The new editions of the Anasazi Mysteries Are Coming!!!
The Visitant, Summoning God, and Bone Walker are some of our fans favorite books (and ours, too). Ever since turning the last page of Bone Walker people have been asking for more of Dusty and Maureen.
Now, for the first time in twenty years, the Anasazi Mystery Series is being reissued in a 6-book set! Each book is available for about half the price of an ordinary e-book. And, for the first time, it’s being released in digital format! Now you can read the books on your phone, Kindle, or computer!
Who were the Anasazi?
They are the ancestors of the modern Puebloan peoples, more accurately called “Ancestral Puebloans.” In the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, they built huge stone pueblos in the Four Corners region, and Chaco Canyon was the center of their empire. The Visitant, Summoning God, and Bone Walker are set in the mid 1200s, in the period we call Pueblo 3, or P3 for short. Chaco has fallen, the Mesa Verdean peoples are evacuating the San Juan Basin. It is a time of war, and the archaeological record is rife with evidence of brutal killings, torture, famine, disease, and even cannibalism.
The Story
In the thirteenth century, a small population is hanging on in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Among them are the “Katsina’s People” followers of a new religion based on Spirit beings that today we call the Kachinas. They seek to restore the world by locating and ritually renewing the great kiva where the First People entered this final Fourth World from underworlds below. All is going well, until women begin disappearing, and each is found brutally murdered. It falls to War Chief Browser, his deputy Catkin, and Old Stone Ghost, to protect the Katsina’s people from the diabolical murderer, who may be a legendary witch named Two Hearts.
A few moments ahead in geological time, archaeologist Dusty Stewart, known as the “Mad Man of New Mexico”, is called upon to conduct a dig just inside the boundaries of Chaco Culture Historical Park prior to a communications tower being built. But as soon as he begins his test excavations, human bones are discovered in the ruins of an ancient pueblo. His boss, Dr. Dale Robertson, insists he employ noted forensic anthropologist Maureen Cole to evaluate the human remains. As they begin to excavate, strange things start to happen, and it quickly becomes apparent that evil is not bound by time.
Writing the books with an interconnected prehistoric and modern timeline was one of the most rewarding projects we’ve ever undertaken. Browser and Uncle Stone Ghost will determine the murderer’s identity through Puebloan means, while, in the modern timeline, Maureen Cole has all the tools of science at her disposal. And through it all, the stories are steeped in Southwestern Native lore and mysticism. For, as Dusty and Maureen are about to discover, the past and the present are inextricably tied together.
The New Books
Now, if you already have The Visitant, Summoning God and Bone Walker in the original editions, you’re golden! The only changes we’ve made are editorial and we’ve updated some facts. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that we write better now than we did, so we cleaned up some of the prose, tightened, and fixed some errors. Other than that, it’s the same stories you’ve known and loved.
Why 6 parts? Because the market has changed in the digital age. Younger generations want short reads. They want to download something they can finish in a night, and, if they’re hooked, order the next installment and maybe binge on the whole series. Tastes and behaviors change, and the parts will be released in two-week intervals. The Visitant is already out, to be followed by Where the Basilisk Dreams on October 24, and The Summoning God on November 7, and The Two Hearted November 28.
Other News
Finally!! The audio version of After the Eagle Has Fallen is now out in audio!! Read by the Francis Kearny, who also read Dissolution, this is another nail-biter for anyone who enjoys good audio books. Never tried our books on audio? Maybe now’s the time. It has come to our attention that a lot of people don’t know how easy and convenient audio books are these days. Got an iPhone or Samsung? Download the Audible app or use the phone’s program. Set up your account, and type in the title you want. It downloads in minutes onto your phone and you’ve got the book with you wherever you travel. Michael listens to his every night for about fifteen minutes before he goes to sleep. Most modern vehicles will play from your phone over the speakers so you can listen while you drive. Or in the Dr’s office. Or while you’re gardening. We have a whole library of Gear books available on audio. We hope you enjoy them.
By the time you receive this, we’ll be on the way to Fort Worth, Texas, for the Will Rogers Medallion Awards. Kathleen’s short story “No Quarter” which is told from the perspective of two slaves inside the walls of the Alamo is a finalist for best short fiction of the year. Most of you know that the story won the Western Writers of America’s Spur Award for best short fiction of the year, and it was a finalist for Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that “No Quarter” will bring home the medallion for best short fiction of the year. But, truly, even if she does not win, being a finalist is a great honor.
We hope you are all enjoying a beautiful autumn. Wyoming is a canvas of red aspens, yellow cottonwoods, green pines, and turquoise sage.
We love this time of year when the temperatures get cooler. The bison and other wildlife seem relieved that the biting insects are gone and they can start to grow their heavy winter coats. Our Shetland sheep dog, Jake, is leaving clumps of hair all over the house--despite daily combings. He’s not as happy with winter as the bison are. The arthritis in his back and paws hurts more in cold weather, but otherwise he’s doing very well for being 14 ½ years old. We all still go on our morning walks down by the river. He’s slowing down, but still trots down parts of the trail.
Have a wonderfully scary All Hallows Eve!
Michael and Kathleen