Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied
by Roger Hinterthuer (iUniverse, $21.95)
TV cops always say the cases they can’t let go are the cases they couldn’t bring to justice. To judge by this account by Green Valley resident Roger Hinterthuer, that’s true in the world of real police as well. In “Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied,” retired police detective Hinterthuer chronicles his years-long investigation involving the 1974 Milwaukee bombing death of a 14-year-old paperboy, a vicious motorcycle gang, an adroit car thief, and a politically ambitious district attorney. The story’s compelling enough to be the stuff of TV.
The Vines of Coronado
by Frank DiChristofano (Three Knolls Publishing, $19.95 hardcover; $8.95 paper)
Tucson businessman and winemaker-to-the-White House Frank DiChristofano channeled his passions and his ancestral sensibilities to present this 2014 thriller about Italian vintners, a murderous secret society, and corruption and collusion in politics and the church in 1970s Italy. Luca Benedetto is determined to regain and restore the 150-year Benedetto family winery in Tuscany that his father lost through mismanagement. When his mentor is murdered, Luca’s plans become complicated. Arizona wines play a role in this debut novel as well.
From Place to Place
by Judy Ray (Whirlybird Press, $14)
Although this collection of personal essays is set throughout the world — from a 14th-century farmhouse in West Sussex, England, to a burial plot near Leech Lake, Minnesota, a kitchen in Kampala, Uganda, and a caliche-solid backyard in Tucson — its voice and perspective are singular: crystalline and sharp, with a use of detail that renders the mundane poetic. The essays in “From Place to Place” draw from Ray’s life. A writer married to writer David Ray, she reflects on place, on writing (what notebook makes the best journal?); on books, daily life, family tragedy… all with precision and elegance.
Freedom Lost
by Mark A. Handy (Page Publishing, Inc., $14.95)
Having won the U.S. Presidency in a three-party run, sleazy former- industrialist Lawrence Lording has suspended the Constitution and eliminated Congress. The United States has become a dictatorship. When a group of Southern Arizonans takes a stand against him at Cochise Stronghold in the Dragoon mountains, Lording retaliates with a tactical nuclear weapon. Only one man survives the attack—Mason William (aka “Grizz”) Wallace, who sets out to avenge the deaths of his friends and spark a rebellion nationwide. Wallace heads to Chicago, where he’s heard there’s an underground movement. Mark A. Handy’s debut novel is fast-paced and well dramatized. With the president’s rescinding of individual rights, it could also satisfy the wildest expectations of conspiracy theorists.
Die Grief (The Griffin)
by Jon Court (Jon Court, $8.95)
Pairs of telepathic child twins experimented on in a Nazi concentration camp. An American medical researcher into telepathic communication. A secret German society with a griffin as its emblem. A deadly 20-year deadline fast approaching. And the sudden appearance of the beautiful posthumously-born daughter of a Griffin member: Jon Court has assembled quite the pieces for his 1945/1965-eras thriller, in which the medical researcher rushes to find surviving twins before the Griffins eliminate them for a secret they share. This mystery by Southern Arizona rancher Court (who “writes to escape the loneliness of dark desert night”) is carefully structured. The action—most of it in Europe—is fast-paced, and his settings are well drawn.
Cave Creek Canyon: Revealing the Heart of Arizona’s Chiricahua Mountains
Edited by Wynne Brown and Reed Peters. Foreword by Jeanne Williams (ECO Wear & Publishing, $19.95, paperback; $49, hardcover)
When you’re a smart person and your beloved Sky Island watershed gets ravaged by fire and hurricane, what do you do? Why, gather a group of other smart Sky Island-lovers and write a book to raise funds to restore it. More than 40 Portal writers (these are historians and scientists who also ranch, educate, bird) contributed articles and memories to this engaging guide, and an additional 50 residents contributed to the project with maps, photos, art. Touching on topics as diverse as Apaches and the U.S. Cavalry, bats, wildflowers, hiking trails, and attending school in Portal, the book speaks to the richness of the area. And the photographs? Not to be missed. Catch a Magnificent hummingbird with a bee on her bill; a black-tailed Scorpion ferrying hatchlings on hers.
The African Contract
by Arthur Kerns (Diversion Books, $17.99)
So what do FBI agents do when they retire? If they’re like Arizonan Arthur Kerns, they write thrillers. Kerns, whose counterintelligence and counterterrorist career took him to 65 countries, has created a character who chases bad guys in exotic locations. In this book, Hayden Stone, retired from the FBI and CIA, is brought back into the Company to do a quick job in West Africa: intercept a group of fascist South Africans who are planning to sell an atomic bomb to terrorists. In “The African Contract,” which takes place in South Africa, Namibia, Sierra Leone and Libya, Stone works with agents from international security agencies to scuttle the sale. Kerns’ first Hayden Stone novel was “The Riviera Contract.” “The Yemen Contract” is due to come out in June. Seems neither writer nor character has settled into leisurely retirement.
