Dead Water Rites — Monty Joynes; St. Leger Joynes

The water-which comes naturally from the earth and sky, the priceless compound of elements that forms and supports life-is dying. Warned in a vision, the tribal elder of the pueblo sends his chosen one to discover the fate of the precious life source. That man is Anglo, formerly known as Winn Conover, a white man who shares the work and vision of the tribe. Anglo must discover the true spiritual nature of the water in order to save it from encroaching land developers.

The fourth book in Joynes' Booker series about a white man's continuing search for meaning amid the indigenous peoples of the American Southwest, Dead Water Rites is lucid and literary, an articulate and artful plea to cease our self-destructive exploitation of the environment and native peoples.