Very good police mystery staged in New Mexico, uses Indian and Western history as elements of plot. A former cop's god child is missing and he is asked by parents to find him. Leads him into criminal scheme to steal & sell historic artifacts.

A western-police - thriller-mystery.

I don't like this so well as Michael McGarrity's western sagas but it was engaging. I will read another in the series.

Lowered the rating from 4 to 3. Actually a 3.7 but not quite a 4. ( )

Not his best! A bit bland.... ( )

This was the first book in the Kevin Kerney series. I had read all of the others but my library until recently had not had this one. The character of Kevin Kerney is so real llife. He has problems, he has dreams that he doesn't see at this writing as coming true, and he has an overwhelming sense of fairness. Michael McGarrity has a gift for putting these traits on paper. All of this series is wonderful. Good reading! ( )

This started out strong, with a missing loved one and an estranged friend asking our hero, Kevin Kerney, for help. When Andy explains his son (an ARMY solider and Kerney's godson) has gone A.W.O.L. under mysterious circumstances, Kerney agrees to take the case and heads for Las Cruces. I was immediately intrigued by Kerney, a former cop who was forced to retire early due to an on the job injury. He's a loner, tough as nails cowboy, with no immediate living family. We see pictures of his past...the old ranch house he grew up in...an old tree that he once spent the day under in the shade...and it's clear something tragic abruptly ended his charmed youth.

There was a lot that I liked about this book, despite a few problems. Kerney has a vulnerability about him that he keeps hidden from others, but I like how he doesn't allow that to keep him isolated from people. He has his buddies and calls on them as he's working the case. The book felt like a mixture of wild west adventure and modern day conspiracy. There is so much more to this book than the search for a missing man, which was an unexpected surprise. I liked the fast pace as well, even if at times it felt like the characters couldn't possibly do things so quickly without rest and recovery. I just went with it.

What I didn't like was the inattention to police procedure and blatant lack of crime scene protocol. If you don't care for those details and just want the action, this is definitely the right book for you. It didn't take me completely out of the story, but I would've liked to see a little caution from Kerney not to contaminate the scenes. What really bugged me was all the bodies Kerney leaves behind without being expected to give a report. Perhaps we're meant to assume it just happened, but the story moved awfully fast if it did. I was a bit baffled by the ending...it didn't really "feel" like an ending, but maybe the next book will pick up where this one left off. I am glad I read the book, but there was potential for so much more!

The saving grace in the book was Kerney's character. I want to know more. I began to care what happened to him, where he's going and why. So... I'll be moving on to the next book! ( )