Dinotrux Dig the Beach
by Chris Gall (Little Brown and Co. $17)
The ever-popular Dinotrux are back for a third installment of prehistoric fun, courtesy of award-winning children’s author and illustrator Chris Gall. Driven to the beach by the Jurassically-hot summer, the Dinotrux learn, sometimes the hard way, how to build sand castles, go deep-sea diving (watch out for the sharks!) and wear sun screen—lessons we can all benefit from, cleverly conveyed and joyously illustrated. Tucsonan Gall’s half-dinosaur, half-construction vehicle characters can’t help but appeal to 2-6-year-olds who, incidentally, can now watch them on Netflix, courtesy of DreamWorks Animation. But don’t let that prevent you from reading this excellent book aloud—your preschooler will love you for it.
The Black Lab Who Couldn’t Swim
by John McKee (Tate Publishing and Enterprises $9.99) The Lonely Little Chicken
by John McKee (Tate Publishing and Enterprises. $9.99)
Books for children, says John McKee, need suspense, drama, humor and a happy ending. His formula for kids’ fiction is evident in these two offerings, and so is an upbeat bit of child-sized inspiration. “The Black Lab Who Couldn’t Swim” overcomes his fear of water and saves the day in true hero fashion, and “The Lonely Little Chicken” finds not only her mother but an entire caring family among the denizens of Farmer John’s barn. The books encourage a family read-aloud, and the line-art illustrations invite a box of crayons. McKee, a self-described Christian poet and author, lives in Tucson.
Maid, Mother, Crone
and the Rabbit Net
by Judith Billings (Self-published. $14.99)
Bits of woven yucca twine found in the Nevada desert launched textile historian Judith Billings on a 16-year journey of archaeological discovery that ultimately involved scientists from several universities. “Maid, Mother, Crone and the Rabbit Net” is the charming and readable result of their findings. The narrative tells the story of a rabbit net made of yucca twine and the young girl who helped weave it in ancient times; the Navajo woman who, a millennium later, led the Peabody Museum archaeologists to the cave where they would rediscover the net; and the college professor who used the net to help understand the mysteries surrounding the lives of the prehistoric basket people. Illustrations, recipes, a glossary and a bibliography round out this edifying read.
More Precious than Rubies
By Marilyn Forstot (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. $12.99. Kindle $3.99)
Red hair was a rare trait among the women in her family and, according to Sarah’s Sephardic forbears, it signified a woman born to fulfill an important destiny. In Marilyn Forstot’s American Revolution-era historical novel, red-haired Sarah Perez is destiny’s child, marked to undertake heroic deeds. As a young girl Sarah submits to a brutal, loveless marriage that she believes will save her father’s gun-running business, but as her adventures take her from her home in the Dutch West Indies to the American colonies, and from profound despair to serene contentment, plucky Sarah comes to realize that there are many avenues by which a woman can achieve greatness. Forstot, who lives in Sahuarita, offers a unique view of the Jewish experience during the War of Independence.
Spiritual Encounters with Red Cloud: Makhpfya-Luta True Stories A Passage into Another Dimension
By Jean C. Prugh (Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. $12.25)
Prugh, who is the daughter of prominent spiritualists, first communicated with Red Cloud via her homemade version of a Ouija board. Since that time the Sioux Indian chief has become Prugh’s constant spiritual guide, providing her with insights into the beauty and promise of the spirit world. The author, who lives in Tucson, discusses Red Cloud’s philosophy and shares some of her experiences with him in this slim volume.
Never Don’t Pay Attention:The Life of Rodeo Photographer Louise L. Serpa
by Jan Cleere (TwoDot, $16.95)
Consider the riot of images the rodeo evokes: rearing broncs; twisting bulls; sinewy cowboys. Consider an elegant Vassar grad with a Nikon camera turning dust, mud, hair and hide into works of art. Consider Louise Serpa, the first woman accredited by the Rodeo Cowboys Association to photograph inside the arena. Subsequent broken bones delivered by charging bulls and pitching horses did not deter her. Through time, miles and injuries, Serpa’s uncompromising priority was getting the shot.
And she did. Her photographs are widely exhibited in Western and fine art museums. She received awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Museum and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. In 1999 she was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.
Local author Cleere presents a lively portrait of Serpa’s extraordinary life and career. This is her fifth book chronicling remarkable Western women.
Henry Ossian Flipper: West Point’s First Black Graduate
by Jane Eppinga (Wild Horse Press, $19.95)
Though graduating from West Point in 1877 was groundbreaking, it was just the beginning of Flipper’s storied life. The following year found him stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma but his military career came to an abrupt halt when he was court-martialed over missing funds, a civilian scout and a “borrowed” Army mount. Devastated he headed farther West, ending in Arizona and Mexico during the Apache campaigns and Mexican Revolution. While in Arizona, Flipper acted as a special government agent saving thousands of acres from shifty speculators. He also worked as a government interpreter and for the Secretary of the Interior, all the while fighting his court martial beginning with his first appeal in 1898.
Tucson author and historian Eppinga thoroughly researched Henry O. Flipper and portrays a man of substance and tolerance who deserves more renown than accorded him.
