Two Native-American boys have vanished into thin air, leaving a pool of blood behind them. Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police has no choice but to suspect the very worst, since the blood that stains the parched New Mexican ground once flowed through the veins of one of the missing, a young Zuñi. But his investigation into a terrible crime is being complicated by an important archaeological dig . . . and a steel hypodermic needle....

From security guards and jack rabbits to bartenders and blue herons, the desert-dwellers in The Talker surface with grit and grace from dust-blown trailers, ancient Joshua trees, and artificial lakes. With her signature down-to-earth storytelling style, Mary Sojourner explores the lives of working class people, threats to Western landscapes, and the complexities of love. The Talker depicts a community weathering the desert glare of the Mojave, seeking...

A monk strives to preserve spiritual life and wisdom in the years following a nuclear holocaust.