Dead Horses

New Mexico tribal police officer, Peter Romero, embarks on another trill-packed hunt to find whoever has been leaving dead Arabian horses across the Southwest. A brutal double-murder involving his childhood friend on his own reservation stretches Romero's skills and loyalties, while trying to unravel the puzzling clues that trail a mysterious stranger in time to stop a long-brewing feud from turning into a modern war. Romero tightropes between the natural and the supernatural while battling wolves, dirty cops, and an unrelenting murderous grizzly throughout his race to save hundreds of innocent lives before they, too, become part of the dark, hidden side of Southwest history.

New Mexico tribal police officer Peter Romero tracks Arabian horse killers and suspects of a brutal double murder to the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in Colorado. While hunting for the killers, Romero is attacked by wolves, a grizzly bear, and is ambushed by cartel-connected cops. The surviving assassins promise revenge. Complicating his investigation is the long-burning mutual hatred between the Ute and Navajo tribes. Believing in Romero's spiritual powers, FBI Special Agent Jean Reel hi-jacks him to her own investigation of foreign influence, police corruption, and Sinaloa Cartel activity. The recently divorced Romero knows Reel has no legal power over him but is captivated by his secret affection for her. Fondness turns to love, but the relationship fractures when agitated Utes threaten a violent clash with unsuspecting Navajos at an upcoming hospital groundbreaking. Matters teeter between fantasy and reality when it becomes clear something super natural is hell-bent on igniting a race war at the ceremony. Romero realizes he has been lured to a spiritual battleground of opposing real and surreal forces. As danger tests his limits in this new dimension, Romero finds he can no longer distinguish between allies and enemies, the living, or the dead.

David E. Knop is a retired Marine officer with twenty years of service. He saw two tours in Vietnam as an artillery forward observer and naval gunfire support officer. Dave also worked in the intelligence and logistics fields. As a staff officer, he wrote and edited numerous military operations plans. Dave also authored feature articles for the Field Artillery Journal and the Marine Corps Gazette. In civilian life, Dave produced many electronic and automotive technical manuals for industry leaders such as ViaSat, SAIC, and Computer Sciences Corporation. Dave's work for the Eighth Air Force received an award of excellence in a Northern California Society of Technical Communications competition. Dave's thrillers featuring a former Marine tribal police officer bring the role of spirit warrior to the subgenre of Native American detectives. Dave's first novel, The Smoked Mirror, placed honorable mention in both the Maryland Writers' Association and Reading Writers contests. The second thriller, Mining Sacred Ground, became a Public Safety Writers of America 2013 third place winner, a finalist in the first Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest, and placed top ten in a Killer Nashville contest. Poisoned by God's Flesh, Dave's third novel, was awarded a bronze medal by the Military Writers Society of America and received Honorable Mention in the 2014 Eric Hoffer writing contest. A fourth novel, Animal Parts, was awarded honorable mention in the PSWA 2017 contest and became a finalist in the 2017 New Mexico – Arizona Book Awards. Dave's fifth novel, Payback, is in the works. Dave is a graduate of the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the University of Southern California. An alumnus of Book Passage Mystery Writer's workshops, Taos Institute of the Arts, Maui Writers Retreats, Dave is a lifelong student of Native American studies. Dave resides in San Diego with his wife, two daughters, and a grandson. Email: davideknop@gmail.com Webpage: David E. Knop, Novelist of the Southwest, https://davideknopbooks.com/