Reflections of the Distant Fires

His little brother hanged. His mother swindled. Betrayed by his childhood sweetheart...the fiery young ranchero Juan Santos finally explodes, setting the seething Rio Grande border ablaze in a rage of vengeful justice that ignites a revolution, and an army of Texas Rangers and U.S. soldiers must try to stop him. Inspired by historical events surrounding the Cortina rebellion and attack on Brownsville, Texas in 1859, REFLECTIONS OF THE DISTANT FIRES traces Juan’s journey from an irresponsible, hell-raising young hacendado with a penchant for drinking and brawling to the charismatic leader of a violent uprising against American oppression and abuse following the 1846 U.S.-Mexican war.

His little brother hanged. His mother swindled. Betrayed by his childhood sweetheart...the fiery young ranchero Juan Santos finally explodes, setting the seething Rio Grande border ablaze in a rage of vengeful justice that ignites a revolution, and an army of Texas Rangers and U.S. soldiers must try to stop him. Texas, the Rio Grande Border, 1859. Although the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the U.S.-Mexican war guaranteed Texas Mexican landowners title to their land, they are systematically being intimidated, cheated, or murdered by Americans who flooded to the border region following the war. But they go too far when they cross the young ranchero Juan Santos, and they light a fuse that shatters the Texas border in a bloody war of revenge and justice. Inspired by historical events surrounding the Cortina rebellion and attack on Brownsville, Texas in 1859, REFLECTIONS OF THE DISTANT FIRES traces Juan’s journey from an irresponsible, hell-raising young hacendado with a penchant for drinking and brawling to the charismatic leader of a violent uprising against American oppression and abuse following the U.S.-Mexican war. Señora Ophelia Santos, Juan’s mother, a grand lady haunted by a black secret that she vows he must never know, tries desperately to reign in her wild son, and hold on to her land. The exotically beautiful Señorita Lidia de Leon, Juan’s sweetheart, becomes estranged from Juan in a tragic misunderstanding, and now must decide between the man she still loves and the man who saves her life, Ranger Captain Tom Starr. The Texas-Mexican border is a powder keg as American lawyers, opportunists, and squatters invade South Texas and systematically dispossess Texas Mexicans. But when they cheat Ophelia and hang Juan’s little brother, there will be hell to pay, and no place to hide. Leading the army sent to stop Juan's rebellion: Texas Ranger Captain Tom Starr.

JOSE ANGEL RAMIREZ grew up in the historic, rich culture of South Texas, where his family has lived and toiled for generations, back to the early days of Texas. He descended from Texas Mexican ranchers and farm workers, but grew up in west side San Antonio. He is a graduate of St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas and he earned an Executive MBA from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He is a former IT Vice President for a global pharmaceutical company. Jose learned English as a second language, then began writing poetry and short stories at an early age. REFLECTIONS OF THE DISTANT FIRES is his first novel. He currently lives and writes on his ranch in the Texas Hill Country.