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