Ghost of Milagro Creek

A story of love, death, and mystery that ';shimmers with the light and landscape of New Mexico' (TheAtlanta Journal-Constitution). Ignacia Vigil Romero, a full Jicarilla Apache and a curanderaa medicine woman, though some say a witchbegins this tale of star-crossed lovers... The two boys she raised in a barrio of Taos, New Mexicoa mixed community of Native Americans, Hispanics, and whitesMister and Toms, were best friends until their late teens. Then they both fell for Raquel, a.k.a. Rocky, a mysterious gringa from Santa Fe. Toms takes the girl for himself, but in a moment of despair, a pledge between the young men leads to murder. The story is taken over by police reports, witness statements, and caseworker interviews that, together, draw an electrifying portrait of a troubled community, and of the vulnerable players in this mounting tragedy. From a Whiting Awardwinning author, set in a terrain that becomes a character in its own right, The Ghost of Milagro Creek brilliantly illuminates this hidden corner of American society, both a suspenseful drama and ';a love story that unfolds in compelling and unexpected ways' (Joshilyn Jackson). ';A splendid novel, rich in character and landscape, daring in form and voice.' Robert Olen Butler

A story of love, death, and mystery that ';shimmers with the light and landscape of New Mexico' (TheAtlanta Journal-Constitution). Ignacia Vigil Romero, a full Jicarilla Apache and a curanderaa medicine woman, though some say a witchbegins this tale of star-crossed lovers... The two boys she raised in a barrio of Taos, New Mexicoa mixed community of Native Americans, Hispanics, and whitesMister and Toms, were best friends until their late teens. Then they both fell for Raquel, a.k.a. Rocky, a mysterious gringa from Santa Fe. Toms takes the girl for himself, but in a moment of despair, a pledge between the young men leads to murder. The story is taken over by police reports, witness statements, and caseworker interviews that, together, draw an electrifying portrait of a troubled community, and of the vulnerable players in this mounting tragedy. From a Whiting Awardwinning author, set in a terrain that becomes a character in its own right, The Ghost of Milagro Creek brilliantly illuminates this hidden corner of American society, both a suspenseful drama and ';a love story that unfolds in compelling and unexpected ways' (Joshilyn Jackson). ';A splendid novel, rich in character and landscape, daring in form and voice.' Robert Olen Butler