The Mutes — Micah S. Hackler

Author of Legend of the Dead, Coyote Returns, The Shadow Catcher, and The Dark Canyon

Strange lights spotted over the high desert of northern New Mexico, unmarked helicopters flying to and from Archuleta Mesa on the Apache Reservation, the death of a ranch foreman, and, after nearly a decade, livestock being killed and mutilated, again. Deputy Cliff Lansing is running for his first term as Sheriff. In the midst of his campaign the one-time rancher has to deal with divorce, the loss of a friend, and the gaggle of UFO enthusiasts who have descended on San Phillipe County.

Lansing joins forces with Ned Koteen, the newly appointed Apache Reservation Police Chief, to investigate government cover-ups, conspiracies, and murder. While Koteen struggles with tribal secrets, Lansing has to fight his own family's demons.