remote central mountains, the stalkers silently waited for their opportunity. Jimmy and Tommy were close—less than fifteen feet away. Almost close enough to reach out and grab. A few more steps…the killers silently sprang from their positions and thrust steel blades into the backs of the unsuspecting pothunters. Jimmy and Tommy died without their treasure. Their dreams died with them. That night, someone else entered the coveted caverns surrounding Locomotive Rock.



Purchase Links

I am pleased to announce that Mr. Shackelford will release the exciting sequel to this book in a few months.  The sequel is entitled…

The Keresa Headdress II
 The Reliquary

After reading the description below, I can't wait to read it!

The Reliquary is the sequel to The Keresa Headdress. The fast-paced crime fiction novel takes place in Salt Lake City, Utah. The unique cast of characters from the Keresa Headdress are back, along with new team members, to solve another extraordinary criminal investigation involving fossil theft and a psychotic killer.     
FBI Special Agent Karen Adams' career has flat lined since the exciting Keresa Headdress investigation, where she met Special Agent Marcus "Playboy" McCoy and her fiancé, archaeologist Derek Simms.  Karen's supervisor, Roger Miller has since reassigned her to investigating mundane medical waste, fraud and abuse cases. Karen and Marcus are reunited as unlikely partners when a paleontology team goes missing in the remote Morrison Formation near Richfield, Utah.  The missing persons case quickly escalates into a chilling nightmare that no-one could have expected. Karen and Marcus soon discover the murdered scientists along with missing Allosaurus fossils. The violent killer leaves few leads to pursue, and the team enlists Riley, a local polygamist and nudist, along with heavyset homicide detective, Colin Childs, to assist with the investigation.  Marcus continues his “Playboy McCoy” antics until he meets Dr. Lisa Gruber, a paleontologist from the University of Utah who is unlike any woman he has ever met.    Dealing with recent personal issues, Karen finds herself in another professional frustrating situation. Unfortunately, she must risk her own life as another case submerges her into the unimaginable underworld of antiquities theft and the criminally insane.

About the author
Larry was raised in southwest Missouri where he received his college degree, but he received his education after he graduated and began working in a maximum-security federal prison. After spending two years behind bars, he continued his law enforcement career as a criminal investigator, residing and working in eight states and two foreign countries. Larry retired from law enforcement after twenty-five years of service and resides in Salt Lake City with his wife and cat.

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See you on your next coffee break!
Take Care,
Mary Anne xxx