Mojave Desert Sanctuary — Gary J. George

Kiko Yoshida works as a Keno runner at the Serengeti Casino in Las Vegas while dreaming of a career as a singer and dancer. She catches the eye of a big-time mobster who demands to have her sent to his room. Casino manager Eddie Mazzetti promises her a part in “The Flower Drum Song” when it comes to Las Vegas if she will be the mobster's escort for one evening. Kiko shows up at Frankie “The Whale” Pescatore's executive suite expecting to be his date at a fancy dinner with politicians and executives of the gambling industry. Within minutes, she realizes she has made a terrible mistake. Soon, she is running for her life with over half a million dollars of “off-the-books” mob money, the “skim” from the Serengeti. Where can she go to escape the nationwide reach of mafia family influence and control? A chance encounter with a desert rancher gives her hope of sanctuary. Lieutenant Carols Caballo, Aeden Snow and Chemehuevi Joe, characters from the first two Smoke Tree Series novels, return in Mojave Desert Sanctuary, a tale of desert deception. Just as in the first two books in the Smoke Tree Mystery series, reviewed elsewhere on this site, the Mojave Desert is a major character in this book, as important as any of the humans acting against the backdrop of this fascinating area. Red City Review