by Claire A Murray

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book and a link to purchase the book from Amazon.

The peace and quiet of Taos, New Mexico, population less than 6,000, is shattered by a botched bank robbery that leaves an officer down and an all-law-enforcement search for the robber underway.

Eva “Lightning Dance” Duran is back in Havoc, a thrilling follow-up to Deborah J Ledford’s Redemption. Familiar faces from that first introduction to Duran remind us of the strife she encountered in that story, yet one can thoroughly immerse themself in this book without having read the first.

Duran, once a deputy for the Taos County Sheriff, is now a Taos Pueblo Tribal Police officer. Her inclusion in the search for the robber is curtailed by tragedy on the reservation—a tribal youth has been killed with a 3D-printed gun. She swears to the boy’s family that she’ll find the killer.

Then another boy is killed, and he was pointing a 3D-printed gun at a schoolmate at the time. Tragedy again for the Taos Pueblo tribe. Notifying families, seeing and feeling their anguish, yet pushing through the pain to investigate these haunting killings, Duran also mentors Kai, the young boy she saved from throwing himself off a bridge in Redemption.

Tensions between Taos Tribal members and the Hispanic community, and the resources devoted to the bank robber search, hamper Duran’s investigation. Despite this, she pieces together clues that convince her the 3D-printed guns connect the bank robbery to the boys’ killings.

Duran’s investigation leads her in unexpected directions, as Ledford twists and turns the story and increases the tension, all while plumbing the characters’ emotional depths. Ledford tells a riveting tale that brings present-day reality into focus—the story is fiction, the reality behind it is true.

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.

To enter to win a copy of Havoc, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “havoc” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen August 24, 2024. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win, it will be deleted after the contest. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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Claire A Murray writes crime, mystery, fantasy, and sci-fi short stories and novels. She also writes reviews, hosts Zoom write-ins for aspiring and experienced authors, and is completing a suspense fantasy novel so she can return to her trilogy and two other novels awaiting revision. Play the Hand You’re Dealt is her crime and mystery short story collection. Find her at cam-writes.com.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, which are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.