Book description
A strikingly original plot blends unknown bits of real history with
imagined incidents to create an unusual thriller. Its base is the last
American Indian uprising in Arizona, occuring in October, 1940. At its
core lay a struggle for civil rights. Deputy U. S. Marshall and Spanish
Civil War veteran J. D. Fitzpatrick arrives in Tucson, a shell shock
case. His job should have been a sinecure, but then the insensitive
local BIA agent provokes a gunfight over the draft and riles the
Papagos. Fitpatrick is sent to the reservation to arrest the ringleader,
Jujul, and his band of renegades, but they have skipped out into the
desert. Why should they accept a call for military service from a
country that refuses to recognize their citizenship? Meanwhile, a
Japanese Kempeitai agent we meet in Manchuria is sent to America to stir
up discontent, make life awkward, and buy some additional preparation
time for Japan's Pacific campaign. All these forces, including ghosts
from J. D.'s terrifing past in Spain, collide along the Gulf of
California. Displaying an appreciation for history and a rousing
imagination, first time author Hayes delivers an unusual, enjoyable, and
"what-if" novel. J. M. Hayes was born and raised on the flat
earth of central Kansas where Prairie Gothic takes place. He graduated
from Wichita State University and did another three years of post
graduate work at the University of Arizona. He shares a home in Tucson,
AZ with his wife, several computers, four thousand or so books, and a
small herd of German Shepherds.
